From Alan,another Brer Terrapin owner:
It's been along time since I smiled as hard as I did when I saw your post on the Brer Terrapin. Where was the internet back in the 1980s when I had to write letters to the South African Consulate to get confirmation that there were no leans or encumbrances on the Brer Terrapin so I could Register her in the US and letters to the Cruising Club of Cape Town to try and find out something about her history,nothing from either.
This is myself back in 1977 on the crossing from Cape Town to Salvador,Brasil on the same boat. I purchased her cheap in 1983 from a guy in Stamford, Connecticut. She had gone up on some rocks during a storm in 1979 and sunk in about 10 feet of water. When I bought her the hull had been repaired and the Volvo rebuilt, but the aft end insides where gutted and trashed, everything was moldy and full of silt, the wiring pulled out and there were some other issues but she was salvageable. And some of the amazing details under the dirt and silt like the green stone sink in the bog and the carved terrapin made it feel like she still had life in her. Some mid-restoration photos attached.
I spent the next few years getting allot of the work done and sailing around between NY and New England. Lived on her (most of the time) while I finished school in Long Island. Also in that time a wife, kids and real job came along and in 1991 I sold her cheep to an Irishman named Cornelius Callahan who's plan was to sail her back home. Never did find out if he made it.
Thanks for filling in so many of the pieces. I have some more photos and would be happy to give more details to anyone interested. Fair Winds....
We also recieved this information from Ian Allan down in Picton,New Zealand,the Peter he referes to is Peter Horsford who did the return trip back from Rio de Janerio to Cape Town,South Africa.
Hi Roy, what a delight to get that letter about BrerTerrapin. I had a peep at the photos but want to study them in more detail later. Peter is not here presently as he and Cathy went down to Dunedin and Lake Wanaka and should ease up this way again in a week or so and I'll show him all this. He'll be fascinated.
I know a bit about the boat too. I met Pip Smith, the owner/builder when he had the boat on the market and had a long yarn with him. He seemed pretty dejected by selling and later, very sadly, topped himself. He had sailed the boat to Rio in the hopes of carrying on to the Med, he told me, so he could visit historic places and have a leisurely cruise. However his wife wouldn't have any of it and I think that's what got to him because he said very sadly and rather sarcastically to me, 'oh, I guess I'll be happy mowing the grass on my quarter acre!'
He was a doctor and told me how he had played in a band whilst he studied to earn the funds to build Brer Terrapin himself - I think with some help from his dad. What a job he did too!
Well, he sold the boat to Peter's mate (and ours too), Gerald Broom. Gerald had built himself a gorgeous little Buccaneer and sailed it a lot with Peter in False Bay. He sold that and after a few years, of course, had a hankering for another boat. He bought Brer Terrapin and did quite a lot of small jobs on her sprucing her up and Peter sailed regularly with him and I went out quite often with them too. Then Peter sailed with Gerald and a couple of others on the 1976 Rio Race (I don't think in the race as such but at a similar time) - the same one we sailed Jenny Wren over. We met over there and Gerald had in the meantime announced that he had sold the boat to an arbourist from Cape Town - and you know the rest. Gerald flew back to Cape Town and as Peter had promised him that he would sail the boat back to Cape Town, he stayed on to do that as I think the crew were relatively inexperienced.
That's the story up to date, Roy. I remember seeing Brer Terrapin for sale in a British yachting magazine in the 70's I think, and that is likely when the guy who took her to The States bought her.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ian
No comments:
Post a Comment