HMCo #76p Idle Hour

"[1881-02-24] Thu 24: ... 60ft yacht no 76 [#76p Idle Hour] will be planked by 1st of March. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1881. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Unusual activity is displayed at the Herreshoff works and much yacht work is in hand. ... The steamer Camilla [HMCo #72p Camilla], built for Dr. J. G. Holland, will be ready for delivery in a very short time and a second one [HMCo #76p Idle Hour], 60 ft. long by 9 ft. beam, very much the same in model and arrangement, will soon be turned over to her owner, Mr. B. J. Carver, of this city. Still a third one [HMCo #78p Juliet] is to be built for Mr. A. N. Morris, also of this city. When this batch of triplets steam in circles around the clumsy productions nearer home the public will begin to think with us that Bristol carries off the palm for high speed. ..." (Source: Anon. (C. P. Kunhardt?) "Yacht Building at Bristol." Forest and Stream, March 10, 1881, p. 117.)

"Idle Hour, steam yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., 1881.
15.41 tons; 55 ft. x 8.8 ft. x 5.5 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No deck, no mast, plain head, pointed stem.
Surveyed and measured, April 21, 1881." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Idle Hour.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 110:]
Idle Hour, steam yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1881.
15.41 tons; 55 ft. x 8.8 ft. x 5.5 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([for] C[oastal] T[rade]) Apr. 29, 1881. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: C. H. Emery. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence]).
Lic[ensed] ([for] C[oastal] T[rade]) May 19, 1882. Owner: same. Master: John B. Herreshoff, Bristol.
Surrendered [license] Nov. 23, 1882 at New York, N.Y. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence])." (Source: Survey of Federal Archives, Work Projects Administration. Ships Documents of Rhode Island. Bristol. Ship Registers and Enrollments of the Port of Bristol - Warren Rhode Island, 1941, s.v. Idle Hour.)

"This company is now having erected a large frame building in addition to and adjoining the machine shop and boat works on Summer street, the new building being as large or larger than the original building, where so many fine large and small craft have been constructed and such a variety of first class machinery has been turned out. We visited the establishment a day or two since and by the politeness of Mr. Charles F. Herreshoff, were shown through the various departments of their busy shops.
Among the vessels now being built to order are --- one steam yacht [#72p Camilla] 60 feet in length by 9 feet in width for Dr. Holland, editor of Scribner's Monthly; another [#76p Idle Hour] of the same size for Mr. Carver, a prominent broker of New York city; and still another [#77p Edith] of the same size for a Mr. Woodward, also of New York; also one steam yacht [#78p Juliet], 45 feet long and 9 feet wide, for Mr. A. Newbold Morris, of New York.
A most beautiful steam launch [#73p Launch for St. Y. Radha], 30 feet in length and 5 feet in width, nearly completed, was receiving the final touches of the skilled workmen. This vessel is for Mr. T. Lorillard, and is one of the finest and handsomest craft ever built in this or any other country. Her keel is of oak, the inside planking of cherry, and the outside, from keel to upper works, deck, etc., all of polished mahogany. We noticed that this launch and the others mentioned were all put together with brass screws, --- no nails being used. The inside planking (or boarding) is put on in an acute angle from the outside planking, making the vessel much firmer and less liable to be wrenched or twisted out of shape.
All of the yachts and the launch mentioned are, or will be fitted with the Herreshoff compound engines, and safety coil boilers. ...
It is a specialty at this establishment to do nothing but first-class work, to build no second rate vessels. All the steam launches and yachts are finished up in the very best workmanlike manner in cherry, mahogany and costly kinds of wood. The Company has now in its employ about one hundred men, on boats and machinery." (Source: Anon. "The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company." Bristol Phoenix, March 19, 1881, p. 2.)

"A handsome steam yacht, built for New York parties, was launched last Tuesday [April 19, 1881] morning from the yard of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [The article does not mention the yacht's name, but the Construction Report lists only one steam yacht (the other boat being a steam launch) that was launched in April 1881: #76p Idle Hour. Note also that Idle Hour was measured by the U.S. Custom House two days later, on April 21, 1881.]" (Source: Anon. "Local Notes." Bristol Phoenix, April 23, 1881, p. 2.)

"The following is a list of the steam yachts built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, R.I: ... Idle Hour, built 1879, for B. F. Carver. Length, 60 feet; breadth, 9 feet; depth, 4 feet 7 inches; draught, 3 feet 5 inches; speed, 15 miles per hour. ..." (Source: Jaffray, Edward S. "American Steam Yachting." Outing, April 1886, p. 23-25.)

"Yesterday afternoon Fred R. Greene and friends made the trip by Canal to Fort Plain in his yacht 'Idle Hour' in three hours. Among those in the party were John K. Warnuck, James Voorhees, J. E. Voorhees, Mid. Wanuck, Willis Wendell, Charles E. Bell and the Sahford glee club." (Source: Anon. "The Mohawk Valley." Albany Journal, October 12, 1888, p. 8.)

"May 25 [1895]. --- Fred. R. Greene has sold his yacht Idle Hour to George F. Bulen of New York." (Source: Anon. "Notes From Out of Town." Troy Daily Times, New York, May 11, 1895, p. 4.)

"WEST POINT, Oct. 11 [1897]. --- The steam yacht Idle Hour was stranded on the rocks where the Hudson rounds West Point, on the north side, at 6 o'clock last night. That the boat is not now at the bottom of the river is due wholly to chance.
The Idle Hour had a jolly party of twenty-one aboard, six of whom were women. The boat was in the middle of the river, where the current at all times is very strong. A strong wind was blowing inshore. The place is considered dangerous by Hudson River navigators, and all the largest steamboats go through this cut at half speed. When directly opposite Gee's Point the pilot in charge prepared to turn. The yacht slowed up, and the tide and wind soon carried it shoreward. In another minute it was on the rocks.
Cadets Kerth and Scott, who had been walking along the shore, heard the cries for help of those on board. They procured the boat at the lighthouse, and soon the women were landed. In attempting to get into the small boat, a woman fell overboard, but the rescuers pulled her on board, and, beyond a wetting, she was not injured.
After remaining on the rocks for three hours, the Idle Hour floated off, apparently uninjured. The yachting party went by train to New York.
The Idle Hour is a craft of 15 1/2 tons, 60 feet in length, 9 feet beam, depth 5.5 feet and draught 3.5 feet. She was built by the Herreshoffs, at Bristol, R. I in 1881 and is owned by George F. Bulen of New York." (Source: Anon. "A Yacht On The Rocks. The Idle Hour, with Twenty-one Persons on Board, Driven Ashore Near West Point." New York Times, October 12, 1897, p. 1.)

"...The steam yacht Idle Hour has been sold through A. Perry Bliven to a Boston yachtsman whose name is withheld for the present. The Idle Hour was built at Bristol in 1881, on J. B. Herreshoff's designs. She measures 60 feet over all, 55 feet 3 inches on the water line, 16 feet beam, 6 feet 3 inches in depth, and 5 feet 6 inches draught. Although a comparatively old boat, the Idle Hour has a reputation for speed, her best performance being seven miles in 20 minutes. She now lies in Bouton's Basin, at the foot of Fifty-sixth Street, South Brooklyn, where she will receive a new stern and be fitted with a Bliven speed wheel that is expected to increase her pace at least a mile an hour. The remodeled yacht will be placed in charge of Capt. Thompson, and will be taken to Boston in April." (Source: Anon. (W. J. H.) "Notes for Yachtsmen." New York Times, April 3, 1900, p. 10.)

"Eugene H. Clapp of Boston is announced as the purchaser of the steam yacht Idle Hour, formerly owned by Albert A. Guigues. The Idle Hour has undergone elaborate alterations, including a rebuilt stern and the introduction of a Bliven speed wheel, at Hansen's shipyard, South Brooklyn. She left for Boston Saturday under the command of Capt. Thompson, and will be placed in service at once by her new owner." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." New York Times, May 13, 1900, p. ?)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Handwritten notebook titled in ink '1881. (Supplies.) 60ft Yacht[s]. 48ft Vidette. 45ft Vidette' listing 'Supplies [delivered by HMCo] for 60ft Steam Yachts with 6 and 10 1/2 x 10 Engine & Ii boiler [#76p IDLE HOUR, #72p CAMILLA, #77p EDITH, #79p DIDO]. Also 'Supplies for 45 feet open yacht with 4 1/4 and 7 x 7 engine, G boiler' [#78p Juliet]. Also 'Supplies for 48 feet Vidette boats Nos 74 and 75 [#74p and #75p]'. Also 'List of spare parts for 8 and 14 x 9 Engines. Str. #74 & #75 [#74p and #75p]'. Including an inserted penciled note listing anchors and cables supplied for #590s INGOMAR." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.143. Notebook. Box HAFH.6.5B, Folder Supply List for Vessels. 1881.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Newspaper clipping that can be shown to be from the Bristol Phoenix, March 19, 1881, p. 2:] This company is now having erected a large frame building in addition to and adjoining the machine shop and boat works on Summer street, the new building being as large or larger than the original building, where so many fine large and small craft have been constructed and such a variety of first class machinery has been turned out. We visited the establishment a day or two since and by the politeness of Mr. Charles F. Herreshoff, were shown through the various departments of their busy shops.
Among the vessels now being built to order are --- one steam yacht [#72p Camilla] 60 feet in length by 9 feet in width for Dr. Holland, editor of Scribner's Monthly; another [#76p Idle Hour] of the same size for Mr. Carver, a prominent broker of New York city; and still another [#77p Edith] of the same size for a Mr. Woodward, also of New York; also one steam yacht [#78p Juliet], 45 feet long and 9 feet wide, for Mr. A. Newbold Morris, of New York.
A most beautiful steam launch [#73p Launch for St. Y. Radha], 30 feet in length and 5 feet in width, nearly completed, was receiving the final touches of the skilled workmen. This vessel is for Mr. T. Lorillard, and is one of the finest and handsomest craft ever built in this or any other country. Her keel is of oak, the inside planking of cherry, and the outside, from keel to upper works, deck, etc., all of polished mahogany. We noticed that this launch and the others mentioned were all put together with brass screws, --- no nails being used. The inside planking (or boarding) is put on in an acute angle from the outside planking, making the vessel much firmer and less liable to be wrenched or twisted out of shape.
All of the yachts and the launch mentioned are, or will be fitted with the Herreshoff compound engines, and safety coil boilers.
Two vedette boats [#74p 149 and #75p 150] are being built, each 48 by 9 feet, for the British government, both to be fitted with compound machinery and boilers, same as others mentioned, but of greater power. The yacht Sadie [#186704es] is being enlarged and rebuilt; she was formerly a sloop, but is now a schooner; her dimensions now are, length, 64 feet, breadth, 16 1/2 feet; she is owned by Mr. W. A. Cole, of New York.
They now have, nearly completed, a compound engine and boiler for a yacht 80 feet long, belonging to Mr. Mark Hopkins, of Detroit, Mich., where the machinery will be put in the yacht. The cut be-low is a very good representation of the Herreshoff Compound Engine. [Woodcut of a compound steam engine]
A writer in a recent number of the Scientific American says: The engines used in the Herreshoff system for marine purposes are of the compound condensing type, having feed and air pumps attached. The machinery of this system is especially noteworthy for its extreme lightness and for the judicious distribution of material, all of the parts having ample strength, and no portion being loaded with useless metal, which would rather detract than add to the efficiency of the machine. These engines use the steam with the highest economy, actual and prolonged tests having proved the efficiency to be at least 40 per cent greater than that of the non-expanding type. As to mechanical details of construction, finish proportion and general design these engines leave nothing to be desired.' The same writer concludes his article as follows: 'The entire range of the manufactures of the Herreshoff company exhibit careful and intelligent supervision, and workmanship that is in every way superior.'
The steam yacht LEILA [#40p], 100 feet in length, built by the Herreshoffs about two years ago, has recently been sold to a Club, at Toledo, O., where she will be forwarded about the first of May next.
The Company are building a number of engines and boilers for United States Navy launches, also constructing engines and boilers for running electrical light machines to be used by the United States Electric Lighting Co., of New York. The quickness with which steam may be raised, the freedom from danger of explosion, the lightness of both boiler and engine, and the perfection of the mechanical details, render this system valuable for this purpose, and admits of placing powerful machines in the midst of crowded cities without danger to life or property.'
It is a specialty at this establishment to do nothing but (first-class work, to build no second rate vessels. All the steam launches and yachts are finished up in the very best workmanlike manner in cherry, mahogany and costly kinds of wood. The Company has now in its employ about one hundred men, on boats and machinery.
It is a specialty at this establishment to do nothing but first-class work, to build no second rate vessels. All the steam launches and yachts are finished up in the very best workmanlike manner in cherry, mahogany and costly kinds of wood. The Company has now in its employ about one hundred men, on boats and machinery." (Source: Anon. "The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company." Bristol Phoenix, March 19, 1881, p. 2.)" (Source: Bristol Phoenix (creator). Newspaper Clipping. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE14_01220. Folder [no #]. 1881-03-19.)
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"[Item Description:] On HMCo stationery, 'by direction of Mr. Nat cabled you yesterday 'three, assyrian, eleventh, well', means #43p KELPIE and 2 Navy launches [#80p and #81p] are to go by ASSYRIAN MONARCH on 11th Oct [1881] ... the BARSTOW is to take from here and hoist them onto the A.M's deck', ice in my yard, 'houses no 1, 2, 3 = 4' o.k., Justin goes to school, Mr. Nat & myself still continue to get along finely, it makes it quite hard for Mr Nat to attend to all, the different departments (he has not said so however I judge from appearance), I have tried to help, please remember me to Mr. Seabury & Gray, H & B U.S. Inspector just arrived to inspect No 84 [#84p Launch for St. Y. PASTIME], she is a beauty, 76 [#76p IDLE HOUR] names now on J.R.[?], all seem satisfied." (Source: Smith, J. F. Letter to Herreshoff, J.B. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 86.31. HMM Library Rare Books Room (Various), Folder [no #]. 1881-10-07.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #76p Idle Hour even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Idle Hour (HMCo-made index card)
• Idle Hour (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

Name: Idle Hour
Type: Steam
Length: 60'
Owner: Carver, B. F.

Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.

• Idle Hour
• Idle Hour
• 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: Idle Hour
Type: 60' steam
Owner: B. F. Carver
Year: 1879
Row No.: 293

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.

Year: 1881
E/P/S: P
No.: 076
Name: Idle Hour
OA: 60'

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"The Construction Record and Manning's 1890/1891 Yacht List reports Idle Hour to have been finished in April 1881, while Olsen's 1885 Yacht List and Edward Jaffray in his 1886 Outing Article report her to have been built in 1879." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"In the absence of better available data displacement was estimated by using the figure for Gross Register Tons (15.41) from the 1890-91 Manning's American Yacht List (Net Register Tons were reported as 7.98) 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.