The Ship's Company of Penetanguishene
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The Ship's Company of Penetanguishene |
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HMS Badger HMS Badger on route to Wasaga Beach from Penetanguishene.
HULL LENGTH: 25 FT Badger's hull was originally an aluminum lifeboat from a great lakes freighter, the "Fort Chambly" long since scrapped. The lifeboat had spent some time in a farmer's field and was destined to be cut up for scrap. .jpg) The owner made one cut into the hull but it was too painful for him to
destroy the boat so he made an appeal for someone to buy it as a vessel for
the price of the scrap metal. (You can still see the scar where we had to
weld the cut closed). When
we first saw her she wasn't pretty but we could see the potential, so we
stripped her down and started with a bare hull. The lifeboat was double
ended but we wanted a nice wineglass transom so, instead of disturbing the
integrity of the hull, we bolted on a metal framework on the stern and
cladded it with wood. This false tansom allows us to hide an outboard
outside the original hull. Mast and spars were made from spruce trees, cut
from a nearby property. 1200 lbs of ballast are stored below the floorboards
and enough foam is hidden away to ensure positive flotation.Work on the Badger started in the fall of 2000 and it was launched without spars on July 1, 2001. Over the next winter, spars, rigging and sails were completed and it was first sailed in the summer of 2002. Now known as Penetanguishene's "Small Tall Ship", H.M.S. Badger is a familiar site sailing on Penetanguishene Bay, and regularly participates in special events, re-enactments, and community activities. Combined with crew and officers in period uniform, her overall appearance and 19th-century detail make her a real crowd-pleaser wherever she goes. Throughout the spring, summer and early fall she is moored at the Penetanguishene Town Dock, just across from the Dock Lunch.
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