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.
My sailing started over 2 decades ago when I purchased a Pearson Triton. A pared back full keel design that was the little brother of the Bounty II. I had zero sailing experience but had the sailing dream. I purchased the Triton in Alameda and taught myself how to sail. The boat sailed beautifully and it was a wonderful experience for my daughter to grow up sailing the bay. A little over a year ago I started my search for my goal boat, a Bounty II. I was fortunate to locate one quickly, and it wasn’t too far away. I inspected the boat and purchased it the same day. A couple weeks later that my wife and I took it out for our first sail. The previous owner came along to show us the particulars of the boat. Imagine my surprise to learn that I had purchased the very boat in this article, The Flying Scud! We have spent many hours, and many more dollars in bringing the boat back into shape. As you would expect, the boat sails beautifully and shows well. Renamed as Miss Donna, the boat is now seen sailing in the San Pedro coastal areas.