Stay tuned for communication of meeting outcome and future plans

Several months ago, I accepted the chairmanship of the Shelburne Longboat Society until the end of April. At that time, the only alternative was to close the society down. I believed then, as I do now, that the SLBS is an important part of our community. In March we had two successful painting days to make one of our two boats ready for the water. Now the time has come to determine the future of the SBLS.
On Sunday April 16 we will host an open house from 2:00-3:00 at the longboat building, which is in the Osprey/Yacht Club parking area. There you can see these wonderful boats. Following the open house, all are invited to a meeting at the Osprey. While only members can vote, all are invited. We must leave that meeting with a new group of leaders: a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer. We have a volunteer for the treasurer position, but none for the others. Without people willing to take this on, the Shelburne Longboat Society will have no choice but to dissolve.
Please make every effort to attend.
We look forward to seeing you.

Jay Pilzer, Chair SLBS

Yesterday, the 12th, the Longboat building was a beehive of activity. Thanks to Bob Preston, who led the effort, and his merry band of painters and rubbish removers. Mary and Doug MacIntosh, Rachel Yellin, Pat Demolitor, Maureen Johnston, Bruce Bennett, and Karen Mattatall all pitched in. Thank you. There will be another session to finish off readying the boat on Saturday March 25 at 1:30. All are welcome. Please RSVP to shelburnelongboats@gmail.com if you would like to be part of the effort.

Thank you, Jay Pilzer

I thought it would be a great time to update all of you on the work going on at the Shelburne Longboat Society. Our first thought was to determine what we had to do to get ready for the upcoming season and with that in mind we started to tackle the boats and getting them ready. Our talented team of volunteers started work on Shelburne 1 and I have attached a few photos to show our progress. I will continue to keep you updated as the work progresses. Cheers….Pat DeMolitor

It’s only when we started to turn the boat over that we gained a real appreciation for how heavy they are….but with tackle blocks suspended to the rafters we were able to get under the boat and lift it from the trailer.

Turning it over involved a number of steps to slowly flip it without any damage.

The next step was to start stripping the paint, using heat guns and scrappers, which took our volunteers several days to complete.

An inspection revealed a couple of planks which have to be replaced…but overall the boat is in good shape…..not bad for over 14 years.