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
