Not long after Alpha went splash and I moved her into a berth not far from British Marine, I took her out for a quick evening sail. The Big Day was May 19th, 2022. Everything was cobbled together, lines led to winches that didn't make sense, the mainsail halyard had no tension, it was a mess. But she SAILED!! I was shocked at how light the helm was and how maneuverable she was. I had expected something a little more sedate!
Alpha now has a Northern California PHRF rating which puts her at 252 sec/mile. That's pretty darned slow, but I don't care. I didn't restore her to be a rocketship, I restored her to be a beautiful Old Mans Gentleman Daysailer, and she is all of that. Alpha gets compliments and queries every time we go out..."What kind of boat is that? She's sure beautiful!". Well, sure I'm proud of her.
We've even done the Island Yacht Club midwinter race series this winter. Here's Alpha with her old jib and mainsail, moving along upwind and looking great, with my good friend Synthia Petroka driving.
When I was in Scotland, my friends Bob and Rowena Donaldsen gave me one of their old spinnakers. Their old boat is hull #5, "Pibroch" (which is a bagpipe players term...appropriate, yes?) and I left the "5" on the old mainsail I have, so that was rather serendipitous. When I save up enough pennies for a new mainsail, I'll get the right logo and the right sail number on them. For now, we're racing as "5" with the wrong class logo at the top of the sail.
Somebody saw Alpha out after the last Island Yacht Club midwinter race and started a Facebook thread about her. "What's this pretty boat"? Here she is, with my friend Richard at the helm, heading back to her berth with Bob and Rowena's spinnaker up - relaxed in the late afternoon winter sun. Times like this make it all worth the work!
