HMCo #433s Mojave

"[1893-07-03] Mon 3: Launched Mojave #433." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1893. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"... The Herreshoffs are putting the cabin joiner work in the 90ft. steamer [#173p Kalolah], the 30 [#430s Bonnie Doon] and 25-footer [#428s Merry Thought] are about completed, and they have lately received orders for a catboat [apparently #433s Mojave] and jib and mainsail boat [?], each 20ft. long, for New York." (Source: Anon. "New Yachts." Forest and Stream, December 22, 1892, p. 545.)

"With one large cutter [#429s Navahoe] on the stocks, another keel [#435s Colonia] ready to lay and a probable order for a third [#437s Vigilant], to say nothing of more than the usual number of small racers and steam yachts, the Herreshoff shop is a busy place just now. ...
The general work of the Herreshoffs includes several steamers, the largest [#175p Louise] for Chas. B. Hayden, of Columbus, O., is 102ft. over all, 14ft. beam, and intended for lake and inland work. ...
The next steam yacht [#173p Kalolah] will be of similar model but 92ft. over all and 76ft. l.w.l. ... A third steam yacht for Mr. R. M. Riddle [#174p Loon] will be 62ft. over all, 10ft. beam. Beside these is a 28ft. navy launch for the Enterprise [#176p Launch for Massachusetts school ship Enterprise].
Little was heard last season of a 30ft. centerboard racer sent in July to Great South Bay for John W. Masury [#426s Edith M.], but the boat proved so successful that the firm are now building another for John Gibb [#430s Bonnie Doon], for racing in the same waters. ... There is also a 25ft. shoal draft cat [#428s Merry Thought] for an unknown owner [John P. Crozer], a racing boat; and two 21-footers [#433s Mojave and #434s Kite] of the Alpha [#416s Alpha ] type [sic, Alpha was a sloop, Mojave and Kite catboats]. Miss Sutton, owner of Wee Win, has ordered a 1-rater [#431s Mirwena (Morwena)], a fin-keel, and another [#436s Bubble] has been ordered by an Austrian yachtsman. There is also a 17ft. l.w.l. centerboard racer [#432s Viola] for an unknown owner [Howard Marston]." (Source: Anon. "Building." Forest and Stream, January 19, 1893, p. 61.)

"BEVERLY Y. C.
The 203d race, fourth open sweepstakes, was sailed off Monument Beach, Sept 2 [1893]. Wind at start was a light westerly breeze, but it looked as if it would breeze up, and many of the smaller boats started reefed. After start wind shifted to S.W. and after third and fifth class boats had finished and second and fourth classes were nearing the line, an ugly S. W. squall broke, sending them all across the line within 90 seconds of each other and with all the wind they wanted. A feature of the race was the presence of the new Herreshoff boat Mojave third class. She did exceedingly well, winning by 2 1/2 m., but part of this was due to the change of wind:
... THIRD CLASS,
Mojave, W. N. Murray, B.Y. C. ...
The 204th race, second open race, was sailed Sept 4 [1893] at Monument Beach in a moderate and very streaky northwester. ... In third class the famous Herreshoff Mojave had a bad beating from Gilt Edge, and from the manner in which she reefed down it looked as if she would not be in it with the local boats in an ordinary southwester. Unfortunately both her races were sailed in moderate westerly breezes and smooth water, a very uncommon thing on the bay.
... THIRD CLASS.
Gilt Edge, D. L. Whittemore, B. Y. C. 19.07, 1:57:18, 1:39:23 [Length, Elapsed, Corrected]
Mojave, W. Y. Murray, B. Y. C., 20.00, 2:00:26, 1:43:06 [Length, Elapsed, Corrected] ..." (Source: Anon. "Beverly Y. C." Forest and Stream, September 16, 1893, p. 238.)

"[Item Transcription:] [Penciled list of sailing boats built by HMCo in the winter of 1892/1893:]
428 [#428s] MERRY THOUGHT. 25ft w.l. Cat. Crozer
429 [#429s] NAVAHOE. 84ft w.l. Sloop. Carroll
430 [#430s] BONNIE DOON. 30ft w.l. Sloop.
431 [#431s] MORWENA. 1 Rater. England
432 [#432s] VIOLA. 176t w.l. Cat. Boston
433 [#433s] MOJAVE. 20ft w.l. Cat. Murray
434 [#434s] KITE. 20ft w.l. J[ib] & M[ainsail]. Peet
435 [#435s] COLONIA. 85ft w.l. Sydicate
436 [#436s] BUBBLE. 1 Rater. One-Rater. Sail New Draft. Austria
437 [#437s] VIGILANT. 85ft w.l. Sydicate
438 [#438s] MENEEN. 2 1/2 Rater. Jackson." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Penciled List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_04410. Folder [no #]. No date (1893-07 or later).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #433s Mojave even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Mojave (HMCo-made index card)
• Mojave (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: Mojave
Type: Cat
Length: 21'
Owner: Murray, W.N

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

• Mojave
• 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: Mojave
Type: 20' cat
Owner: William N. Murray
Year: 1893
Row No.: 449

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.

Month: Dec
Day: 12
Year: 1892
E/P/S: S
No.: 0433
Name: Mojave
LW: 21'
B: 8' 1"
D: 2' 0"
Rig: Cat
CB: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: $1500.00
Notes Constr. Record: part ballast inside D.416
Last Name: Murray
First Name: W. N.

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.

"Built in 203 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $7/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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