Newporter Ketch

Comment

Comment by Clyde A. Phillips on August 6, 2013 at 7:52pm

Hull Number and Documentation Number:

The plaque was the builders name plate for the boat.  The hull number, year of build, and builders name are on it and it was put on the upper left hand (if I can say it that way) corner of the bulkhead that makes the back of the dinette right behind the forward seat.  Some boats had aluminum plaques, most had bronze.  That spot on the #23 bulkhead (as we called it) was reserved for the plaque.

By law the documentation number and boat tonnage was to be carved into a major timber in an easily read position.  Our local oyster boats had that number and tonnage carved into the forward main hatch carlin.  The Newporter's number was carved into a short piece of wood glued and screwed onto the inside clamp, made to look like it was the clamp.  It fit between the separating bulkheads of the storage areas under the port side deck, accessible from the doghouse. 

BUILDERS: I can't list the names of all the builders but I did work in all three yards that built the East Coast model.  These yards were all on the Maurice River in Cumberland in southern New Jersey.  The first yard built most of the Newporters that came from this area.  It had two names, Stowman Shipyard and Dorchester Shipbuilding.  The next yard was Ack's last yard, called Newporter Shipyard.  On Ack's retirement and move to California the Whitehead Brothers sand plant, that owned the old Delaware Bay Shipyard in Leesburg, bought out Ack and began building Newporters.  This last yard that built them did so under their new name: Newporter Shipyard. 

If you have your plague and see the builder is Stowman, Dorchester, Newporter and maybe Whitehead or Leesburg you'll know you have a Jersey built boat.  Almost all the Newporters where build them under the watch eye of their designer, Clarence E. Ackerman, Ack to those who worked with him.  Whoever built your boat you have the best in the world!

Comment by paul ~ sv; pink cloud on August 6, 2013 at 3:48pm

Great news, u want tobre document, my opinion, and fact that it had been it wont ne that hard.
Call the cg office, get customer service, they are very helpful. It takes s bit if time, but no where near six months was our experience on pink cloud.
Also now they have s doc called, temp document as the cg is running slow.
Good luck.
Aloha

Comment by Britton Moses on August 6, 2013 at 3:23pm

Jan, that is the first thing about the Newporter 40 that turned my head...I love the open, bright, and airy space of the wheelhouse! Before finding this beautiful boat, I pretty much had my mind set on a catamaran because of the open living space at deck level that allows you to see out over the water rather than being confined deep in the hull of most mono-hulls.  When I contacted the broker about Blue Angel, he sent me a few other boats in the same price and size range but I wanted to know nothing of any other boat besides the Newporter!  I absolutely love the design and layout!

 

Paul, This boat was documented, but has now been delisted.  Apparently, when they bought it in 2006, they never completed the CG documentation because they never got it back into the water. At time to close our deal, they had to scramble to get it delisted so it would be free to transfer title over, otherwise would have delayed closing by 6 months to finish their CG documentation. I do have a copy of the delisting though and it has a documentation # of 516525 which is also on the paperwork I found indicating it was hull#120. I also found a beam against the hull under the Nav Station that has that number on it along with the Net Wt 12 Tons indication. The paperwork I found is really old - fragile and discolored, but was where the owners had it advertised as a charter for Stamford Yacht Club in Connecticut...kinda neat!

Comment by paul ~ sv; pink cloud on August 6, 2013 at 12:36pm

Jan showed me your pictures, NICE. Congrats! I cant imagine someone would toss the plaque. Its really a good looking item. Hope you find it.. Another idea. Are u documented craft? Our coast guard document shows the hull number. Just an idea. Otherwise, in my two years of crawling in andj around every inch of pink cloud i have seen no other place the hull number may be stamped into the support members or hull. Clyde?
Thanks for sharing.

Comment by Britton Moses on August 6, 2013 at 8:10am

Aloha! No, the plaque is not there now, but I have a feeling it may be tucked into one of the storage lockers somewhere on the boat. All of the winches and other hardware have been removed and the lockers are loaded with the material. We haven't found the plaque or the eagle from the transom yet. We hope to have her shipped up here closer to home in the next two weeks so we can really get to working on her. Right now, she is a 3 hour drive away :-(

Comment by paul ~ sv; pink cloud on August 6, 2013 at 12:23am

Aloha,
Is the oval emblem above and between the front pilot house windows still there on your boat ? On pink cloud , this is the builders plaque location. Fyi. Our old bronze plaque with an eagle background says . Hull 53. Akerman boat yard 1957. Jan removed and cleaned the bronze oval just enough , not too clean..just enough to be able to read. Need the patina!!
Have fun with your new treasure! Paul & Jan

Comment by Britton Moses on August 5, 2013 at 8:05pm

Came across paperwork on the boat that refers to her as hull# 120. I think 129 was a clerical error somewhere along the line. Hull #120 was once Debby Lee and then Blue Angel as far as I can tell. Still researching... She is beautiful though!