154 
FOREST 'AND STREAM. 
IFeb. ax, 1903. 
Design fof a 22ft. Centetboard Boat. 
Through the courtesy of Mr. Edwin A. Boardman, 
the Boston naval architect, we publish the plans of a 
centerboard boat which was designed by him to show 
what could be done with a centerboard boat under the 
restriction of the new 22ft. class organized last year 
in Boston. Five yachts are now building for this class, 
but all are keel boats. 
The design shows a large shoal draft boat with good 
cabin room. There is nearly Sft- headroom under a 
cabin house lift. long. The cockpit is loft. 6in. long 
and watertight. There is a waterway 2ft wide around 
the cockpit and cabin house. The boat would undoubtedly 
be fast, particularly in fresh to strong winds, ihe 
dimensions follow : 
Length— , ^ 
Over all 38tt. 
L. W. L 22ft. 
Overhang— , ^ - 
Forward 7 % f- 
Aft 8ft. 6 in. 
Breadth — ^ - 
Extreme lojt- ^ m. 
L. W. L loft. 
^'"^'to rabbet ^/^m. 
Board down 7ft. « m. 
Extreme ^ft. 6 in. 
Freeboard — , - 
Forward 2 *. 10 n. 
Aft 2ft. I m. 
LLt'::::::: ^^t. lo ir.. 
c^;] area 900 sq. ft. 
fSldSTkeefV.... 3,ooolbs. 
Origin of the Centerboard. 
Editor Forest and Stream: ■ ,^ u 
In your issue of January 17 I gave you what might be 
termed the first chapter relating to the centerboard. Since 
then I have received additional data. There appears to 
have been a certain boy who was afterwards known as 
Capt John W. Meickle, who spent the summer seasons 
as farm boy under Judge Wilkins. His father had been a 
cea captain, and an elder brother, Isaac, was then m the 
seme business. This tended to cultivate m John a rehsh 
for maritime pursuits which resulted m his entering 
^^IrTafter years the captain obtained command of a vessel 
that traded between Philadelphia and Mediterranean 
ports This caused him to be engaged by Count_ Survil- 
licrs, better known as Joseph Bonaparte, then residing m 
Philadelphia, to bring from Italy his youngest daughter, 
Charlotte The authorities of Naples, whether state, 
municipal or church, I cannot say, as'm that city they are 
generally cooked in the same pot, were opposed to her 
leaving to join her father and her sister Zeiiiade; there- 
fore stratagem was what the captam was instructed to 
report to In accomplishing this the knowledge that he 
acquired while with the Wilkins family served a useful 
^""ThT plan adopted was carried out by the assistance of 
the mother and her chamber maid. The captam ordered 
his sailors to attend church well dressed on Sundays 
and escort home from there any female who might accept 
their company. He did the same and escorted home the 
maid of Madame Bonaparte. For two succeeding Sun- 
days this sailor church going and Neapolitan beaux catch- 
ing worked well. On the third the maid and daughter 
exchanged dresses. The females of Italy wear thick veils 
when attending church and are therefore recognizable only 
by other portions of their dress. The daughter was now 
escorted from church by the captain, the maid acting the 
daughter's part by demurely returning home with the 
mother. At a suitable time and place haste was made to- 
wards the ship which was hastily got under way. When 
out in the bay he encountered an almost dead calm, in 
the afternoon he saw the state, the city and the church 
pursuing him (we will suppose) each in their vessel and 
only about a league distant. But he had on board a Wil- 
kins boat. He launched the favorite skiff and put two 
men into it ; then doing the same with the yawl his vessel 
was towed as speedily as his pursuers could sail. This 
kept up until darkness set in, when a good breeze sprang 
up He then took in his boats and carried every inch of 
sail through the night. In the morning his pursuers were 
out of sight and he was nearing the birthplace of Uncle 
Napoleon. . , ' 
In the autumn of 1823 Charles Wilkms and a neighbor 
concluded to take the Lawrence and make a voyage to 
Kent County, Delaware, there to purchase a load or 
peaches and take them to Philadelphia market. This_ was 
the first distant voyage of a sliding keeler for business 
purposes and of course causing its character to be known. 
The voyagers having proceeded to the mouth of the 
creek named by the Swedish settlers Murder Kill_ met 
with what might be called an ocean beach experience. 
The channel leading into it from deep water is narrow 
and crooked and unmarked, therefore difficult to be found 
by strangers. The boat bumped on the sandy bottom half a 
mile out. However, three successive waves would come 
and float them forward a hundred feet or more and then 
another bump; in this way three successive waves would 
carry them forward and let them down alternately until 
the creek's mouth was reached. 
The great fun of the trip compensated for future disap- 
pointment. To say that they astonished the natives is a 
mild expression. From every farmhouse in sight of their 
sails all the negroes ran toward them. They evidently 
believed the strange craft to be the Flying Dutchman or 
some other wizard and having come to plague their mas- 
ters for holding them in slavery, as never before had a 
boat been known to sail continuously up the creek, to_ say 
nothing of the great speed. The shores were almost lined 
with them, and their bare heads, glaring eyes and thick, 
red lips were such a novel sight to our voyagers that they 
never forgot it. When asked about the white race, Wil- 
kins said that their boys started also, but the negroes 
ran so fast that when it came to a long run after them 
they were nowhere. On stopping at a landing below 
Frederika, they learned that peaches in that vicinity were 
not yet ripe. 
Therefore, they started home the next day, after 
having received a kind welcome of the farmers, who 
