Bolger Single Handed Schooner
I bought the boat from a Navy nurse who was deployed
overseas. Her husband runs a marine-maintainence company, so
the boat is in *very* good condition. The rudder and daggerboard
both have what appears to be a very nice, sprayed-on linear
polyurethane finish, for instance. And the rest of the boat
is very well-maintained.
I've sailed her twice now, and I really want to
make some rig-changes, if I keep her. Mostly I'd just revert
to the original rigging as Phil drew it. The current running-gear
arrangement is much too complicated, in my view, although it
works ok. The elaborate traveler for the foresail seems like
ridiculous overkill to me, but apparently someone felt it was
necessary. I'd go back to a horse, and a one-part sheet. All
the foresail and jib lines need to be re-routed aft again..right
now there's no immediate provision for that. They all secure
up forward, which is not terribly useful.
I first became acquainted with this boat through
plans from Harold Payson.. then I began corresponding with Tony
Groves, in the late 1980s, as I was building my own Light Schooner.
We exchanged some pleasant correspondence, then, in the early
90s, I was in Los Angeles on business, and Tony took me sailing
from Dana Point, on this very boat..and I still have a vivid
memory of it as being one of the finer sailing experiences I've
ever had.
The boat is a singlehander, ideally, but has room
for two, if both people know what they're doing. Mostly, the
passenger should sit quietly in the forward cockpit and not
move around much, to provide additional stable ballast. With
two people and that big, ballasted daggerboard, the boat will
stand up to a LOT of wind. And she does sail best on her ear...
not ideal for some, but entertaining enough, if you like that
kind of thing.
This is a pretty boat, with a certain historical
importance, being the first boat of the class, built by the
man who commissioned the design. It's featured in "Boats
With an Open Mind". Tony is a very finicky woodworker,
an artist by training, and it shows everywhere in this boat.
I probably will sell her, if I know she's going
to a good home. I just do not have time to use her sufficiently.
Includes a brand new 32 lb thrust electric motor,
two permanently mounted deep-cycle marine batteries in good
condition. New charger. Full-custom storage cover made of Sunbrella,
in good condition. Customized galvanized trailer is somewhat
corroded but still perfectly road-worthy. Registration on both
trailer and boat is up to date.
Currently lying in covered storage in the Dana
Point area of Southern California. Too many other extras to
mention here. E-mail me for details and pictures. Price: $4500
obo.
chasds@mindspring.com
Charles
Andrews