It is another lovely San Diego day and I am finally getting around to writing this months article. I am certainly not complaining because the reason I am getting a late start is because we have been SAILING so much! That’s where you take a boat out and put it in the water and the wind makes it move. I still can’t get over the fact that I have a boat to sail!
There are wonderful things to report this month. First and foremost, fleet member Skip Hansen finally splashed his boat, #36 TALLY HO. She is absolutely beautiful. Skip and Sharon spared no expense in adding the many little details to make her an award winner. Skip had hoped to get the mast in this week but ran in to a few snags, thus there might be a slight delay, however it definitely will not be long before she is out in the wind. Drop by E-71 and take a look at this beauty before the new cover goes on. Congratulations, Skip. I know how frustrating and expensive this process can be. Now it is time for you to simply enjoy the fruits of your labor and check book!
Another bit of exciting news is new friends Bruce and Dodie Anderson have recently purchased #35 (AZORA) from Bill Clark and have asked Bill to do the restoration. Bruce and Dodie live in La Jolla, but have a home in Edgartown, Mass. where they keep other boats. Bruce is a member of our San Diego Ancient Mariners Sailing Society (AMSS), and will keep me posted on progress of his (soon to be) new boat. I have already extended an invitation to them to join our fleet and am sure he will as progress is made on completion. How EXCITING to know that, yet another, PC is being brought back to life!
Last week, Fleet member Bob Kyle treated AMSS members to an interesting talk about Mystic Seaport. His talk included some great slides. Again, I encourage you all to participate and become members of the AMSS. Bob also informed me that he and partner Ron Render have elected to invite Barry Worthington to become a partner with the ownership of #54, TWILIGHT! A hardy PC welcome to you, Barry!
I have been told that a couple of our members have some used items available for sale. Anyone interested in a pair of original Merriman winches, used Harken winches and an aluminum spinnaker pole, should contact me and I will put you in touch with the appropriate parties.
Now that I have some time on my hands, I have, again, begun working on a PC link to our SDYC web site. With the help of past fleet champions, Bruce and Shirley Gresham (#72 YANKEE), I am making slow progress. I am very excited about this effort and hope that having our own web site will be a boon
to the fleet.
The PC schedule for October and November are as busy as usual. Please include the following events on your calendars:
Oct. 7 AMSS General Meeting with guest speaker at SWYC
Oct. 9 Termite Regatta (Wooden Hull Yacht Club)
Oct. 23 20 Guinea Cup #3 sponsored by the AMSS
Nov. 4 AMSS General meeting with guest speaker at SWYC
Nov. 7 Hot Rum #1
Nov. 13 AMSS “Star of India Sail Along”.
Nov. 21 Hot Rum #2
The more PC’s we see out on the water in a group, the more fun it is. Please join in!
The owner of PC #83 (the last PC built) has purchased PCC #1. For this reason, he has elected to sell his vessel. The owner has owned the boat for about 6 years and bought it from a long time owner who maintained her very well. She is set up for some short term cruising, but equally race ready. The vessel has never been epoxied and is very original and in very good condition. He says she does not leak, as she has been well cared for. The starting asking price was $15K, but because of the circumstances he is now down to $8K! The boat is up in Washington, thus getting her here will be an issue, however, at $8K it might make hauling fees worth it. I truly believe that this is one of the soundest boats on my list, and will sail for many years before epoxy conversion is necessary. Please feel free to contact me should you be interested.
We have just returned from Sailfest. It was a beautiful sunny day with the right amount of breeze. We saw many new smiling faces with laughter and excitement bursting from many of them. While we did not see any of the PCs go out, several of our fleet members were on hand to assist. Bud Caldwell (#21) took his “big boat” out, Dave Grundies (#72) was assisting on land and crewing on another boat. Cissy and I tried to assist in whatever way we could. As it has been in the past, Sailfest was a complete success and, again, proved to be an opportunity to reflect and count your blessings.
This brings to an end this month’s article. Cissy and I will be in France and Italy in late September and early October, but will return in time for me to give report as to what we missed on PC row. In the meantime, I wish you all fair winds and someone at the helm that knows what she’s doing!
Rish
PC #16 DAWN