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About
The Ship
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Blarney Pilgrim began life on Galiano Island in the boatyard of renowned boat builder Greg Foster. For this unusual vessel, Greg Foster used the lines of a "Finnish Scoote" found in Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, a book first published by Frederik Hendrik Chapman in 1768. |
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Greg began building the vessel for an American client, but as the hull neared completion, the client ordered work discontinued and abandoned the project. |
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The
hull lay in Whaler Bay until the spring of 1986 when it was bought
by Captain Paddy. Having purchased the hull, Paddy then towed the vessel to Victoria and set about the task of completing the vessel. The project took advantage of Paddy's skill as a woodworker as well as his love of traditional seaman's arts. |
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By 1987 the houseworks and interiors were roughed in, and mechanical, electrical, and engineering systems were well underway. Paddy had even successfully incorporated a westcoast style wheelhouse with the 18th century hull. Paddy chose to rig Blarney Pilgrim as a Square Tops'l Schooner. As Blarney
Pilgrim grew, the good stories grew with her. The friend that
brought the 50 foot long mast timbers to town with a boat trailer
lashed onto one end of the log and the other end chained into
the trunk of his old Chevy. The retired shipwright that helped
Paddy aquire Blarney Pilgrim's The masts were stepped in early 1989. With temporary rigging still in place, her maiden voyage was in May of 1989 to the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, Washington. Since then
she has spent her time as a private home and charter vessel travelling
the west coast of British Columbia. Blarney Pilgrim is a familiar
sight in anchorages and at many festivals throughtout the Pacific
Northwest. |
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