A Paul Gartside #130 followed me home today. It was somewhat of an epic journey with a 2 month preamble.
(To skip the preamp go to post 2 for some boat pictures, there is some boat info near the bottom of the preamble)
This Gartside appeared on the local craigslist. Perhaps some of you saw it. I contacted the buyer a day after it appeared and offered him a modest offer on site unseen basis. He said my offer was fair but a little low. Then I waited, and waited. The ad was cute because it said the boat needed 'anti-fowling' ..to guard against sea fowl I guess, like ducks!
Also it was never renewed, The seller was obviously very busy and didn't have time to tend to it. He also didn't live on the Island where the boat was located so there were logistic difficulties. So I waited and waited. We shared some communications and I got little dribbles of informations and a couple more pictures. I contacted Paul Gartside and got his opinion of the pictures. He said it looked good with nice plank lines and he didn't see any major problems.
It was made at the Silva Bay boat school 20-21 years ago (I found all this out later, prior to actually buying) Its as student built boat and a year after it was made the student who owned it sold it to the grandfather of the present owner. He loved it, and took good care of it , however he didn't have much time to sail it and he was older, so it spent a lot of time on a small dock 8' above the sea with a custom canvas cover on it. In the past few years the grandfather had not been able to sail it at all and he passed on last June. Then it was moved to the lawn where it was stored upside about 2' off the ground on blocks with the bottom warped up.
My friend Martin who generously lends me his beautiful Eel inspired canoe yawl 'Pilgrim's Wake' hooked me up with his naval architect friend (a forum member here, I'll let him chime in if he wants to) He gave me his opinion of the pictures and also hooked me up with a former school director, who got information from a former instructor, which is where a lot of the above information came from. I thought one of the pictures depicting the stem showed what looked to be rot, I shared the picture, which gave all of us some concerns regarding the stem in general.
45 days after the ad was posted, the very day the ad was taken down by craigslist. the seller accepted my offer. I received the above information about 2 days later which gave me the willies. We set a date to see the boat (It was on Gabriola Island not far from where it was built.)
I got up extra early to make the most of the day and ensure a space on the ferry (two ferries to Gabriola actually)
I loaded up my car and on closing the drivers door to adjust something I inadvertently closed it on the reinforced corner of the tarp I keep on it, resulting in this:
I was already a bit trepidatious about the whole jaunt...The ferries are very expensive $200 plus and I was worried about the boats condition so this setback threw me for a couple hours but I rallied and hopped the 1pm ferry, trailer in tow. The trailer is a break back trailer that I shortened by drilling a new pivot hole and moving the winch. main my entire rig 19' 11" . 1" under the 20' over-sized limit. I took a ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and then across Nanaimo to catch the Gabriola ferry, It was a breezy trip without a driver's side window...
The Gabriola Ferry
Then drove all the way to the other end of Gabriola , which like all the gulf islands is quite idyllic and beautiful.
The extreme lumpy, rutted and long driveway to the seller's insanely beautiful property
Spent a bunch of time time checking the boat out and hunting down gear. The boat, to my inexperienced eyes, looked pretty good and humorously the 'stem rot' turned out to be a trick of the light in the photograph ,but sadly the floorboard and removable rear seats were nowhere to be found. Happily this resulted in a 20% discount.
The cream coloured sail, spars, rudder , centreboard and beautiful 9' oars looked like they'd barely been used ever.
The hull looked good and didn't seem to have any soft spots though some of the copper fastener holes had lost their putty(?) plugs (possible issue) There was some chips and flakes in the black topsides and much fading of the bottom paint. I'm not sure why this boat had bottom paint as it never lived in the water so it seems redundant.
I spent a bunch of time levelling out my trailer rollers so that the keel would rest on them and be lightly supported upright by the bunks, Lashed everything in and down and set off back down the very lumpy little driveway, via the gravel road and finally back onto the other road which traverses the north side of the Island. Really a beautiful drive. Had to stop for a deer and some HUGE turkeys at a couple points. I managed to stop by the property of this nice lady who owns 'Goldeneye' the #1 Greg Foster tent sailor and have a brief look at her boat but wasn't able to hook up with her to get information in person.
Here I am waiting for the ferry back #130 in tow. Sadly I am now 2' over the 20' limit! So paying little more on the ferry back to Vancouver.
i visited with my brother overnight at his new place in Nanaimo (this was my backup rational for the trip and long overdue)
Then off in the morning back to Vancouver after accidentally circumnavigating Nanaimo
Here I am hanging out with the big boys in the belly of the ferry
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