Ah, now I understand a little more about the rig. Looks like there is a mizzen mast that is not intended for a sail, but for a fastening point for the Bolger hybrid version of junk rig sheets. That would complicate things!

An interesting article is here, about the rig changes, and some of the boat's travels.

Not only is Alert going strong but also Stan, the boats 2^nd owner, is planning to attend the New England junket Sept.15^th -17^th. Yes, she still is a lovely and loved boat with some very interesting features. It seems that despite some short comings of the previous junk sail, Stan had enough experience while junk rigged to appreciate its advantages and wants to learn more. Stan got to know Jim Melcher well enough to attend his funeral and help his family spread Jim's ashes in the Bay.

Shemaya has been the force behind getting this junket going but I'll put in a plug for it by editing and re-posting what I wrote on the members event page. There's probably more info on the facebook page but I am still a facebook hold out.

The junket has been rescheduled to the weekend of the Sept 15th-17th. Shemaya has been contacting folks who have expressed interest, about this change of dates. Same beautiful and interesting location. The harbor is mostly surrounded by1300 acres of sanctuaries on both the island and mainland.  There's only one house and a fish shack down at on one end and not visible from most of the harbor. Despite the peaceful location the docks at Castine are only about mile from the harbor. or ½ mile if you go over a small bar at high tide. The town of Castine, strategically located south of the mouth of the Penobscot River has a storied history. It changed hands numerous times, occupied by the French, Dutch, British, and Colonists. There are the remains of two or three forts as well as shops and restaurants . It is also the home to Maine Maritime academy with their training ship State of Maine and their schooner and arctic voyager, the Bowdoin.

I've been seeing an interesting leeboard cat yawl moored this summer in the harbor, close to my boat, that some folks here may recognize. After meeting the friendly owner and later chatting while sailing along side I learned that it was a Bolger designed boat that previously had been junk rigged. This present owner first sailed it as a junk. He liked the the junk features but not a problematic lee helm and converted back to a jib headed cat yawl with the masts raked very noticeably aft and with sprits rather than booms.

Wondering about the design I dug Bolger's Boats With an Open Mind out and found a similar but larger boat with mention of the late Jim Melcher's smaller 34 ft Alert. Next time down to the harbor confirmed the boat is Alert, the boat that Jim built and converted to Bolger's gaff junk and sailed extensively. After dealing with some apparent rig shortcomings Jim later changed to a junk rig and did a brief write up in JRA newsletter 44. I'm curious to learn more about what the owner night have tried to balance the helm and will be on the lookout for him when I'm in the harbor.