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History of
“Ruth Lane” - SOLD
“Ruth Lane” was built by the Landing
School in Kennebunkport, Maine in 1991 from a Fenwick Williams 1932 design.
I have all the files and records on the construction details and cost,
including photos of the construction process and the apprentice crews that
worked on her. The original owner sponsored the construction and paid about
$35,000 for the boat. He sailed her in Rhode Island for 5 years, and I
bought her sight unseen from him in 1997 after seeing his listing in the
Catboat Association winter bulletin.
The Landing School recommended that I have
a trailer specially built for her, and so I had her trucked back to
Kennebunkport, where the School and trailer dealer collaborated on the
trailer design. I hauled her back to Wisconsin and worked on her the spring
of 1997. She was in excellent shape but I needed to strip all the exterior
varnish and put on seven coats of fresh varnish. As a result, we entered her
in a wooden boat show in Sturgeon Bay that summer and she won “Best of Show”
honors. The next year she won “Peoples Choice” honors. The show takes too
much time out of our short Wisconsin summers, so I have not entered her
since, but I keep her in great condition.
In 2005, her hull was stripped, faired,
recaulked and repainted by a wooden boat craftsman in Sturgeon Bay, WI. He
also completed minor repairs to the mast and rudder. I have photos of all
the work that was done at that time.
My decision to sell “Ruthie” has been a
tough one for me and my family, because she has given us so much pleasure.
When she’s on her mooring in front of our place she flirts with us until we
take her out for a sail. She has an absolutely beautiful profile. We have
spent many happy hours aboard. There’s just something about the allure of a
beautiful wood boat.
Unfortunately, the Great Lakes water
levels have dropped almost three feet. Normally I keep her on a mooring in
front of our cottage, but when the summer storms hit I have to put her on a
boatlift so that she doesn’t bottom out on the sand. As the water levels
keep going down we are increasingly unable to float “Ruthie” on and off the
lift. There have been times when the boat has been marooned on the lift for
weeks. We have the same problem launching the catboat at our local boat
ramps because there is not enough water depth to float her off the trailer.
Hopefully, the new owners of “Ruth Lane”
will cherish her as much as we did.
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