Anybody know where she is?

[MargAnnIII]

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/ ... e7bb13.jpg

[img]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/ ... e7bb13.jpg[/img]


As she is today!!!! I was able to sit on her back deck yesterday - cannot tell you how this felt, as she gently floated, after all of these years!

[prowlersfish]

Glad you found her

[Stripermann2]

Glad you found her

+1

Would love to hear the story of how and where you found her and do you now own the boat? Fill us in!

[MargAnnIII]

Thanks so much for the interest ... as you are able to tell from the original post date, it has been quite a journey!

Our family boat was sold due to my Dad's declining health ... not long after, he did in fact pass away ... I belonged to the half of the family who advocated to postpone the sale as I knew how upsetting this would be (perhaps also due to my selfish love of her too), however I lost the battle, and so away she went. We had an idea that she had sold to someone in the Montreal area, however years ago when I canvassed blogs, websites and sent out ridiculous amounts of email notes to marina's and boat business', people were most kind to reply, however nobody had ever seen the boat!
Time passes - truly, I had given up. Every so often, I would do a google search of "1968 trojan sea voyager" for sale just to see if anything would turn up, however ours never did within those search parameters.
My Dear Sweet Husband, who also spent quite a bit of time on the boat, helping my Dad with this and that, and I might add, painting the depths of the copper bottom in the boat slip laying on the ice in the spring every year, prior to the thaw (My Mom always had a good supply of something on hand to add to the coffee to keep us warm as we painted) - knew how important she was to us, and added an app to his iPhone for Kijiji (a local sales site similar to CraigsList), with a search alert for anything and everything Trojan boats from 1967 onward. He has monitored this for years, however nothing close has every appeared.
Until last Friday night .........
He arrived home and showed me what had just been posted, with an email contact - no photo, but the owner posted the boat as a "36 foot flybridge 1968 Trojan Sea Voyager", claiming he was the second owner, and that the boat had always had lots of TLC. And, he was close to Montreal. I immediately replied asking for more details. The owner finally sent a phone number on Saturday morning, and so I called. I want everyone to know, for me and the owner, it was quite a conversation!!!!! I could not believe the details he was able to provide me about the sale (which was brokered by the marina at the time - since sold, with no files remaining) - he knew who the gentleman was, and where he was from. He was as overwhelmed as I, to learn that I was in fact, the gentleman's youngest daughter, who had been searching for a very long time!
This fellow has owned my Dad's boat for almost 15 years - my Dad passed away in June of 2000. He has had quite the adventure, making repairs, continuing the wooden boat journey, travelling about, and enjoying her with his family and friends. Many of the original features remain, and some new improvements have been added and changed.
It should go without saying here, that I was in the car on my way with my husband in tow, first thing Sunday morning making the 3 hour trip to visit! The owner was most gracious, and we spent a good part of the afternoon reminiscing, sharing stories, filling in pieces of each others gaps in the timeline, comparing notes, and being gently rocked as she floated in the slight breeze! If a boat could smile, she was absolutely smiling with broad, proud shoulders!
It was one of the most amazing weekends in my life. And I cannot thank him enough, or my husband for not giving up!
I was surprised and disappointed at the same time. Surprised in many ways to see her still on the water - I genuinely believed by this point, that she was in a reck yard somewhere stripped down for parts! However that is not the case currently. This fellow has fought the wood battle for years, and I believe up until a couple of years ago, was doing quite well with it. However, he is now, as my Dad got to the point, retired and living on a fixed income, and getting older and without bottomless pockets and resources and a covered place to keep her + as we all know, insurance requires a new survey every 4 years, etc., etc., etc.
Ideally, you would either need to send her, at this time, to someone such as this:
http://www.woodwindyachts.com/restore.htm
Or, you would need a marina with a large yard or better yet a shed where you could start working ............. because as he freely admits now, [b]there is work to do![b]

Even tho' my husband and I would do pretty much anything to have her with us, at the same time we have a daughter in graduate school at University, and no place or the resources to keep her here. Nor, do I think she should be placed in a shed somewhere, as a project for a later date!

She was built to be used and enjoyed! And I sincerely hope the next person will come along and continue the journey, and perhaps restore her to her original or new glory!

I am over-the-moon happy to have at least had the opportunity to walk on her decks, and sit in the galley, and look around at all of the years and years of memories inside. Each of my favourite childhood places to sit underway were still there! And if I closed my eyes, I could hear the turkey cooking in the oven as we drove her home every fall, Onan generator humming, to have Thanksgiving dinner (early October in Canada) as we arrived at the marina!

Somewhere my Dad is smiling - sad that he is no longer with us or has her, but proud that she has carried on, with a new family, and maintains her beauty and striking lines to this day! And that mast .....................

I hope the story continues ...

Anne

[Stripermann2]

Anne,

That's a fantastic story! I am sure that all your efforts were worth the end result...thanks for sharing it with us!

[todd brinkerhoff]

I have finally poured over this thread. What an amazing story. This is a story that should be stored in the Trojan history section.

[MargAnnIII]

Thanks Jamie and Todd!

I appreciate everyone's kind assistance and support!

It is an amazing ending to something that was such a huge and important part of my childhood and my life growing up, and subsequently my daughter's as well ... she putted around in the same dingy I did!!!!! I was truly fortunate ... this I know!

It wouldn't mean anything to landlovers ..... however those of us who share a profound understanding of what it means to live on the water ..... we get it!

Best to all, and thanks for keeping me company along the way!
Anne

[Stripermann2]

Anne,

I hope you invited the current owner to come on board this forum, participate and to read the pages of your thread. I am sure he'll enjoy the reading!

[RWS]

She's NOT a hole in the water that you throw money into.

She's NOT a floating hunk of fiberglass or wood and machinery systems

She's NOT a mobile home/trailer on the water.

She's NOT an investment.

She IS, however many other wonderful things....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeE92WVe_so

If you have NOT seen this, take a look.

RWS

[MargAnnIII]

Ok RWS - you win the prize today ..... I had actually made a few days without tears .......

That is a very similar version of our lives ... Dad was not in the Navy - he felt his chances were better in the air, so he flew with the Air Force in a Spitfire for 4 years overseas during WWII. He had met my Mom while doing his flight training at CFB Borden, and when he returned home, they were married in August - they celebrated each anniversary onboard! He had a beautiful ChrisCraft runabout, then went to a 26 foot cruiser, from there the 31 foot Shepard (which was bought out by Trojan Boatworks I believe), and then as our family grew, the 36 foot Sea Voyager. Every year, the mast went home in the station wagon, light sticking out the back window with a bright red rag tied around, with one of us holding it straight in the front seat of the car! Each spring, my Mom sanded and varnished the mast and the transom (sp?) before launch. And as the next generation came along, each were naturally introduced to the boat, swimming and the yearly routines that were just part of our family. My Dad had grown up on the river, and he made that life for us! And, it was a good life.

thank you for keeping this thread alive, and yes - I will invite Charlie to the forum. He is certainly worthy, after all he has done, and learned .... and has to share!

Best to all,
Anne