I'd really like to have a sailboat again

Article By Bernard Boulanger

Episode One - The Leaky Bastard

I got my first sailboat a little over 13 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about boats and trailers except that I was sure I wanted to sail and my Van had a hitch. So, determined to buy one, I started looking in the local buy&sell and eventually found a boat close by for $400 This was something I could afford! I headed over (a few blocks from me) and had a look.

It looked like a boat, it was on a trailer, it had a mast and sails! So I handed over the $400, hooked it up to my van (which happily had the same size hitch) and headed home.

Now there might be some of you that are assuming things at this point, and there might be others that are saying" heeey what about..." I'll get to that. When I got it home I immediately started setting it up, it was a straightforward fiberglass open sloop rigged 14' boat with a tiny decked in area forward. Obviously homebuilt, it had the interesting characteristic of a roughly 2 by 2 wooden keel running the length of it (as well as a daggerboard). There was a simple aluminum pole mast and boom, neither of which had tracks , the sail just fastening at the corners and no yoke for the boom??! I quickly fashioned one out of some scrap wood.

Now at the time I was working at a local acoustic guitar making factory. There was this nice guy there who'd recently sailed a 32 foot Bristol Channel Cutter across the Atlantic. Wow! Now that was cool. He said they had perfect weather and motored a lot, but still. Cool! He offered to give me a sailing lesson.

He came over to my house, we hooked up the boat and headed to the nearest lake (more of a huge pond actually).Deer lake in the middle of Burnaby BC is an idyllic little intercity lake surrounded by lovely green parkland...more importantly it had a boat launch of sorts. We set up the boat,(which was neat as I learned a couple things) put it in the water, got it to the dock, hopped in and ...magic!!! we were sailing! It was an amazing first sailing experience, silently slipping away from the dock and out into the lake. I was mesmerized by the beauty of it. He showed me the basic principles and I was soon sailing her myself...He also pointed out that water was welling up in the bottom of the boat, so maybe a bit of bailing was in order. hmmm it was at this point that the boat was dubbed "Leaky Bastard" Still it was a magical experience, and the little lake with it's changeable winds was a good place to learn.

I got it home, fixed the leaks with some cold cure epoxy (The previous owner had pinned down a vinyl edge by screwing a aluminum sill plate to and through the bottom of the boat , yeah!) and then a day or so later I decided to take her out by myself! Like a man!! I hooked her up and off I went, I was almost at the lake when I saw the flashing lights behind me..cops!...why??!! I pulled over, the policeman got out of the car and I spluttered "Why are you pulling me over officer?" He said "You don't have a licence plate on your trailer. " Licence plate? " I said dumfounded " I need a licence plate on my trailer??" Yes sir I'm going to have to write you a ticket for $500 for no vehicle insurance and I'm calling a flatbed tow truck for your boat." Holy Crap!! I begged and pleaded my vast ignorance to no avail and the Leaky Bastard was towed home by the Mean Bastard, followed closely by the Stupid Bastard.

Now no doubt some of you saw this earlier on , and others are aghast at my complete idiocy, but the fact was I'd never trailered anything before..ever!. The fellow I bought it from let me hook it up and drive away plateless and well I just didn't know. I ended up several months later arguing the fine down to $300 , especially as trailer insurance then was $30 for 6 &$#^$# months, and I would've happily bought some had I known, still it was an expensive lesson, well learned.

I had a lot of fun with that boat, fixing her up, moving up to larger and more challenging lakes, my friend claimed it was a whitehull design...but then he claimed a lot of things in general, some even true!, so I'm not really sure and sadly this was pre-digital cameras for me so sadly, I don't have any photos. In the summer evenings we used to light candle lanterns and hang them off the boom and bowsprit I had fashioned (all boats should have a bowsprit!!) Often we would get one of those trick or treat plastic skulls and put a candle in it and hang it off the sprit. arrrr glowing skull!

One memorable moment a friend and I were approached by some skinny dipping young ladies! I called out "arrr wenches!"they answered indignantly, "we're not wenches, we're mermaids!" then they asked us if we had any beer. We didn't, so they swam away!?...looks like they might've been wenches after all. In all the stories I've ever read there hasn't been any beer-swilling mermaids.

Another humourous time I was sailing the south end of Pitt Lake (one of the largest tidal fresh water lakes in the world by the way)when I inadvertently led some yahoos in a small speedboat across the treacherous sandbar running down it's southern end. I could pull up my centerboard and rudder and still scud along downwind, they grounded and the air rang with their colourful curses.

Eventually the Leaky Bastard suffered an ignoble end, losing her rudder in a windy squall on the same lake I first saied her in and ended up being blown into the Lilipads. The shame ! The ignomy ! At the time I wasn't sure how to repair the broken pintles, then a dubious aquaintance took the rudder away to repair it by way of repayment of a favour and disappeared!

As the boat was on it's last legs anyway it ended up moving to my brother's place as a kids play place.

10 or so years went by and one day I found myself sitting with a friend on some rocky bluffs in Lighthouse park overlooking English Bay We were looking at all the beautiful sailboats and I said to my friend "I'd really like to have a sailboat again, maybe I'll buy a little one."