peanuts

Until recently online information about Peanuts did not exist, outside of this page. When I created this page , a Google search on PEANUT, SAIL, turned up instructions for a homemade sailing pram, also called a Peanut. No images or mention of "Danish" (actually Norwegian) Peanuts appeared to exist elsewhere on the internet. Moreover, unlike Brutal Beasts, there is no generation of people who grew up sailing them; apparently they were a bit of a curiousity even when they were new. However, a more recent search has turned up a slew of pictures and information.

Peanuts are a type of sailing dinghy, once manufactured in Norway by Norsk Spraengstofindustri A/S of Oslo. The company appears to be defunct—at any rate it has no website—but was the holder of a number of patents apparently linked to the use of explosives in the mining and whaling industries, two trades that have been central to the Norse economy. (Here , here, here, and here are some links to Spraengstofindustri's various patents and products). In fact, as if the patents were not enough, the name itself means "Norwegian Explosives Manufacturers Inc." Presumably it was their work with resins and such that led to their production of these little boats, which are made of some sort of combination of resin and thin sheets of mahogany put together on a mold. In effect, each dinghy is a custom shaped piece of plywood, devoid of the ribbing and seams that is more typical of wooden boats. Peanuts have more in common with fiberglass boats than wooden ones in this respect, and some owners have turned to fiberglass techniques and materials to restore damaged craft.

Our Peanut, hull number 2551, was never given a proper name, but was always referred to as THE Peanut. Not very original, but now I cannot imagine a name that would fit her better. In 1962 or 1963, my Grandfather, Peter B. Seamans, Sr, received a call from a friend, asking if he had heard about these fabulous little mahogany dinghies from Scandinavia. Jordan Marsh (the great Boston department store of that era) had a limited supply, and they were selling for only $99. Granddaddy rushed over and grabbed one. It was not only his most spontaneous nautical purchase, ever, but (he liked to say) it was the only boat he ever put on a charge card.

A physical description is in order. A Peanut is 9.5 feet(2.9m) long overall, and 4 feet across. They are sailing dinghies, meaning that they are designed to be either rowed or sailed (If one were feeling uncharitable, one might say that Peanuts are equally poorly suited to both tasks. Actually they row very well, provided you take measures to block the daggerboard trunk, so that you don't soak your bottom). They can also take an outboard motor. Their most distinctive feature is their round bow, slightly reminiscent of a clawfoot bathtub. Their bottoms are almost completely flat, making them excellent boats for rowing through very shallow water, although there is a small skeg near the stern. A forward thwart (seat) has a hole for the mast partner, with the step immediately below, and a center thwart is attached to the daggerboard trunk. The daggerboard itself was designed to slip into place as an aft thwart.

The Peanut's sailing rig was designed to fit completely inside the boat when not in use, so that the mast is just an inch or two shy of the overall length. As sold, however, it was difficult to take advantage of this, because of a fixed gooseneck that made the entire assembly difficult to arrange for this purpose. The fixed gooseneck also made it hard to get the sail out the way for rowing, unless the entire rig was bound to the mast. Peanuts are rife with problems like this that cry out for refitting. By the time our last season rolled around, in 1997 or 1998 (I can't remember which), we had installed an adjustable gooseneck that allowed for separating mast and sail easily. We had also installed a permanent aft thwart (relieving the daggerboard of that responsibility). We had engaged in other experiments as well, more about which later.

[two Peanuts under full sail on their trailers, with their original canvas. The one on the right is not properly rigged at all. Don't know what is up with that. Both boats are for sale as of August 16 2008. #844 was last reported in upstate New York. #2296 is in or near Edinburgh, Scotland]

Probably a Peanut's most distinctive feature viewed from a distance is her sail: blue, with cotton twill trim, yellow sail numbers, and a yellow and brown Peanut-in-the-shell insignia. The typical builder's plate (ours has since been lost), reads "NORSK SPRAENGSTOFINDUSTRI A/S OSLO" preceded by the hull/sail number. These plates were made of aluminum and prone to saltwater corrosion . In the early 1990's we replaced the sail, but kept the color scheme. Some other owners have done likewise. I still have the old sail, which has faded to slightly purplish color. The rig itself was a sort of gaff/lateen hybrid, neither one nor the other. One owner calls it an "Una Lug" rig, which seems to be a way of saying the same thing. When sailing, one can choose to tack the gaff or not, depending on the circumstances.

Other Peanuts are known to exist. In local (Salem, MA) waters I have seen at least five others in the last thirty years, ranging from ones with their rigs (and other sailing paraphenalia, like their daggerboard trunks) completely removed, to ones with little tiny marconi rigs replacing the original one, to ones, like ours, that are more or less intact. One, the Pilot Fish (tender to Rum Shark) shares mooring waters in Salem with our boats. When I was in college, a friend sent me a postcard from Cape Cod, and there in the middle was another Peanut. I was especially surprised, since she had no idea what a Peanut was or that I owned one.

More recently, the boats have begun to appear online, mostly for sale on sites like eBay and Craig's List. Several of the pictures above come from such listings. Some seem to be in the UK, and some claim provenances dating back to the fifties or even the forties. Based on the sail numbers, more than 4000 were manufactured. One site lists a designer as Arnold R. Johnson, but I have not been able to find any evidence of a yacht designer of that name online.

Since the late 1990's, our family's original Peanut has been mothballed. The last time she was taken out sailing, her gooseneck snapped, which—combined with serious rot and leakage problems—has conspired to keep her ashore. In the summer of 2007, we acquired a second Peanut, for $50. Although in overall worse condition than our mothballed original, and without any of her sailing gear, she is marginally better at floating, and is in her third season of serving as a tender to our Brutal Beast, Lady. Because of her amphibious duties and her battleship gray exterior, she was been christened 1081, after my Grandfather's LST during the last year of the War.