tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post789660008287650990..comments2024-03-07T07:08:01.858-05:00Comments on The Unlikely Boat Builder: Why Did You Buy Taleisin?The Unlikely Boatbuilderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00220444040859630948noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-8848764562180835382017-07-03T00:56:44.362-04:002017-07-03T00:56:44.362-04:00You can't do more than your best, and I unders...You can't do more than your best, and I understand the emotions involved in your purchase of Taleisin. About the time, Lin & Larry launched Taleisin, I was considering a sistership for what I thought was to be a life as a water borne missionary. I bought and read all of the Pardey books, bought the videos as they came out, and, though I never met Lyle Hess in person, I spent hours on the phone with him, learning the lessons behind his designs. Like you, I took sailing lessons - I knew nothing about boats - learned to love the ocean while in the military - and sailboats suited my nature more than speed boats - perhaps strange, since my dream was to be World Champion in Grand Prix racing. When the sponsorship fell through for the 1980 Formula Atlantic series, I sold my race cars and 'settled down.' I've been dreaming about boats ever since. I went back to school (I was in my thirties) and became a Microsoft guru, worked a series of jobs as network administrator and was the regional IT manager for a natural gas pipeline company through two ownership changes and a complete 'from the ground up' upgrade or replacement of every piece of equipment. Then I was 'outsourced' (along with the whole team) - a polite way of saying we were fired and replaced with less expensive personnel. We moved to Spokane, and I wasn't able to find work in the field, so I went back to driving a truck and wrote a few novels (two of them have won awards, but I'm still watching the waves for the treasure ship. Over the years, I've doodled line drawings and accommodation plans based on Lyle's designs and lessons learned from Lin & Larry. I was aboard a beautiful Bristol Channel Cutter, Tradition, in Corpus Christi (fell in love with that boat), looked at a Nor'Sea 27 on Long Island and haunted the internet for new renditions of Hess creations. As I've aged, my plans have passed from voyaging to gunkholing into the nooks and crannies of coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest, and I've reduced my aspirations to something I can put on a trailer and 'easily' move about. Lyle considered his Falmouth 22 to be his personal 'perfect boat' were he to go offshore, but, as much as I like the boat, it isn't perfect for me. I love a lapstrake hull (Lyle drew several, but none are just what I desire), and I can no longer look to Lyle to draw the boat I want, so I've doodled a bit. I don't need or want to give up the space for an engine (might be forced on occasion to carry an outboard), and the Falmouth 22 is available without the diesel, but it doesn't have the open decks and reassuring bulwarks of the Bristol Channel Cutter or your Taleisin. My original plan was a wooden lapstrake hull, but I've decided on a fiberglass hull of the approximate size of the Falmouth 22 with lines and teak decks closer to the larger boats like Taleisin. Many of the fitting and layout touches are simply scaled down from lessons learned from Lin & Larry, either through their books and videos, or through Lin's answers to emailed questions. I'm almost at the point of beginning to construct a one-eighth scale model (I'm soon to have surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid and will be off for a couple of weeks). Whether I am ever able to actually build the boat I've envisioned, building the model will be an enjoyable adventure of trying to solidify all of the compromises and choices into a small scale vessel that I may one day be able to build full size. But all of my rambling in this response has been to say that I think I understand your emotional attachment to Taleisin, and I believe you and your wife are the perfect couple to take a very special boat into the foreseeable future (as if the future is truly foreseeable ;^). Good Luck and God speed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-68626265896970844422016-05-01T00:33:23.914-04:002016-05-01T00:33:23.914-04:00Thank you! We can't promise we'll live up ...Thank you! We can't promise we'll live up to our ideals but we're giving it our best shot...Ebenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06371879809717376878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-61162416060742492912016-04-30T05:15:03.050-04:002016-04-30T05:15:03.050-04:00"Making things simple is not easy; Taleisin i..."Making things simple is not easy; Taleisin is simple, and that is very valuable."<br />" In all honesty, Taleisin is worth a lot more than we paid for her in materials alone; the labour to build her is not even factored in."<br />"We want to do what's right for Taleisin"<br /><br />Wow, what a fantastic attitude to have. Congratulations to both of them, and I wish them well in their new love.<br />momisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241178158115432815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-65875733481593706892016-04-29T17:02:01.433-04:002016-04-29T17:02:01.433-04:00Wanderer III, I mean.Wanderer III, I mean.The Unlikely Boatbuilderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00220444040859630948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-1173397064878823592016-04-29T16:59:10.397-04:002016-04-29T16:59:10.397-04:00I'll give you Wanderer II, since the Hiscocks ...I'll give you Wanderer II, since the Hiscocks were more or less the inspiration for the Pardys ;-)The Unlikely Boatbuilderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00220444040859630948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814931629250831543.post-37456235763025674612016-04-29T13:42:26.769-04:002016-04-29T13:42:26.769-04:00I have to insist that Wanderer III is the most fam...I have to insist that Wanderer III is the most famous sailboat. Ticonderoga coming in second.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15499066574895729396noreply@blogger.com