xviiAcknowledgments
It would have been impossible to complete
this book without the support of many, many
other individuals and companies. Each gave
generously of time and knowledge so that I
could pass the information along.
Skip Burdon, John Adey, and the entire
staff at the American Boat & Yacht Council—
as ABYC has been doing for decades—not only
supplied many of the backbone standards on
which this book rests but never failed to go the
extra mile to answer knotty questions and
provide information on specialized topics. If
they didn’t know the answer, they pointed me
to someone who did. As I’ve said elsewhere,
ABYC remains the finest organization in the
industry.
My thanks to Dana Hewson, Doug Teeson,
Paul O’Pecko, and all the wonderful staff
members of Mystic Seaport—where my Con-
necticut office is located—who tend so care-
fully to the vast store of information in their
care. Whether it was the opportunity to
inspect and photograph hardware and fittings
on boats of earlier eras, or to study the origi-
nal plans of some of the most successful
designers in history, it was all there at Mystic
Seaport.
My old friend Chris Wentz was always
willing to drop what he was doing to grab a
photo of some boat feature, or to send use-
ful information, or to serve as a sounding
board nonpareil. I’m deeply grateful. Norm
Nudelman—who, years ago, was my instruc-
tor at Westlawn—still (as he always has) goes
the extra mile to help find the answer to any
question that crops up. David Applegate, of
Applegate Industrial Materials, volunteered
to send me an amazing amount of information
on dry exhaust installations. Naval architect
Chuck Neville was particularly generous in
sharing knowledge he’d garnered through
years of design.
Then there are the many dozens of indi-
viduals throughout the boating industry who
interrupted their workdays to answer ques-
tions—frequently obscure or oddball. Most
are employed by large corporations, including
Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel, Yanmar, Groco,
Forespar, Western Branch Metals, Northern
Lights, and countless more. Others are inde-
pendent designers, surveyors, and marine
technicians. Their help might have been the
answer to a single question or the forwarding
of a flyer or brochure, but without their freely
offered support, this book could not have
been written.
The wonderful crew of Professional
Boatbuildermagazine, including Carl Cramer,
Paul Lazarus, Dan Spurr, Johanna Turnquist,
and others made it possible for many of the
chapters in this book to take shape in their
first form. No other boating publication
provides a venue for such in-depth articles on
technical subjects.