Herreshoff #187007es Surf

"The sail boat Surf, twenty-two feet long, owned by William Loring, of Boston, and built by Mr. Johnn B. Herreshoff, of this town, recently made a remarkable boat trip, as follows: leaving Brenton's reef off Newport at five o'clock, A. M., on Saturday the 23d inst., arriving at Beverly, twenty miles north of Boston, at 1,45 P. M., on Sunday, stopping seven hours and a half of the intervening night off the beach at Nausett lights, making the distance of one hundred eighty-five miles in twenty-five and a quarter hours, the wind blowing steadily from the south-west." (Source: Anon. "Fast Sailing." Bristol Phoenix, July 30, 1870, p. 2.)

"... One of the most interesting and memorable cruises of my life was exceedingly brief in respect of both time and knots reeled off. The first two days our best endeavors resulted in a total of nine knots, three of which were made involuntarily and much to our surprise, not to say dismay.
The boat was a catboat, built about 1872 by the Herreshoffs, and originally named the Surf. So strongly was she timbered and planked that to-day she is in good condition, I understand, and has never needed more than ordinary repairs. She has never been replanked, nor has her frame been renewed in any part during these twenty-eight years. At the time that I bought her I wanted a 'single-hander,' and a catboat was then the only boat that could be properly so called. I re-named her Trojan, and found her seaworthy, easy to handle and of a fair turn of speed. In these days she is not as far behind new boats of her general type as might be thought. Her dimensions were 26 feet 6 inches over all, 23 feet 6 inches water line, 9 feet 6 inches beam, and 3 feet draught without the centerboard, which drew four feet more.
She was the only boat that I ever sailed that would keep steadily on a course, close-hauled or free, with a lashed wheel. For a catboat, her performances in this respect were little less than miracles. ..." (Source: Lewis, Walter C. "A Memorable Cruise". Rudder, May 1900, p. 203.)

"[Item Description:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) table providing what amounts to be the earliest Herreshoff construction record with detailed dimensional data (Name, Owner, Length on deck, Length on water, Breadth extreme, Depth, Deadrise per foot, Width of stern, Sheer, Freeboard at bow, stern and lowest place, Centreboard length, Centreboard from woodends, Centre of mast from woodends, Bowsprit out board, Mainsail foot, hoist, head, leech, and area, Foresail foot, hoist, head, leech, and area, Jib foot, hoist, leech, and area, Gafftopsail foot, luff, leech, and area, Fore-gafftopsail foot, luff, leech, and area, Jibtopsail foot, hoist, leech, and area and Notes ) for Julia [#185602es], Sprite [#186001es], Kelpie 1st [#186301es], Magic [#186404es], Toad [#186411es], Prudence [#186406es], Patience [#186405es], Hope [#186402es], Faith [#186401es], Qui Vive [#186407es], Kelpie 2nd [#186403es], Teazer [#186410es], Secret [#186408es], Fish Boats [#186505es, #186506es, #186507es, #186508es, #186509es, #186510es, #186511es, #186512es], Fish Boats [#186513es, #186514es, #186515es, #186516es, #186517es, #186518es], Fanchon [#186501es], Angie [#186503es], Haidee [#186604es], Ariel [#186601es], Psyche [#186605es], Fannie 1st [#186603es], Violet [#186606es], Fish Boats [#186607es, #186608es], Fish Boats [#186609es, #186610es, #186611es, #186612es, #186613es, #186614es], Lively Whale [later Daisy ???] [#186707es ???], Fannie 2nd [#186702es], Hartford [later Polly ???] [#186703es ???], Sadie [#186704es], Clytie [#186701es], Waterfall [N/A], Bristol [#186801es], Ione [#187003es], Poppasquash [#186502es], Etta [N/A], Oysterboats [#186710es, #186711es], Spring Green [#186709es], Pellican [#186708es], Henrietta [N/A], Meteor [N/A], Fatter[?] [N/A], Annie Moies [#1p], Charlotte [#186803es], Annie [#186905es], Hildegard [#186808es], Thetis [#186705es], Clio [#187101es], Fleetwing [N/A], White Straw[?] [N/A], [Mignone] [#186904es], Fish Boats [square stern, 1868] [N/A], Sadie [#N/A (dupl. listing)], Fannie [N/A], Bunsby [#186802es], Orion [#186903es], Breeze [N/A], Nimbus [#186805es], Alice [crossed out, this MIGHT be Bessie] [#187001es], Viking [#187008es], [Ianthe] [#187002es], [Surf] [#187007es], [Georgie Miller] [#187011es], and [Pink] [#187010es]. Undated, the latest vessel on the list was built in 1870." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator) or other Herreshoff family members (?) (creator). Construction Record. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_01410. Folder [no #]. No date (ca 1870).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #187007es Surf even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Surf
• Note: The L. Francis Herreshoff index cards comprise a set of some 1200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and / or ownership information. Apparently compiled in the early 1930s, for later HMCo-built boats like the Fishers Island 23s or the Northeast Harbor 30s are not included. Added to in later decades, apparently by L. F. Herreshoff as well as his long-time secretary Muriel Vaughn and others. Also 46 cards of L. F. Herreshoff-designed vessels. The original set of index cards is held by the Herreshoff Marine Museum and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.

Name: Surf
Type: 21' 9" sloop
Owner: W. C. Loring
Year: 1872
Row No.: 664

Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Partial List of Herreshoff-Built Boats." In: Herreshoff, L. Francis. Capt. Nat Herreshoff. The Wizard of Bristol. New York, 1953, p. 325-343.

"In the absence of better available data displacement was estimated by using the figure for Old Measurement Tons (5) from the 1885 Olsen's American Yacht List and converting to lbs by dividing through 2000 (short tons). Note that this figure can only be a rough estimate because register tons as reported in Yacht Registers correlate only loosely with actual displacement figures." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 17, 2015.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.