Whatever happened to...?

[Kettlewell]

I have read and own lots of great books about small-boat voyages and adventures, and I always find myself wondering, "What ever happened to the boat?" The recent thread on the discovery of Bruce Bingham's Sabrina reminded me of this: http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,4157.0.html

And then recently I noticed this blog about visiting John Guzzwell's Trekka: http://www.shortypen.com/sailboats/trip-to-trekka-round-the-world/

Maybe the collective wisdom here could find the whereabouts and fates of other well-known sailFar boats. Here's the start of a list of some that I have wondered about:

Robin Lee Graham's Dove
The Hiscocks' Wanderer III
The latest on the Pardeys' Seraffyn (that should be an easy one)
Shrimpy
Tinkerbelle
The Roths' Whisper (maybe a little big at 35 feet)
Suhaili

What other boats stirred your imagination?

[CharlieJ]

I
And then recently I noticed this blog about visiting John Guzzwell's Trekka: http://www.shortypen.com/sailboats/trip-to-trekka-round-the-world/

Wow- talk about a blast from the past. I know Shorty,and found these on his web site :D

http://www.shortypen.com/events/magnolia-beach-messabout-2007/charlie/

http://www.shortypen.com/events/magnolia-beach-messabout-2007/kayaks/

That's me on the right in the first  pic- seven years ago!! The kayaks are B and B Birders

[Tim]

Yep, Shorty has just about everything there  :D

http://www.shortypen.com/sailboats/cape-dory-typhoon/

[Captain Smollett]

Sometimes you come across these gems while just surfing the net.  Speedwell of Hong Kong is an example I mentioned stumbling across a few years ago.

http://sailfar.net/forum/index.php/topic,3445.0.html

[DarrenC]

Re: Tinkerbelle

From the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland:

Tinkerbelle
On June 1, 1965, Robert Manry sailed from Falmouth, Massachusetts to Falmouth, England, in Tinkerbelle, a small, hand-built boat that many thought would never be able to make the journey. Despite doubts and dangers, Tinkerbelle and Manry made it to Britain. The Western Reserve Historical Society has the famous boat and various pieces of memorabilia from the journey, on display.

Serrafyn is owned and regularly sailed by George Dow of Scituate, MA since about 2001. 

[Kettlewell]

Those Vertues like Speedwell were neat boats, though they are big "little" boats. Great looking too. Thanks for the information on Tinkerbelle too--never heard of the museum--will have to visit there some time. So Seraffyn is in Scituate? I'm surprised I haven't crossed paths with her. I first met the Pardeys eons ago when they sailed into Newport. Back in the day the transAtlantic races that ended in Newport had lots of interesting small boats, before they were banned. There was one local fellow who raced in the Bermuda 1/2 Race with what I think was a heavily modified Venture 22.

Remembered the name of the owner of Shrimpy--Shane Acton. The first boat I owned and cruised on was a very similar design. Keep them coming.

[DarrenC]

Is Shrimpy and Super Shrimp the same boat?  Years ago a book on famous small boats featured Super Shrimp. Apparently the skipper (Mr. Acton?) had retired to the Caribbean and the boat was lost when a tree fell on it in a hurricane sometime in the 80s IIRC...

[Kettlewell]

From Wikipedia:

Shane Acton was a sailor, known for circumnavigating the globe in an 18-foot (5.5 m) boat. He first set sail from Britain at the age of 25, in 1972.

Raised in Cambridge, England without any sailing experience he departed in a used 18' 4" bilge-keel sailing boat for which he paid ?400 - not an enormous amount even in the early 1970s. The boat was a 'Caprice', a Robert Tucker design originally named 'Super Shrimp' but referred to by Shane simply as 'Shrimpy'. Later Shane was accompanied for much of the voyage by his girlfriend, a photographer from Switzerland, Iris Derungs, he sailed westabout through the Panama Canal, circling the globe and returning to England as a local celebrity eight years later. The voyage is chronicled in his book Shrimpy: A Record Round-the-World Voyage in an Eighteen Foot Yacht. In 1984 he set off on a second voyage.

He lived his later years near Golfito, Costa Rica, and died of lung cancer on February 25, 2002 at the age of 55 in Cambridge, England.

[mitiempo]

Wanderer III has continued sailing under the ownership of Thies Matsen and Kicki Ericson. They have added 135,000 miles to her history, over 24 years some in polar regions. They were awarded the Bluewater Medal in 2011 for their voyages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Water_Medal  They have some videos on YouTube and have written for Cruising World and Woodenboat among other magazines.

Hal Roth's Spencer 35 Whisper was for sale a few years ago on the east coast in need of a refit. Not sure where she is now.

Suhaili is in the UK. Was a display in a marine museum but has been restored and was sailing - Robin Knox-Johnson wrote an article in I think Yachting Monthly a few years ago about her.

The Pardey's have listed Taleisin for sale recently.

[Kettlewell]

Thanks for that! Here's a linky on Suhaili from Robin Knox Johnston's own site: http://www.robinknox-johnston.co.uk/da/20076

She's being rebuilt at the Elephant Boatyard which is where my very own Katydid was built for the gentleman we bought her from.

I wonder if any of Tristan Jones' boats have survived?

[CharlieJ]

I wonder if any of Tristan Jones' boats have survived?

The real ones, or the ones he made up stories about?  ;D

I think one still exists, or did exist, down in the Caribbean, at least a few years ago.

[Kettlewell]

Which ones didn't he make up stories about?

[CharlieJ]

 :D

He did spin a good yarn though, even if it all didn't happen! I have several of his books and have enjoyed the tales.

[mitiempo]

Tristan Jones wasn't overly educated but he knew how to sell books! They were true stories with many embellishments.

[CharlieJ]

They were true stories with many embellishments.

MANY embellishments. :) Patience Wales of Cruising World had him doing many of his "tales". Some were, shall we say, SEA stories.

Doesn't change the fact that he wrote riveting stories, and I've always enjoyed them, whole truth or partly fabrication.

[mitiempo]

I have enjoyed them too.