Hello fans of BMC and the Porcupine Project,

Porcupine’s path from concept to sailing will be paved with drawings from our Naval Architect, Iver Franzen. Each one is meticulously crafted and necessary to both evoke the vessel’s 19th century namesake and obtain United States Coast Guard certification. The first of these, the Lines Drawing, is complete and in our hands. Historically called the draught (pronounced “draft”), this technical extravaganza compresses all the information necessary for shaping the hull into a single page. It can be a dense and dizzying document to the unaccustomed.

The Lines Drawing, or “Draught,” showing Porcupine’s complete hull form.

In contrast, the next set is arguably the most accessible and fascinating for both seasoned sailor and casual observer alike—the accommodation plan. More than just a schematic of furniture and machinery, this is a graphic ordering of how the finished vessel will live and breathe. Class room space here, galley there; where will the tankage go? How many bunks are there? Is the chart table full size? So many questions that have racked the brain will crystallize in two drawings, plan and profile, showing both the overhead and side view in common connecting scale.

With her mission as Presque Isle Bay’s Schoolship ever in mind, these plans will highlight Porcupine’s classroom spaces, both on deck and below. And once the spaces themselves can be envisioned, it’s an easy reach for the mind to picture the thousands of students who will soon gather in those spaces, their minds opened to a world of science, ecology and history. (Grown-up students, don’t worry, we’ve got programs and bunks for you too.) At a finished size of 42 by 14 feet, Porcupine will be, in a word, cozy. But with creative thinking and economy of design, we will outfit our little schooner perfectly for her large scale mission as a sustainable, high-profile Bayfront Asset. 

At the end a long stretch of winter, the accommodation plan can cut the cold with images of the finished Porcupine plying the softer, summer waters of Presque Isle Bay or lying happily at anchor, teeming with eager minds. A snug home for learning and adventure, well appointed and perfectly in place on the waters she and her crew call home.

Captain Jamie Trost