Monday, April 23, 2012

My Father

Crotch Island Pinky, built by Peter van Dine
My father, who taught me to sail, turned 80 years old this week, a week in which the Antigua Yacht Club hosted its 25th annual Classic Yacht regatta, featuring the kinds of boats my father loved, the boats which provided me the formative sailing experiences of my life.

In addition to teaching me to sail, my father taught me to appreciate the fine lines of a traditional sailing craft.  Our family's first sail boat was a Crotch Island Pinkie, a cat-ketch, sprit pole-rigged open fishing boat from the coast of Maine. Its hull was rendered in fiberglass, but the masts, lines, and rigging were traditional:  the sails were spliced onto the mast using line, and the spritpoles that held the upper corners of the square sails were kept tight using lines secured to small wooden cleats.


Dutch Courage -- as the little vessel was called -- sported neither a cabin, a galley, an engine, nor a head.  It was originally designed as a basic fishing boat, whose design evolved over generations of northeast Maine fishing villages, and remains one of the best examples of a sturdy, functional offshore fishing craft.   We sailed a lot of miles and visited a lot of coves in that boat, making do with a makeshift awning for shelter, a sterno can for a stove, oars for power, and a bucket for a toilet.  It was the first boat I was allowed to sail by myself, and we spent many weekends on it, deepening my love for the traditional boat.


Our next boat, built by the same builder, was a Tancook Whaler, another traditional design whose geneology also began in the fishing towns of the Atlantic provinces.  This boat, also named Dutch Courage, featured a classic schooner rig, with a flying topsail that was a joy to strike, filling the area between the two mast tops.  With a "real" cabin, we could entertain on this delightful little boat, and I spent many weekend days and nights on her during my high school years.  My father also joined the now-defunct Chesapeake Traditional Sailing Association, a decidedly loose-knit group of sailors who shared my Dad's passion for classic boats.  Annual "regattas" were a highlight, and I believe my memory serves me correctly when I recall my father winning a few awards -- in one case, I think, for last place.  It was that kind of Association.

Flicka, a 20' sloop
Subsequent family boats took a more modern turn, but my father always insisted on boats with classic lines:  the Pacific Seacraft Flicka, also named Dutch Courage, and then, his last boat, named after his mother, Wilhelmina, the Crealock 34, a still-venerated bluewater capable sloop.  The Flicka occupies a special place in my heart; it was the first boat Jennifer and I sailed together on a fall weekend, just after we met at Princeton.  I'm not saying that Jennifer had to pass a test, like the bride-to-be in the classic movie Diner, who was tested on her knowledge of the Baltimore Colts, but it was a lot easier to continue to court her once she evinced a love of sailing!

My father's first concern in buying a boat was the quality of the design -- our boats needed to look like sailboats, with a nice shear, fine lines, and a deep keel.  His second concern was the quality of the construction; each of his boats was well-built, and in fact, both the Flicka and the Crealock have circumnavigated.  Well down on the list were any of the normal amenities -- galleys, head space, and a head.  In fact, our Flicka did not have a head per se; buckets sufficed for years until he finally broke down and bought a portable marine toilet.  The net effect of these purchasing decisions was to limit our guest list to serious sailors; dilettantes need not apply.

Crealock 34
The final boat, the Crealock, the one named after his mother, finally hit all cylinders:  a full keel sloop, with a proper staysail, a galley, comfortable sleeping accommodations, a real engine, and, yes, a proper head.  My parents spent a lot of time on Wilhelmina, largely free from the demands of their six children, who had mostly left home and started families by then.  Eventually, my Dad sold Wilhelmina, but not before conveying to me and my five brothers a love of sailing.  Today, two of us own boats, and my son, David, continuing in the tradition, has also purchased his first boat -- a Laser -- which he races.

These days, while my Dad no longer sails, he nonetheless spends his summers at his house at Somesville, Maine, at the tip of Somes Sound, on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, surrounded by the boatyards that designed and built many of the schooners that still grace the waters of Maine, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean.

Happy birthday, Dad!

*************

And, below, some pictures from the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta -- a kind of pictorial birthday gift for the person who instilled in me a love of sailing and a love of traditional boats:


The classic Stevens yacht, Dorade, whose name became synonymous with the air vents
still used to provide fresh air -- but not sea water, to the cabin spaces below.

Eilean, a lovely 1936 yacht

Gaff-rigged schooner; note the wooden hoops used to connect the sails to the mast

Firefly, a Dutch racing yacht; classic lines, but only one year old



Wooden hoops, lined in leather, to secure the sail to the mast

A modern, but classically-designed sloop; note the size of the main sail!

Music for the eyes; hundreds of diagonal lines, each used to control the gaff of
 traditionally-rigged sloops and schooners

Rebecca, a gorgeous 140 foot ketch out of the US

Just before the start; schooner under near-full sail

Heading to the upwind mark; too breezy for the main topsail!

Racing!  These large classic yachts don't need much wind to sail fast.

Every yacht race features water balloons --
harmless projectiles to distract the competition

Leaving Guadaloupe on our way to Antigua; some weather to the west




1 comment:

Unknown said...

Dear Jon,

I just recently bought back a Van Dyne Croth Island Pinky that was built in 63. She may be one of the first and the only one I know of on the west coast. I sold her reluctantly 20 years ago and now she's come back to me. Would love to connct with other owners and gather a history of these beautiful little boats. I'm in Port Townsend, WA and am friends with Ernie Bard who built one of the larger 26 ft. "racing Crotch Island Pinkies that Cappell also designed. Hios boat is very popular on the web and generates lots of questions about these boats. If you get this, please write me at Earthtogresham@gmail.com also anyone else who owns or has known any othe the other Van Dyne built CIP's.

Kirk Gresham