Since our last post, summer has faded into fall, and frantic pace of the ADVENTURESS project has finally slowed down. The work list, seemingly endless and overflowing on yellow legal pads, has been whittled down to a few items. The boat has traveled to the Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors Show, the Newport International Boat Show, and the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta and thousands of people have taken off their shoes, walked over the decks, poked through the drawers and cupboards, and run their hands over the raised panel interior.

For some of us, showing the boat to someone new never gets old. Maybe the visitor knows a lot about boats, or only a little, but her reaction is often a gasp, or a short-intake of breath. She doesn't need to be a naval architect to know that she is seeing something special.

ADVENTURESS will be leaving the Rockport Marine docks as soon as the weather allows. The owner plans to keep her in Antigua for the winter, and in the spring begin her first around-the-world cruise. As a send off, I will share with you some of the exquisite pictures taken by Langley Photography. Alison Langley and Jane Kurko have been following the project since the beginning, and we are excited to finally share these images with you.

Also, stay tuned for our final video installment of the ADVENTURESS story. A co-production of OffCenterHarbor.com and Langley Photography, the final video will take you to the launch, and aboard the boat for her first sail. Enjoy!

- Maria Simpson

Views of the boat in 2009, when the boat first arrived in the shed.

Tim Clark fits a new teak bottom plank.

Marty Allwine lines the rudder tube with lead.

Burt Elliott planing wood for a deck knee.

Humidifying the bottom of the boat

Glenn Pease and more planks

Tim Watts

Tim Watts and Tim Clark (plus a lot of clamps)

Before the bulkheads were installed. Note the bronze floors, built in-house by fabricator Joel Cox.

Marty Allwine works on the deck hatches

Aft cabin

Galley and looking forward to crew quarters

Main salon

Main salon

Sam Upton