After a few seasons with Patricia Bay, our O'Day 22, we realized we were ready for something bigger. Not only was Mark's head full of dreams of sailing off to the horizon, we were also ready to buy a home. Might as well combine the two and live on a boat!
We started looking for boats before I started working for Oceaneering. We had a tight budget, but had narrowed down the type of boats we were interested in. The more I read, the more I wanted an older, full keel boat. At the time, my (and kinda by default) Lisa's dream boat was an Alberg 37. A very pretty, seakindly full keel boat with long overhangs typical of the CCA rule boats of the late 60's/early 70's. We had been admiring a Douglas 31 in Port Dalhouise. This particular boat went on the market so we made arrangements to look at it. Suffice to say we were pretty disappointed when we went onboard (most Douglas's were bought as a hull and the interiors finished by the owners with mixed results). We then went to Whitby to look at another Douglas. She was pretty rough outside, not very well equipped, but was close to our target budget. As I went looking under the tarp that covered the deck, Lisa went down below.
As soon as I saw her face, I knew we had our boat!
Connemara II was a 1970 Douglas 31. The current owner had bought her about 15 years ago but was getting out of boating. Virtually nothing had been upgraded on her in 20 years. She had hanked on sails, old single speed winches, a toilet but no shower, an icebox and a space for a cooker. The sails were old but useable. The engine was the original, a Grey Marine 22hp gas inboard. I was to later learn this was a marinized Cub Cadet engine, so parts were readily available at most farm machinery shops.
Apart from all this, what really attracted us to her was the warm and inviting interior. Seemed to make sense, since this would be our home, it ought to feel like one! The interior was small, but functional with a decent v-berth and hanging locker. We later added some shelves along the bulkheads. The head consisted of a toilet and more shelves (no sink or shower). There were 2 x 6' settees in the main salon, as well as a compact galley/nav station. The engine was accessed by removing the companionway steps and opening two small doors (this was an area of the boat I was to become quite familiar with!!).
In typical Mark and Lisa fashion, we put an offer in (conditional upon a survey) on only the 3rd boat we looked at! Fate? Impatience? Who knows. I think this was the start of my "emotional attachment" to boats sometimes overriding money-sense.
A good friend of our, who always gets (I should say finds) amazing deals on sailboats told me I shouldn't get emotional or impulsive about boats. My arguement is, WHY NOT???? They certainly don't make any sense from an economic standpoint, so you might as well be emotional about them!
Anyway, as expected, the survey revealed alot of "wet deck". A brief explanation is this. To save weight while maintaining strength, boatbuilders typically make a "cored deck". What this is is 2 layers of fiberglass that sandwich a lightweight core material. On Connemara II, and typical of many sailboats, balsa wood core is used. FYI, the floors of current Corvettes use a balsa wood floor. Over time water leaks through bolts and screws used to secure deck fittings (winches, grabrails etc...), gets into the core and results in soft spots. As it turned out, about 1/3 of the cabintop and large areas of the decks were "wet". In the above picture you can see the wet balsa core on the starboard cabin top (the top layer of fiberglass has been cut out).
So we negotiated a price of $17,000., taking into account the work I would need to do (They were asking $24,000). Now the fun was to begin (actually, I really did enjoy it). I was in -between jobs , and quite honestly not looking very hard for a new one. We bought Connemara II in February of 1997 and we needed to have her ready to launch in May.
The biggest job was replacing all the wet core. Most was so bad I was able to Shop-Vac it out!!! Once the repairs were done we painted the deck. Thank-you Celia, Jim, Lindsay and Michelle for allowing me to stay at your house during the repairs!
The repairs were completed (for the most part), and Alan and I sailed her to her new home in Stoney Creek. The next year and a half was spent getting ready for our planned year long trip to the Bahamas. I started working for Oceaneering that summer while Lisa was at the bank. I have to give lots of credit to Lisa for spending the winter frozen into the marina at Newport!
For the next 1-1/2 years we sailed as much as we could. Connemara II wasn't the fastest boat around, but she had a very seakindly motion. Plus, in our opinion, she was beautiful! I used to love sitting up at the bow as we were sailing, looking aft and admiring the symetry of the hull. Sounds corny, but I've already explained about my emotions and boats. As much as I love our current boat, nothing, in my mind, is as graceful looking as a narrow-beamed sailboat with long overhangs!
Erik and Kaitlin Mashford watching a movie on the foredeck.Summer 1997
Lisa, mom and Alan
Hanlon'sPoint Thanksgiving 1997
At Hanlon's Point, Toronto Islands.
Fall 1997
So after numerous upgrades including all new cockpit enclosure, dodger and bimini, new wring and electrical system, 12v refrigeration, anchor windlass and new anchors and chain etc... the boat was ready for our first extended trip.
Our plan was to leave in the Fall of 1998, take the Erie canal to the Hudson River, down the Hudson River to NYC, follow the Intercoastal Waterway to Florida, over to the bahamas for the winter, then back home the following summer.
We almost made it too!!!!!!
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