: I saw the one posting by Daren regarding Melon Seed plans. I heard they were
: in the Smithsonian collection, but I have not been able to locate them.
: Any suggestions?? Thank you all. DL

Saw a reference to a company whih built these boats based on plans in the Smithsonian. The trick is to find those plans

there is a review of a book called "Forty Wooden Boats: A Third Catalog of Building Plans" at this url:

http://sailing.about.com/library/weekly/aapr-wb40.htm

The review mentions that the design of the melonseed skiff is in this book -- however, the book seems to be a catalog of plans assembled by the editors of Woodenboat Magazine. There are no complete plans in this book.

But, as soon as I got to the Woodenboats site:

http://www.woodenboat.com/plans40.htm

they showed the book, and a run down od the plans in it. Sure enough, there were TWO versions of the melonseed. You'll find them on the list under the heading of Daysailers. They say you cna order the plnas from that webpage, but I had a gltch when I tried to use their secure online order button. they do have a free catalog of their plans, and if you aske them to send you thatthen you should be able to order the plans from it.

You might want to check out :

http://www.melonseed.com

Which is put up by a builder of these boats in fiberglass.

the info at the page n the construction tehniques and practices:

http://www.melonseed.com/construction.htm
is quite informative.

Another site with a review of this boat is:

http://www.widgetsailor.com/sbjournal/melonseed/melon1.html

STOP THE PRESSES> WE HAVE A WINNER>>>
From a website devoted to the sailors of melonseeds (they call themselves "melonheads" comes a blurb with the answer to your question.

from:

http://home.earthlink.net/~follansbee4/melonhead/

is the following:

Want to get Chapelle's original melonseed plan drawings?
Send $5 plus $5 shipping and handling to :
Transportation Collection
Room 5010 MRC 628
Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC 20560
And ask for drawings by Howard Chapelle of the "New Jersey Melonseed Skiff".

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Hope this helps.

PGJ