Seeing an Old Friend
©2015Latitude 38 Media, LLC
There was a very nice-looking blue boat anchored off our starboard beam when we motored in toward the Santa Barbara Yacht Harbor before the start of the SoCal Ta-Ta a few weeks ago. We immediately knew which boat she was — the Pearson Yachts 41-ft Bounty II sloop that the Wanderer used to live on with Kathleen McCarthy, his first wife, in Sausalito’s Clipper Yacht Harbor in the late 1970s.
Actually, we did way more than live on the Bounty, which was named Flying Scud. In addition to being our home, she was the original office of Latitude 38, as well as the company’s photo boat. We did something like the first five issues of Latitude using that boat as our office.
The original Bounty design was by Philip Rhodes, and about five of the 40-footers were built of wood before World War II. Then in the late 1950s, Frederick Coleman of Sausalito started building an updated version, the Bounty II, in what’s known as the ‘Bounty Building’ along the Sausalito waterfront. These were the first large fiberglass sailboats built in the United States. A number of them even had fiberglass masts. Pearson Yachts later took over production and built some at their facility back East.
Despite some of the Bountys’ being nearly 60 years old, we see them all over the place along the coast of California. We saw a second one in Santa Barbara, there was one in Channel Islands Harbor, we know there are several in Newport Beach, and looking out the port from Driscoll Boat Works in San Diego we can see yet another one on a mooring in America’s Cup Harbor. Some of them even still have the original fiberglass masts. And our old boat even did a Baja Ha-Ha.
We didn’t get a chance to look too closely at our old Flying Scud, but other than needing a new sail cover, she still looked in pretty good shape. And oh what memories we have of countless great times we had on her, despite hardly having a clue about how to sail.
All this raises the question, have you ever come across a boat that you previously owned and had strong emotional ties to? And if so, was she in good shape or bad, and how did you feel about it? And, finally did you give any thought to buying her back? Email us here.
A Salute to Unsung Heroes
During an interview not long ago, we asked a Coast Guard rescue pilot how often mariners who’ve been rescued return to a Search and Rescue (SAR) base to personally thank their saviors. "Almost never," he said. Yet he wasn’t the least bit bitter about that fact. Risking their lives to save others is all in a day’s work for Coast Guardsmen, especially here in the Bay Area.
In fact, CG Station Golden Gate responds to more on-the-water emergencies than any other base in the nation — and unfortunately their efforts go largely unnoticed by the public that they serve. That’s why a newly formed group called Yacht Clubs Who Care has organized a special event called Picnic at the House of Heroes, which will take place Saturday, October 3 from noon to 3 p.m. at Station Golden Gate, adjacent to Horseshoe Cove (near the northern footing of the Golden Gate.)
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The event’s purpose is to build "supportive relationships between the yachting community and Coast Guard families." This free event is open to the public, although space is limited, so organizers would appreciate an RSVP via email here.
There will be an open house and facilities tours where attendees can meet and converse with Guardsmen, and learn about their work, plus boat tours, a helicopter rescue simulation, and a free lunch with beer supplied by Ol’ Republic Brewery. Sounds like a great opportunity to acknowledge the unsung heroes that stand by 24/7 to aid boaters in distress, no matter how daunting the mission.