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We'll soon begin pecking away at the next personal project--and, yes, it's another old sailboat that we'll begin cruising next summer.
When we cruised to South Sound last July aboard the 27-foot Luhrs lapstrake sea skiff, we paused for fuel in the Brownsville marina (across from the west side of Bainbridge Island, south of Keyport). While I was filling the tank, Mo walked the docks and soon was heard exclaiming something like "You've got to come see this old sailboat!" Before I could even get there, she was on her way to the harbormaster's office, in an attempt to see if they'd share the owner's name.
We took a few photos and continued to South Sound, but on the return leg the Luhrs just steered its way back to the Brownsville marina (low on fuel, again), and this time we found a young couple aboard the old boat, which obviously needed work. They explained that they'd only purchased it a few weeks earlier, and hoped to fix up the old thing. (I didn't say anything, but I figured the boat would be on the market again soon--once they discovered what they were undertaking.)
Long story shorter: We were able to liberate the 1937-designed 20-foot sloop a few weeks ago, and after hiring a diver to remove several hundred pounds of mussels, barnacles and other growth from the bottom, we hung a 6hp outboard on the kicker bracket and headed north to Mystery Bay. Last week we motored over to Port Townsend, hauled the boat using their Travel Lift, and blocked it up on a flatbed trailer for the ride to the boatshop.
I've always been a sucker for early raised-deck designs, having restored and enjoyed a 1930, 36-foot Blanchard Dreamboat for 16 years. Raised-deckers offer so much more space down below than trunk-cabin models, so the little 20-foot sloop is far roomier than you'd imagine. There's a small galley, adequate berth space, lots of storage and a lid-covered marine head.
The boat was designed in '37 by naval architect Walter Haertel of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, who wrote about the design in the December, 1937 issue of Rudder magazine. A young man in Los Angeles named E. Brooks (first name still a mystery) bought a set of Haertel's plans and started construction in 1940...but the boat was still only a bare skeleton when Japanese bombers struck Pearl Harbor, launching U.S. involvement in the Second World War. Brooks immediately enlisted, leaving the sailboat project in dry storage. By the time he returned from the war in 1945, he wanted a bigger sailboat so he started work on a Herreshoff-designed H-28...and never looked back at the little 20-footer.
Many years later, in early 1960, the Haertel-designed project was spotted through an open warehouse door elsewhere in Los Angeles, and Gene Fish--an engineer who dreamed of one day building his own cruising sailboat--asked if the project might be for sale. (By this time the original owner, Brooks, had died and the sailboat was owned by a man named Walter Schroeder.) The answer was a firm "No," the boat was absolutely not for sale.
On Christmas Day, 1960, Gene Fish walked into the living room to open presents with his wife, Dolly, and their young son. There were no presents under the tree for Gene...only a small card dangling from one of the upper branches. Gene opened the card, which revealed that Dolly had secretly visited Walter Schroeder at the warehouse and sweet-talked him into selling the sailboat project. Merry Christmas, Honey!
Before New Year's, 1960, Gene and Dolly trailered the boat to their suburban residence an, rolling the frame into their garage, and Gene got started. Work on the boat progressed in spurts, since faced the familiar challenges of juggling a full-time job and family commitments, but he persisted and finally launched Wind Drift in 1974--34 years after young E. Brooks had started construction.
Gene and Dolly loved the boat and enjoyed sailing her for many years out of Long Beach harbor, often cruising offshore to Catalina Island and up the California Coast. In 1995, the couple retired to Sequim, Washington, and had Wind Drift shipped by a commercial transporter. The boat was then moored at John Wayne Marina in Sequim Bay, until they reluctantly sold the boat to a Port Angeles man in 1997. Wind Drift was apparently well-maintained until about 2006, but it then spiraled downhill through a series of owners, and one year ago this month it was damaged during a severe windstorm that hit the Brownsville marina. Rocking wildly, the boat's mast and rigging tangled with a sailboat in the next slip; the two boats were snared together, heeled over, and Wind Drift's upper starboard rail, sheer planks and guardrail were ground up by the sharp-edged aluminum marina float. (When you look at the damage, it's easy to imagine that the boat was attacked by a crazed beaver.)
The boat needs a total refinishing and some repairs, but the frames and planks are sound...so the restoration should actually be straightforward. We'll pull the original Arnolt Sea-Mite 20-hp inboard engine for starters to evaluate its condition (no way I wanted to try starting the beast after it had been ignored for several years), make the starboard-side repairs, refinish the spars, perhaps recover the deck with fresh canvas, and do a lot of refinishing over the winter and spring months, hoping to relaunch Wind Drift by next May.
The first guests aboard Wind Drift when we go for a sail in Mystery Bay will be Gene and Dolly Fish, now 82 and still living happily in Sequim. We visited the couple last week, and were given several old photos and the original plans that Gene built from...tattered but still readable.
Here are a few shots of the boat. The first images were shot when Gene started work on the boat, and also show it under sail in the Long Beach area. There's one shot of the boat in 2006 (all-white hull, color), and then images of it in Brownville, bring motored through Agate Pass on the way to Mystery Bay, and on our trailer for the final ride home.
- Marty and Mo
When we cruised to South Sound last July aboard the 27-foot Luhrs lapstrake sea skiff, we paused for fuel in the Brownsville marina (across from the west side of Bainbridge Island, south of Keyport). While I was filling the tank, Mo walked the docks and soon was heard exclaiming something like "You've got to come see this old sailboat!" Before I could even get there, she was on her way to the harbormaster's office, in an attempt to see if they'd share the owner's name.
We took a few photos and continued to South Sound, but on the return leg the Luhrs just steered its way back to the Brownsville marina (low on fuel, again), and this time we found a young couple aboard the old boat, which obviously needed work. They explained that they'd only purchased it a few weeks earlier, and hoped to fix up the old thing. (I didn't say anything, but I figured the boat would be on the market again soon--once they discovered what they were undertaking.)
Long story shorter: We were able to liberate the 1937-designed 20-foot sloop a few weeks ago, and after hiring a diver to remove several hundred pounds of mussels, barnacles and other growth from the bottom, we hung a 6hp outboard on the kicker bracket and headed north to Mystery Bay. Last week we motored over to Port Townsend, hauled the boat using their Travel Lift, and blocked it up on a flatbed trailer for the ride to the boatshop.
I've always been a sucker for early raised-deck designs, having restored and enjoyed a 1930, 36-foot Blanchard Dreamboat for 16 years. Raised-deckers offer so much more space down below than trunk-cabin models, so the little 20-foot sloop is far roomier than you'd imagine. There's a small galley, adequate berth space, lots of storage and a lid-covered marine head.
The boat was designed in '37 by naval architect Walter Haertel of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, who wrote about the design in the December, 1937 issue of Rudder magazine. A young man in Los Angeles named E. Brooks (first name still a mystery) bought a set of Haertel's plans and started construction in 1940...but the boat was still only a bare skeleton when Japanese bombers struck Pearl Harbor, launching U.S. involvement in the Second World War. Brooks immediately enlisted, leaving the sailboat project in dry storage. By the time he returned from the war in 1945, he wanted a bigger sailboat so he started work on a Herreshoff-designed H-28...and never looked back at the little 20-footer.
Many years later, in early 1960, the Haertel-designed project was spotted through an open warehouse door elsewhere in Los Angeles, and Gene Fish--an engineer who dreamed of one day building his own cruising sailboat--asked if the project might be for sale. (By this time the original owner, Brooks, had died and the sailboat was owned by a man named Walter Schroeder.) The answer was a firm "No," the boat was absolutely not for sale.
On Christmas Day, 1960, Gene Fish walked into the living room to open presents with his wife, Dolly, and their young son. There were no presents under the tree for Gene...only a small card dangling from one of the upper branches. Gene opened the card, which revealed that Dolly had secretly visited Walter Schroeder at the warehouse and sweet-talked him into selling the sailboat project. Merry Christmas, Honey!
Before New Year's, 1960, Gene and Dolly trailered the boat to their suburban residence an, rolling the frame into their garage, and Gene got started. Work on the boat progressed in spurts, since faced the familiar challenges of juggling a full-time job and family commitments, but he persisted and finally launched Wind Drift in 1974--34 years after young E. Brooks had started construction.
Gene and Dolly loved the boat and enjoyed sailing her for many years out of Long Beach harbor, often cruising offshore to Catalina Island and up the California Coast. In 1995, the couple retired to Sequim, Washington, and had Wind Drift shipped by a commercial transporter. The boat was then moored at John Wayne Marina in Sequim Bay, until they reluctantly sold the boat to a Port Angeles man in 1997. Wind Drift was apparently well-maintained until about 2006, but it then spiraled downhill through a series of owners, and one year ago this month it was damaged during a severe windstorm that hit the Brownsville marina. Rocking wildly, the boat's mast and rigging tangled with a sailboat in the next slip; the two boats were snared together, heeled over, and Wind Drift's upper starboard rail, sheer planks and guardrail were ground up by the sharp-edged aluminum marina float. (When you look at the damage, it's easy to imagine that the boat was attacked by a crazed beaver.)
The boat needs a total refinishing and some repairs, but the frames and planks are sound...so the restoration should actually be straightforward. We'll pull the original Arnolt Sea-Mite 20-hp inboard engine for starters to evaluate its condition (no way I wanted to try starting the beast after it had been ignored for several years), make the starboard-side repairs, refinish the spars, perhaps recover the deck with fresh canvas, and do a lot of refinishing over the winter and spring months, hoping to relaunch Wind Drift by next May.
The first guests aboard Wind Drift when we go for a sail in Mystery Bay will be Gene and Dolly Fish, now 82 and still living happily in Sequim. We visited the couple last week, and were given several old photos and the original plans that Gene built from...tattered but still readable.
Here are a few shots of the boat. The first images were shot when Gene started work on the boat, and also show it under sail in the Long Beach area. There's one shot of the boat in 2006 (all-white hull, color), and then images of it in Brownville, bring motored through Agate Pass on the way to Mystery Bay, and on our trailer for the final ride home.
- Marty and Mo
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