Friday, December 23, 2016

Evanston: when and if; a bargain?; why I don’t follow the Vendée Globe



        In a recent email to Steve Earley I wrote ‘when and if I reach San Diego next year’ which reminded him of the above schooner named, WHEN AND IF.
        She was built for General Patton who said, “When the war is over, and if I live through it, Bea and I are going to sail her around the world.”  He survived the war, but not long enough to sail the boat.  
        I agree with Steve that WHEN AND IF is a very good name.

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         From Zane in New Zealand comes a tempting link to a sister ship of RESURGAM for sale.  
        RESURGAM was a great sea boat, better than the bigger EGREGIOUS and THE HAWKE OF TUONELA.  If I were in the market for a boat this size, I would have already been on the phone and might well soon be on a plane.  At an asking price of $21,000 US, if this one is structurally sound—and She 36s were built to a high standard—this may be a real bargain, even if she needs some work.
        I’d replace the wheel with a tiller.  Paint out the blue deck.  Paint the hull black or perhaps some shade of blue—I’ve never had boats those colors.  Replace the upholstery.  Put a self-steering vane on the stern and a carbon fiber sprit on the bow for an asymmetrical.  And name her RESURGAM II.
        I don’t want the complication of two boats, but it keeps sounding better the more I write.
        I thank Zane for the link.  Or maybe not.

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        I receive emails from time to time about the Vendée Globe Race. 
        While the boats are incredibly fast, they are also incredibly expensive.  Too expensive.  And the race is too hyped.  ("Too hyped" is redundant.)  It is not ‘one man against the ocean’, but a team sport more akin to Gran Prix auto racing than solo sailing.