The Early Days Growing Up on our Family Sailboats
My sailing adventures began around 1974 after my Dad bought our first sailboat, a new O’day 22 from Stan Evanson at P. Evanson Boat Company when we lived in Philadelphia, PA. During the sailing season we kept the boat on a beer keg mooring at Beesley’s Point on the Jersey Shore, in front of the Tuckahoe Inn. Dad’s best friend since childhood was John Turnbull, who was an artist with a big family that lived just up the road near Beesley’s Point. I have many fond memories of going to the shore and spending weekends on “Little Honey” and hanging out with my Dad and members of the Turnbull clan. John’s whole family always treated us like we were part of the family.
This O’day 22 had a unique life while we owned her. She sailed in both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. After a couple of summers on the Jersey shore, we moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon and towed her on a single axle trailer across the country. She spent one summer on the Columbia River near Portland, and two summers in Puget Sound sailing the San Juan Islands, based out of Shilshole Bay Marina, just north of Seattle. It tooks us five hours each way to drive to the boat on the weekends, but I went every time because it was always an adventure.
The Jersey Shore Point Pleasant, NJ
We moved to Point Pleasant, NJ at the beginning of my Sophomore year in high school. Our house was a modest 4 bedroom raised ranch, but it was on a lagoon with a 55 foot dock that was accessible to Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Best of all, Dad also bought a brand new O’day 27 (over the phone from Stan). He was excited to be on the East Coast again after living in Oregon for a few years working for Tektronix (the pioneers of the Oscilloscope).
This O’day 27 was named “Escapade” and she was a classic, designed as a racer/cruiser by the world famous British Yacht Designer, Alan Gurney. His biggest claim to fame was designing “Windward Passage.” She was launched and commissioned at Johnson Brothers Boatyard.
The O’day 28 “Eagle”
After the O’day 27, we had an O’day 28 for about two years. It was a centerboard model with an OMC Saildrive. I thought the boat had nice lines and a roomy cabin, but it did not sail well, and the propulsion was ill-conceived. When I was about 17, I actually called up the boat’s designer. John Deknatel, the president of the legendary C. Raymond Hunt Associates, answered the phone and we had a nice conversation about the boat’s sailing characteristics. He explained a good bit to me, appreciating my interest and he actually took my criticism like a true gentleman, knowing that all vessel designs involve compromises. In the case of the O’day 28 CB model, it gave up sailing performance for having a shoal draft. In hind sight, we should have just kept the O’day 27 because it sailed so much better.
Lippincott 30 “Adios”
While I was in college, my Dad just could not resist. After visiting Stan again, he was excited to learn about a new boat that hit the local scene, the Lippincott 30, which was built right up the road from Stan in Riverton, NJ. I looked at it with my Dad and was amazed at the design features and workmanship of the mahagony interior, Yanmar Diesel, lead keel, and deck layout. Best of all – she was fast!
Years later, after I moved to Connecticut and I was on my own, I actually bought my own Lippincott 30 and named it after my grandmother, Julianna. During the last two years of being a bachelor, I lived on “Julianna” in downtown Charleston, SC. Both boats served my father and me very well.
