Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Nov 4, 2008, at 3:03 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org wrote: >>> This is "Bewitched," a 23' on the waterline cutter-rigged sloop, >>> under full sail on Buzzards Bay last August. Most of the photos >>> I've posted in this PAD were taken from her cockpit. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/rtaylor/PICKS/2008_PAD/ >>> 300_2526-2.jpg.html >>> or >>> http://tinyurl.com/66fdky >>> >>> Sam Crocker designed the boat in 1931. She was originally built in >>> wood specifically for the waters of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound >>> and has some of the prettiest lines of any boat sailing today. Her >>> large main, staysail and jib allow her to ghost along in the >>> lightest of breezes but also allow her to be reefed quickly to deal >>> with the worst the Bay or the Sound are likely to throw at a sailor >>> on even day when it really honks. Best of all, she won't even dump >>> much water in the cockpit when it blows like that. She is simply a >>> pleasure to sail and a beautiful boat to boot. >>> >>> >>> Time to move on, photographically. I wonder if there's any Fall >>> color left to shoot... We had a Sam Crocker designed sloop named Cognac. A bit smaller than Bewitched but just as nice. It was an engagement gift for my wife and I in 1963. The boat had been on the hard for several years and the gaps between the seams were so big that you could stick a finger in. We spent a wonderful summer rebuilding it and ultimately fiberglassed the whole hull. Fiberglass boat restoration was in it's infancy then so we had to invent most of the techniques we used. Eventually we made a very seaworthy boat that sailed like a dream. Our son learned to walk on the boat, lurching from side to side as the boat rolled in the waves. We have owned numerous other boats over the years but none combined the handiness, seaworthiness, and just plain fun as that old Sam Crocker sloop. Just like the Leica Ms, they don't build them like they used to. Larry Z P.S. The fall color is at its absolute peak in the lower Hudson Valley. The oak leaves have fallen but the maples are still clinging on in brilliant orange, yellow and red colors.