Bill Garden published this design in his 1977 book Yacht Designs. She traces her roots to George F. Holmes who is described as the father of the canoe yawl and to Albert Strange who played a key role in developing the type. In fact, Mr. Garden named his design after one of Holmes’ boats. John MacGregor famously described his travels in a tiny canoe yawl in his book A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe. L. Francis Herreshoff’s “Rozinante” claims a similar ancestry. PickPocket is one of about 15 Eels built by Schooner Creek Boatworks in Portland between 1977 and 1987. Open cockpit, flush-decked and cuddy cabin variations were built. PickPocket is cold molded of layers of western red cedar and mahagony. She is rigged as a yawl and carries a sliding gunter main which explains the apparent contradiction in what appears to be a “boom” which is too long for the boat. The sliding gunter yields short spars for ease of trailering and makes her easily manageable for single handing. She is home ported in Portland, and tends to appear at the WBF on odd numbered years.
