Century Club: mike pitchford

One of the joys of living on the water is easy and simple boating opportunities. On Monday evening we were scheduled to have dinner with friends also on the water and nearby. We could have taken the car. But for us, if the weather is going to cooperate we always default to the boat for the short ride to see friends on the creek.
This visit was special in a way. The purpose of the dinner was to advance discussions about a week long charter in Croatia. Next June my entries will be all about that trip.

Cruising travel and weather have limited my morning rowing this year so far. Hopefully more to come in the next few months.

We are seven days into our Long Island Sound cruise. This one is with the Annapolis Yacht Club. We have 20 boats and 55 participants at some point. There are six formal group stops and eight events.

The first steps are always to get there, up the Chesapeake, down the Delaware and through New York City. Sail and slower powerboats can take five days for that transit. The faster boats generally make it in three.

First official stop was a group gathering at the Seawanhaka Yacht Club in Oyster Bay NY.

I know I am preaching to the choir but, there is something about sailing. It keeps you coming back.

Growing up in a Marine Corps family with a lot of siblings, I was introduced to boats around 10. We were living on a lake in Florida and USMC Special Services (now MWR) allowed the family a 12’ Jon boat with a 15 HP engine for the year. I learned boat handling and how to water ski on the back of that little bundle of joy.

A few years later, living in Oceanside California, I learned to sail. The “trainer” was an exceedingly small but glitzy (varnished wood) pram with a lateen rig and sideboard. The hardware was brass and not so strong. I learned this after a long scull back to the dock when the tiller and rudder became magically disconnected (metal fatigue).

I was smitten and my love of sailing was born.

Through my high school years we lived on the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk. We had various small beach-able boats and the love of sailing grew. Looking out over the Bay at the “big” sailboats going by, I could only wonder and long for a command of my own.

College was also near the Bay. When you move around a lot as a kid, sometimes you just want to stay in the same place. Old Dominion University was in Norfolk and that was where I wanted to go.

In college I did a little racing on Hobie Cats off the sand in Virginia Beach (Hobie Fleet 32). An older Vietnam Vet friend and classmate managed to acquire a Cape Dory 25 and she was our magical carpet for years. I missed a lot of good classes, trading the acquisition of knowledge for the experience of sailing a “big” boat.

From college on I was never without a boat. After grad school it was a houseboat to live on and an Erickson 27 to sail. The Erickson was followed by a Sabre 32. The progression included marriage and two sons.

In 1994 work took the family to Charlotte NC. We held on to the Sabre, keeping her in charter in Annapolis and using her for a week-long annual cruise ourselves. We explored lake sailing (okay for day sailing, not so good for cruising) and bought a weekend lake house.

You know what happened next. The boys became enamored with power boats and Sea Doos. Though they know how to sail, the connection between testosterone and horsepower was too great to overcome. We eventually sold the Sabre and expanded a collection of boats without sails on the lake.

As a result, I was suffering sailing withdrawal. We had room at the lake house dock, and I went looking for a small boat to sail myself. I found a 1984 Day Sailer II, original sails and serviceable condition. I sailed her some, but work (busy day job) and all those powerboats, not to mention soccer and little league, kept my use to a minimum.

After 11 years in Charlotte we moved to Annapolis, MD and found a nice house on a creek off the Bay. We got back into sailing with a Catalina 380. The DS II found a home on a lift in our back yard and tasted saltwater, maybe for the first time. However, she continued to languish (even busier day job).

In 2010 I gave up. I passed her on to a brother, Pat, who took it to his weekend home on a North Carolina sound. Sadly, she never got in the water (another busy day job story). Some years later he was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away in 2019, way too young.

In the summer of 2020 Pat’s wife reached out and asked if I wanted the DS II back. Needing a pandemic project and now retired, with perhaps more time to sail, I said yes!

The DS II had migrated back from the North Carolina sound house to the side yard of a rental property Pat owned in Norfolk. She was much worse for the wear, but salvageable. Undaunted by the photos my sister-in-law sent, I drove from Annapolis to Norfolk to get her back. I replaced the trailer tires, wiring and lights and repacked the wheel bearings. Soon she was back in Annapolis and the real work started.

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned her. I bought a new full cover and put her back on her lift. Over the winter of 2020-21 I had a local wood shop build new hatch boards and a tiller (both had rot). I replaced the halyards and did some mast repair. I replaced the worn main sheet.

By the summer of 2021 she was marginally sail-able. The sails were still old and original. The rudder had a tendency to kick up and the rig needed tuning. With the family gathered for our usual annual family reunion in Annapolis, we formally launch the DS II with a new name: “Pat’s Spirit”.

I really wanted to use the boat more. I needed to justify the investment of time and money to get her bask to sail-able. Racing?

I discovered that Annapolis has an active DS fleet (Fleet 1) hosted at Severn Sailing Association (SSA). I joined Fleet 1, the national Day Sailer Association and SSA. The plan was to do some racing in the summer of 2022. Didn't make it.

Fast forward to this weekend, my brother in law, Gary Bodie, a sailing coach, helped me rig and tune the boat. We bent on the new (used) racing sails I had acquired. Gary suggested some additional changes and upgrades to have her race ready. Now, i just need time...