The Frank Penney Boat Shop    
    The Frank F. Penney Boatshop was originally built as the laundry building for the old Brooklyn Hotel in Center Moriches. When the hotel burned down, Mr. Penney jumped at the chance to rescue this building for use in his boatyard. This fine old building was floated down the Great South Bay from Moriches to its present site in 1978.    
 

Today the Penney Shop serves the same purpose it did in 1900. It is the center of our boat building and restoration programs. Come inside and smell the freshly milled lumber, the wet varnish and the crackling fire in the wood stove, still the only heat in the building.

Volunteers and students tackle a variety of projects in the shop. Recent ones have included the simultaneous restoration of SS#8, Eight Ball, and construction of an SS replica. This sleek sixteen-foot, gaff-rigged sloop was once one of many on the south shore of Long Island. The replica,#155, christened Barry A has joined the fleet of SS’s still sailing in the Moriches area.

Boatbuilding students are currently finishing up on the Gil Smith Catboat, a sailing skiff taken from a design by Long Islander Gilbert M. Smith. She was originally launched in 2008 and will have anew suit of sails in 2009.

    
   

Projects are ongoing, and new volunteers are always welcome!

Continue the tour with The Boat Basin

    
 
   
           
 
This site created by Angelsail
2009