by Guest » March 16, 2018, 7:42 am
wlbblw wrote:I had 3 friends that worked for ASC over a span of 30 or 40 years. All 3 of them disliked the Acorn. They felt she was a bargin basement design & was already showing her age 20 years ago. They’re all retired now but I’d bet if they were still sailing, they’d be happy to see her go. Every one of them to a man preferred the Bayship boats a lot better.
That's what I have heard. I worked on the Earl W. Oglebay (Manitwoc) and the Compass/Acorn is it's "big near sister" and the Earl wasn't a bad boat to "work" but it wasn't much for refinement of finishing touches. I imagine the Acorn is very similar, the only difference besides dimensions is the EMD engines and controllable pitch prop (which is an up grade from the Alco's and fixed pitch on the Triplets). I sailed with a few guys who worked the Adam E. Cornelius when she was on charter to Inland and they also said she wasn't the greatest. The reoccurring story I kept hearing was that she was built fairly flexible/light (more so then average) and that when you put the boom over the side all the cabin doors on the other side stuck. One equated it to the Trenton and Buffalo groundings and the resulting repairs. I also heard she had very pronounced propeller walk and you have to keep an eye on her more than normal. This however is all second hand and they could just be sea stories. Oddly enough I always liked the way those 4 ships (Acorn, Norton, Wolverine, Oglebay) looked, I wish they had placed the stacks on the Acorn like the other 3.
[quote="wlbblw"]I had 3 friends that worked for ASC over a span of 30 or 40 years. All 3 of them disliked the Acorn. They felt she was a bargin basement design & was already showing her age 20 years ago. They’re all retired now but I’d bet if they were still sailing, they’d be happy to see her go. Every one of them to a man preferred the Bayship boats a lot better.[/quote]
That's what I have heard. I worked on the Earl W. Oglebay (Manitwoc) and the Compass/Acorn is it's "big near sister" and the Earl wasn't a bad boat to "work" but it wasn't much for refinement of finishing touches. I imagine the Acorn is very similar, the only difference besides dimensions is the EMD engines and controllable pitch prop (which is an up grade from the Alco's and fixed pitch on the Triplets). I sailed with a few guys who worked the Adam E. Cornelius when she was on charter to Inland and they also said she wasn't the greatest. The reoccurring story I kept hearing was that she was built fairly flexible/light (more so then average) and that when you put the boom over the side all the cabin doors on the other side stuck. One equated it to the Trenton and Buffalo groundings and the resulting repairs. I also heard she had very pronounced propeller walk and you have to keep an eye on her more than normal. This however is all second hand and they could just be sea stories. Oddly enough I always liked the way those 4 ships (Acorn, Norton, Wolverine, Oglebay) looked, I wish they had placed the stacks on the Acorn like the other 3.