The Loss of the Schooner Raindancer
Maybe it’s because wood yachts are organic, like us humans, that we find the loss of a wooden boat to be more depressing than the loss of a fiberglass or steel boat. And perhaps the most depressing of all is the loss of a classic wood schooner. Alas, that’s what John Rogers of the San Diego-based Deerfoot 62 Moonshadow — previously sailed around the world in just 16 years by George Backhus of Sausalito — had to report on from Grenada last month.
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"On February 20, we were at Clarks Court Bay, South Grenada, for the South Grenada Regatta. The regatta events started with a concert with the band on a barge in the middle of the bay. You attended by showing up in your dinghy. Maybe 100 dinghies rafted around the barge for the live music at the unique venue. Front and center for the festivities was the beautiful 75-ft schooner staysail schooner Raindancer, built by Stevens in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, many years ago. Nobody could suspect that she was just hours away from her demise.
"After the concert, we watched Raindancer make her way out through the reef in the direction of the Le Phare Bleu Marina, which is in the next bay to the east. To tell you the truth, I was glad that I didn’t have to navigate Moonshadow through the reef at night, because I wasn’t sure that I would make it. Unfortunately, Raindancer, which had been chartering out of Grenada for years, didn’t make it through the narrow passage. She hit the reef, and before long was driven hard on it.
"Pumps were quickly started and brought to the stricken schooner, and fingers were crossed that she could be pulled free during the next high tide. It was gut-wrenching to see such a beautiful boat in distress.
"The owners attempted to refloat her the next day by pulling her off with a tug, but she began to break up under the strain. They had no choice but to abandon the attempt to save her. Consequently, it looks at though Raindancer will stay on the reef until she is no more.
"According to the boat’s website, Raindancer had been working out of south Grenada for about five years, and has ‘prospered’ under two captains, owner John Whitsett and his associate Kevin Dakin. We’re not sure who was in command when she went on the reef.
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"The website noted that Whitsett grew up in Southern California, where he started sailing as a teenager. He later moved to Northern California after a tour in the Navy, and ‘eventually purchased the famous Stone Boat Yard in Alameda.’During his tenure, the yard built six boats, including one of the last wooden 6 Meters and three cold-molded yachts — including his own racing boat, the 36-ft Chuck Burns-designed Rolling Stone. After leaving the marine industry for a time, Whitsett returned to the Stone Yard to help in the restoration of the 103-schooner Eros, now long-owned by Bill and Grace Bodle of Pt. Richmond. It was during the reconstruction of Eros that Whitsett located Raindancer in Grenada, purchased her, and began her restoration."
The beautifully restored schooner, with varnished topsides, was a frequent participant in classic regattas in the Caribbean. She will be missed.
sorry skipper…the captain failed to negotiate the channel. All too often night passages through narrow channels become fatal. It was not a good call…that’s why we have anchors.
I learned to sail on Raindancer. 30+ yrs ago it was run by a youth group for teens on the wrong path. They could join this program and learn to sail. We learned to sail her from Kingston Ont. to Toronto Ont. Then we got to sail it back with no help from instructors. Loved every minute of the 2 weeks. Went through gale storms. Loved night sailing. She was a beautiful schooner. I heard it was a small replica of the Bluenose 2. I’m heartbroken to hear what happened. She will always be in my heart 🙁
I am very familiar with schooner RAINDANCER and been on it while docked on island marina in Montréal around summer 1982 heading somewhere to Lake Michigan. The following summer back through Hreat Lakes and locks passages heading north up through St. Lawrence Seaway to Nova Scotia for service at Stevens ship builders yard. Anyway two of my brothers and a friend sailed as hands as far out as North Atantic ‘lucky guys’ … my father sailed on her down in Florida where she spent several winters and also in Caribbean. My father and owner were longtime friends etc… I know lots more about the true story of 76’ schooner RAINDANCER.
I’ve been trying to track down Kevin, an old sailing acquaintance from Glasgow(Andy) just wondered how he was. I was very sorry to find that inquiries led me to this tragic event.
In 1980 I was working at Dragon Port Marine, owned by Commodore Charles Fredrick Church (Charley to us) at the mouth of Gold River, in Nova Scotia. A friend, and I volunteered some time to help fit Raindancer out after she was launched. Raindancer was simply the most beautiful boat I had seen before or since. I recall that one of the Stevens brothers, when asked why he loved making boats replied, “It’s like playing God; it’s the nearest man can come to creating a living thing.”
After 42 years I’m a lot older, and this is another loss of part of my youth; I’ll never forget my time in Nova Scotia, Charley Church, and Raindancer.
I just got back from Lunenburg with my spouse who’s family owned Raindancer before the last owners. I have some great photos of the boat and a great story of it navigating around a hurricane in the Atlantic. I can imagine how great this boat must have been.