The old boy was a true genius in his own right, and served as a 21st century connection to earlier 20th century geniuses...designers, writers and historians.  Not only could he think "outside the box," he could think like there never was any box when he wanted.  I always awaited his "cartoon" design studies in Messing About in Boats and the old Small Boat Journal with eager anticipation.

.....Michael

My Clam Skiff is about to go in for its 24th summer and I'm nearly done with my second Elegant Punt. My contact with Mr. Bolger was through Dynamite Payson and the Boats with an Open Mind book. I miss them both.   

   I had the distinct pleasure of working with Phil back in 1977 when I commisioned a design from him, the Felucca shown in "Different Boats". I visited him at his home in Gloucester to pick up the plans and we continued a correspondence over several years. I still have all the letters from him. He would send me ideas he thought I would enjoy. At one point I was seriously considering working for one of his clients to build a large project in Europe. I asked his advice and he wrote me a very candid and useful letter (because he knew the client intimately over a number of years and had also had the experience of working for him). It made my decision much easier.

He was an original thinker. I suppose I would differ from him greatly in political views but I really respected him. He lived his life his way and I think he enjoyed life until he felt he couldn't anymore. The world is a poorer place without him.

Allan:

Did you build Felucca?  I sort of vaguely remembered that design from back when my otherwise excellent library here in Landlubber City (Columbus, Ohio) still had a few of his old books.  I checked 'em all out so many times that the librarians were startin' to look at me suspiciously every time I came back.  I discovered that Mike O'Brien examined that design in Boat Design Quarterly #35 (I have them all), so I looked it up to refresh my memory.  A most interesting design, and I imagine she's a pretty good looking boat in 3D.

I wonder if John Harris could come up with something to approximate "Felucca" with lapstitch.  The firm bilges might be a challenge, though.  The "open" interior arrangement reminds me of the Chester Yawl setup, which I've always thought would be good for an "expedition" rowboat meant to be tented in snuggly for sleeping aboard with the sleeper's body low in the boat for stability and better sitting headroom without making the tent higher.  Heck, I've toyed with the idea of building a Chester Yawl for just that purpose; it'd be a great way to make an intimate cruise of places where much sailing isn't practical due to shallow water, rock soup, or tight places.  Core Sound (North Carolina) comes to mind as an example of the first, parts of Georgian Bay the other two.  But, I digress....

Would love to see a photo of Felucca if you have one.  It's one of his designs which demonstrates that many of his boats were not boxy things with little pretention to beauty for which he is often remembered.  The old boy could draw a good looking boat with the best of 'em when he wanted.  Heck, he learned from some of the best of 'em, come to think on it.  I wish you all joy of your happy memories of your association with Phil Bolger.  He is, indeed, missed.

.....Michael

   Michael,

I did build one example of Felucca and took photos but I haven't been able to find them. If you can find a copy of Sail and Oar by John Leather (1982) the boat was featured and there are a couple of photos of it. It sailed well but in a stiff breeze the leeboards flexed and banged against the hull. It rowed like a dream. I ended up trading it in part towards a Flicka.

Allan

Thanks for that, Allan.  I know of John Leather's book, but have never seen it.  Thanks to the Ohio Library Consortium, it is now on its way to my local Landlubber City branch.

Leeboards can be a tricky business.  I had a leeboard Sea Pearl 21 (long, skinny cat ketch) for a couple of decades.  The boards were built quite stoutly, were heavily ballasted, and were hung on substantial pivot bolts through the hull below the gun'l, arranged so they could pivot away from the hull if necessary, which didn't happen very often.  Ordinarily, one would raise the weather-side board after tacking, and the lee-side board would stay firmly against it's guard by the press of water it was deflecting.  The setup would remind you a bit of LF Herreshoff's Meadolark, which is probably not an accident--the Sea Pearl was derived from his Carpenter design.  Anyway, the arrangement worked pretty well, I thought, but the specialized hardware involved (stainless steel) was probably not cheap, and would have been a tricky business for a one-off home builder who was not a skilled machinest as well as boatwright.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures of your Felucca....

.....Michael

I finally got a copy of Sail and Oar by John Leather, where Felucca is featured on pp. 20-25.  A lovely, interesting boat.  I scanned those pages and created a PDF to share here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lt0xnep59de3dpe/Bolger%20Felucca.pdf?dl=0

...if any of you are interested.  I really like how the skeg comes up to form a sort of sternpost to get the rudder angle less than the rake of the transom.  I also note the endplate on the rudder.  Ought to have helped with the steering some, you think?

So, Allan, that's your boat in the photos?  Very nice.

.....Michael