HMCo #622s Curlew

"... Although the damage of the recent storm at Marblehead was very heavy, a checkup reveals that most of the boats can be repaired, and to date only two craft, the Herreshoff knockabout Curlew and the 17-footer Byng, have been taken over by their underwriters as total losses and even this pair may eventually be reconstructed. ... [The knockabout Curlew is apparently #622s Curlew.] " (Source: Anon. "Notes from the Week's Log." Boston Globe, October 11, 1936, p. A24.)

"[Item Transcription:] [Handwritten (in ink) signed letter:] On thinking it over I have decided that the 18ft class [Buzzards Bay 18] is rather too large for our needs. I hope instead you can make for us a boat [#622s CURLEW] of the VIREO's [#459s] model [Model 200 at HMM], but with the following modifications: an increased over-hang at the stern and a [p. 2] very little more at the bow if necessary to offset the longer stern. Thus, in order to get the same sized boat as the VIREO, it would be necessary to cut down the water-line length, and so I suggest that the L.W.L. be from 16-17 ft. & the over-all length from 23-24 ft. This purposely gives you leeway for getting proper proportions. The next change [p. 3] is to have a house of the same length & height as those of the 18 footers, and of a width proportionately the same with the width of the boat, Beside this I think we want t a medium rig, a stout mast, no runners & not to long a boom out over the stern.
I am writing to Mr. John Herreshoff about the price.
If you can finish such a boat as described [p. 4] July 1st I should be very glad, but I recognize that I have been late in giving the order. I hope to see you again in a few weeks, and I want to thank [you] for your kindness & attention to me the other day.
Very sincerely,
Henry S. Forbes" (Source: Forbes, Henry S. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_23210. Correspondence, Folder 68. 1904-05-12.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Handwritten (in ink) signed letter:] I hope that I did not sound, at the telephone, as if I were trying to get you to squeeze in as much as possible for the price agreed upon. This was very far from my intention. I wished, merely, to make clear the terms of our first agreement, as I understand them to abide by these terms. Until I read the contract, [p. 2] I understood that the $1500 was to include the knockabout [#622s CURLEW] with outfit complete and tender [#190422es] with outfit complete, which I supposed to be similar to that of the AZOR's tender [#190207es]. Your brother said in his letter: 'with an 11 1/2ft tender complete with oars etc'. This, I took it, include all that our present tender holds, especially as [p. 3] the size was the same.
This I am not asking more for the same price, but I am simply restating my first offer. I am sorry not to have been more specific in the first place.
Hoping to hear favorably from you, I am
Very sincerely,
Henry S. Forbes" (Source: Forbes, Henry S. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_23190. Correspondence, Folder 68. (1904 ?)-05-18.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Handwritten (in ink) signed letter with 'Naushon' letterhead:] I have been meaning to tell you before this that the little knockabout CURLEW [#622s CURLEW] is thoroughly satisfactory from stem to stern. She steers & balances splendidly & is stiff in a strong breeze.
She is an improvement on the VIREO [#459s], we think [p. 2] with her house & longer stern. The tender [#190422es], also, is first rate & is great fun to have with the AZOR's [#190207es].
Thanking you for your time & thought, I am
Very sincerely yours,
Henry S. Forbes" (Source: Forbes, Henry S. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_23140. Correspondence, Folder 68. (1904 ?)-07-31.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #622s Curlew even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Curlew (HMCo-made index card)
• Curlew (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: Curlew
Type: J & M
Length: 17'
Owner: Forbes, H. S.

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

• Curlew
• 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: Curlew
Type: 17'J & M
Owner: H. S. Forbes
Row No.: 138

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: May
Day: 14
Year: 1904
E/P/S: S
No.: 0622
Name: Curlew
LW: 17'
B: 7' 6"
D: 2' 7"
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: Lead O.
Amount: 1500.00
Last Name: Forbes
First Name: H. S.

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.

"See also: Mystic Seaport, Daniel S. Gregory Ships Plans Library, Miscellaneous Yachts Collection. 29.107. UNIDENTIFIED; 26 ft. sloop. Designer, Nathanael G. Herreshoff; Design #622; Builder, Herreshoff Manufacturing Company; 1904." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 13, 2011.)

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