Jim wrote:
I'm looking at a Tamarack schooner, possibly to buy as a project boat.
It's a mess, but the steel hull and superstructure are surprisingly
free of rust, and the rigging is, well, all there. I would love to gut
the hull and rebuild a functional and basic interior of white bulkheads

and, say, cypress trim. It wouldn't be for everyone, but it would be my

kind of boat, strictly a romantic indulgence straight out of
"Adventures in Paradise."

I accept the Tamarack is a shoal-draft boat, and I have no problem with

that. However, I look at the stubby keel and all that rigging aloft and

wonder about the stability. Does anyone have any experience with or
knowledge of this design to share? I don't foresee crossing oceans, but

I do require seaworthiness, and I might cross a gulf or two.

If you don't get a rush of blood to the head and want to replace the
rig with a tall Marconi one, it'll be fine. Email Tom and ask him if
you're in doubt.

There have been hundreds of Tom's Gazelles and Witches built, all shoal
draft with low aspect rigs. They're stable and cross oceans happily.
Less numbers of Tamaracks built, these are his heavy displacement
series. I have a writeup by Tom on the Tamarack at home, it was
designed to carry up to 6 people with stores on extended voyaging but
keep the LOD to 34' IIRC.

If the price is right and you're happy rebuilding a project boat, go
for it. I prefer the lines of the Witch myself, but there's a lot more
interior room in a Tamarack.

PDW