PAGE 8 • SPRING 2005 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
Momentum on her way to the marina afer launching
LIVING THE DREAM
us through the rough spots. There is an odd comfort in
knowing that the problem that is merely annoying today
continued from page 4
would have likely been debilitating a few short months
construction and 90% picking out fabrics. We were not- ago. Before you know it, creating two 50’ masts from
so-calmly commanded to move the boat as soon as scratch doesn’t seem as difficult as, say, building the
possible despite the fact the hull was unfinished, 50’ boat that goes with them.
concreted to the ground and, let us not forget, still
upside down!
Nearly 16 months after beginning the journey, a crisp
November morning became the day to transcend the
It was another complex set of factors that brought us to boat yard. As the travelift drove to the slip with the hull
the decision to truck the boat to Virginia to be swaying gently in the slings, I was at peace with the fact
completed. Despite all that we had accomplished, no that what lay ahead was truly out of my hands. All of the
boat yard in Florida seemed to be interested in an difficulties of the past disappeared as the hull hit the
unfinished, wooden, homebuilt hull. So we started our water and glided gracefully to the dock. There was still a
move by hiring a crane to flip the hull. This would be long way to go, but she had come a long way already.
the first in a series of precarious positions the boat She was ours in so many ways.
would be in as we watched like frightened parents.
Shortly thereafter we arranged the transport truck. Six
Jeff Stack is a 100-ton USCG captain and the former Education
months into the project, we did the inconceivable and
Coordinator for ASA. He and his wife Christine live in
moved the empty shell almost 1000 miles from where it
Hampton, Virginia where they continue to work aboard their
was built.
schooner. Charters aboard their new vessel will be available in
the summer through www.schoonermomentum.com
After settling into the yard in Virginia and surviving a
R
distinctly colder winter, we found the progress on the
interior and deck to be quite different than the hull
construction. Instead of toiling day after day on the
WHERE AM I?
same task, each day dramatic change was evident.
Before we knew it, a deck appeared along with trunk
cabins and port lights. Soon an engine was installed and
a rudder was wrought from stainless steel and wood.
To be sure, there were certainly times when things went
less than smoothly. Every once in a while, a
“discouraging” word was shouted as a wobbly sawhorse
was heaved through the air. We even had to spend the
better part of a month tearing up and repairing some
hardwood decking that refused to stay in place.
We found, however, that we were never presented any
challenge we were incapable of working through. The
daily difficulties never disappeared completely, but with
every passing day we accumulated a little more
experience with which to battle them. The passing
daydreams of what she would be like once she was
ANSWER ON THE ASA WEBSITE AT WWW.ASA.COM
coursing through the waves were often enough to sustain
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