1958 Knarr “Arbor Love” at Oak Orchard

Special note – Arbor Love is an American Knarr sold in 2020 and hauled overland to Louisiana. She is being completely restored.

This 1st video is of the hull and deck outside and inside:

This next video shows sails, mast, rigging, cushions, some extra hull footage:

Arbor Loves, as an American Knarr she is a bit unusual. Around the mid 1950s a few yacht clubs on lake Ontario were looking for an inexpensive one design that centerboard sailors could move up to. The Norwegian yacht designer, Erling Kristofersen had designed the Knarr in 1943 during the height of WWII. A few specialized American Knarrs were produced for Lake Ontario. The exact production numbers are unknown, but it is safe to say that only a handful survive to this day. To read the history of the Knarr link: http://sfbayknarr.com/?page_id=102   The American Knarr has a larger cabin and rig carrying a bit more sail than her sisters that currently sail in San Fransisco Bay.

The above picture is Knarr being off loaded for the Buffalo Canoe Club. The raced Knarrs up til the end of the 1960s.

The story:

Arbor Love was purchased by my wife and me in the summer of 1992. We were traveling to Toronto for our honeymoon from Oak Orchard, NY. On the way, I stopped at Wilson, NY to show my wife a restaurant that we used to go to and there in the parking lot was the most beautiful boat… It was all pretty magical. I dreamed of us sailing away on the boat together. We named her Arbor Love while staying at the Delta Chelsea hotel in Toronto. Later, after arriving home, I called Mike Kesterson to see if the boat was still available. He told me a very long story about setting out to have the boat restored five years earlier.

Needless to say, I bought the boat and received, and have kept all the correspondence and receipts for work done at Five Points Marine. Mike told me the initial estimate for repairs to get the boat back in the water would be a little over $5,000. In the end it would cost him $13,000 for repairs, labor, materials, and other unseen costs.

The only background on the Knarr that Mike was able to give me was that he found her on Grand Island and the name on her was “Casper”. The sail number is US24. And, that is all I know of the history of a boat I have owned for over 20 years.

Arbor Love has lead an easy life. She has been stored indoors throughout much of the 20 years since her refurbishment at Five Points. In the mid 1990s she was raced at Point Breeze Yacht Club. And, at one time she made the 40 mile trip across Lake Ontario to Cobourg, Canada for a weekend trip. Other than that, she has been on the hard more than in the water.

Today:

At present time she has been moved outside and shrink-wrapped because indoor storage has become unavailable. She has sustained a crack to the aft trim mahogany that effects a portion of about one foot of rail that can be easily repaired. The other damage from storage is to an upper oak jumper-strut that was cracked while moved. Other than these two fixes the boat could be sailed.

The mast and boom are original. I stripped the mast to bare wood and used CPES prior to adding several coats of Interlux spar Varnish. I removed all paint from the iron keel and sealed it with coal-tar epoxy prior to adding bottom paint – this ended any iron blistering she had.

The sails… Very old dacron. I think there are two 120s, a storm jib, and a spinnaker. I have two mainsail also, but again, they are probably from the late 70s.

In order to race her I added a Harken traveler across the cockpit seats. It splits the cockpit, but made taming the main a lot easier when racing and single-handing.

Image below – Initial estimate for repairs to Arbor Love that would end up costing $13,000:

My wife and I between races:

Sailing along the beach at Oak Orchard, NY

Detailed pictures of Arbor Love: