was solid, and we never had any com- plaints about performance.” The Sparrow also boasted positive


flotation, which Gaylord confirmed by swamping a new boat in the river behind his property. “It wallowed and wasn’t very stable


with all that water in it, but there was no way it was going to sink.” Gaylord says a couple of his customers


cruised from Puget Sound up the Inside Passage to Alaska together—one in a Sparrow 16 and the other in a Sparrow 12! Te boats reportedly performed well and the trip was a success. Chuck sold the company in 1981 to


his son, who sold it again a few years later, with each builder fighting increas- ing production costs and high interest rates that doomed so many small-boat builders of the era. We sailed and surveyed two Sparrow 16s, a 1979 model and Bruce Solly’s 1981 model Miss Molasses.


PERFORMANCE: “Te boat points well.” Carl Taylor 1976 Guppy 16.


62


TOP—A roomy V-berth forward with molded space aft for portable head. Note shelves on both sides of cabin and opening ports.


ABOVE LEFT—Settee/quarterberth cushions with backrest and an aftermarket gimballed stove on the compan- ionway bulkhead.


ABOVE RIGHT—Six-inch deep molded sink with pump faucet and water stowage in a forward bin.


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


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