Cambridge: a ship that has not sailed
Cambridge: a ship that has not sailed
A few days ago Chris Sutton sent me this photograph from South Africa.
Beneath all that stuff is the pretty hull of a Falmouth Bass Boat. I say pretty because what you can see is, and because online I have found photographs of sister ships at the Falmouth Bass Boat Association site. She looks a close relative to the Drascombe Lugger, also from the southwest of England.
Originally designed as a 14’er in the 1950s for home construction, Bass Boats grew to 15’ 10’ and were built professionally.
I did not discover why ‘Bass.’
In 1964, when Chris was a year old, his grandfather, who lived in Johannesburg, hundreds of miles from the sea, and was then about fifty, bought the Falmouth Bass Boat plans and began building this one. When she was almost complete, he stopped work and she has never left his garage. Chris believes that perhaps having her near gave his grandfather a tenuous link with the sea.
This story and photograph got me thinking about unfinished boats and unsailed voyages.
At the far end of the spectrum from building a small boat in a garage, I know of two couples who decided to have their dream boats built for them. Both these boats are over 50’ and commensurately expensive. One was completed, but was so long in construction because everything had to be just right that the owners sailed her for only a single season before one fell ill, and the boat was sold.
Construction on the other craft has been halted because of the recession. In time the economy and the hope-to-be owners’ finances will probably recover, and they will be able to pay the builder to finish the job. But months, possibly years, will have passed.
Last evening I emailed Chris, asking permission to post the
photograph.
I woke early this morning, around 5:00 a.m. When I turned on my computer I found two emails from Chris.
The first one said I could use the photograph.
The second sent an hour later said that his grandfather had just died.
----------
The appropriate memorial to Chris’s grandfather is obvious, and so Chris, who already has a sailboat of his own that is moored at Point Yacht Club in Durban, will soon drive to Johannesburg and bring the Falmouth Bass Boat to the coast, where he will finish and rig her.
I hope someday he will send me a photo of her underway.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009