SWEET GALE has left a trail of broken dreams from Texas to Maine that has spanned more than 70 years.

[TomY]

I'm seeing to her safe arrival in Rockport Harbor this week. She arrived on a rickety cradle, on a rickety trailer,...on another,...good trailer.

This is the first time SWEET GALE has seen daylight since being left stored in a barn in Northeast Harbor Me. (3 hours downeast), 27 years ago.

The owner, who lives in Denmark these days, sailed her around Penobscot Bay in 80's as a young man. Then that young man's life took him away; marriage, 2 kids, a career. SWEET GALE stayed in the barn those 27 years while he lived his life.

She looks pretty good for a boat that was built (mostly), in 1947.

It's a long story,...

The shortened version goes like this: A young soldier from Texas was stationed in the Pacific in the 40's. He ran into James Borden, a young adventurer (and writer), sailing around the Pacific (during the offensive!) in a small 17' boat he built named:

When the soldier returned to Corpus Cristi, he decided to build a replica of CONFUCIUS. TEAK LADY was to be a wedding present for his soon bride. The soldier's project dragged on and on, long after the marriage ended. His dream was not to be.

Another Texan picked up TEAK LADY with dreams of sailing away, and set about finishing the little boat. 10 years later, that dream was not to be,..either.

Next, a college professor; with dreams of sailing in his retirement, bought unfinishedTEAK LADY. He trailered the seductress to Wisconsin. Some years - more work on the boat - and a nearly failed marriage at that point (due to $$ and time spent on the boat), his shattered dream and the boat were left in a corn field in Wisconsin.

The present owner, just out of college in the 70's, used to bicycle by the TEAK LADY. He'd adjust her wedges in the cradle over a couple years as the little boat whispered in his ear...

Eventually, he was sold the unfinished boat for $100. He built a trailer and moved her home to upstate NY where he - over 3 years - replaced some ribs and poured her first ballast keel (a second attempt - the first in Wis. ended in a burst mold and perhaps a lawsuit from the downhill neighbor).

In 1979 the young man trailered the finally finished boat, to Northeast Harbor Me. for the maiden launch of the newly christened, SWEET GALE.

Quite a story for a 17' boat. I found the little cabin full of the ghosts of dreamers along the way.

And what about this present episode?

Can a young man pack up a little boat, put it away in a barn for 27 years, later to be opened - like a time capsule - by the older man today? Today, newly retired, with a nearly grown family, and cast off again?

The boat does whisper to you. It's very pretty to look at, full of something, I can't put my finger. I threw a cover over her for this winter.

What, or who, is next?

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Wow! So is this the start of a new chapter, Tom?

 

[rpludwig]

What a GREAT story, and sweet to have all that documented....given her history, hope she doesn't wreck yours (or another's) marriage (again)!!

 

[TomY]

Wow! So is this the start of a new chapter, Tom?

Ha! Not. The owner is a BIL of friends in my neighborhood.

Boats have stories but the stories are about the people they touch. This little boats story is particularly human.

As I was covering it my wife stopped by. Mary Ann said, "As if you don't have enough boats to worry about". That was a good point. I want to help - will help to get her re-launched, if that's what they want to do.

But I get the nagging feeling I may know more about SWEET GALE than I really want to.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

Very gorgeous . If only I had known about her when she was in Wisconsin ,I may have been able to keep her here . She would look lovely up in Door County

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Barns & boats. I'm a little curious about the barn as well! How does a boat reside in a barn for 27 years unless the barn is also forgotten. What else lies in the barn for all that time? I grew up in an area where barns were everywhere and built during an era with a lot of pride for the craftmanship and utility. So many were later left to weather and finally fall down, probably with the dreams of the many whom built them. From a distance we love their beauty, but we don't usually know what hides inside under the roof. So how was it that the boat was hidden in a barn, undisturbed by the need for progress and utility, for all that time?

 

[shemandr]

It's hard to believe that such a pretty gal can break so many hearts - or maybe it's not.

 

[TomY]

Barns & boats. I'm a little curious about the barn as well! How does a boat reside in a barn for 27 years unless the barn is also forgotten. What else lies in the barn for all that time? I grew up in an area where barns were everywhere and built during an era with a lot of pride for the craftmanship and utility. So many were later left to weather and finally fall down, probably with the dreams of the many whom built them. From a distance we love their beauty, but we don't usually know what hides inside under the roof. So how was it that the boat was hidden in a barn, undisturbed by the need for progress and utility, for all that time?

The barn is somewhere inland on Mt. Dessert Island. I'd guess it's a long term storage barn for cars and/or small boats. Typical storage items for the summer community up there.

SWEET GALE was a dream. Never moved and they could bill for the ON and OFF season, for 27 years.

 

[JRT]

Very cool Tom! Barn finds are always fun in Maine. I ended up with 2 motorcycles a 1976 BMR r75/6 and a 1980 Honda CB750 for free when we lived in Bath. The wife of my neighbor said that if he gave me the BMW I had to take the Honda, no kids and second job out of school so it was a fun project to bring the BMW back after sitting for over 15 years in a corner! I paid the it forward by passing the Honda for free to a friend in need of transportation and that BMW was a great cruiser for my wife and I around Maine in the summer before kids.

 

[jon hansen]

that boat remind me somewhat of the boat in the book 'the sailor dog'

 

[jon hansen]

 

[jmce1587]

Can’t wait to follow more of this story. Thanks for sharing

 

[Joe23455]

Tom, I always enjoy your style of writing and photography. It is so true" that boats have stories but the stories are about
the people they touch" There is a life in the laying of a Keel and it makes an impression on all the lives that experience that ship. Weather it be a dinghy or sloop and all ships between. Merry Christmas to All !
Joe
S/V Trinity

 

[RussC]

Full disclosure I generally just flip by posts about wooden boats. glad I read this one however, as that's certainly a story not about boats, but about life. and that I can relate to. thanks for sharing!

 

[Tom J]

She is beautiful, and deserves to dance on the waves.

 

[Daddio417]

Sweet Gale is at risk of becoming a metaphor for “Men who go down to the sea in boats”, or don’t. Wonderful story, thanks .

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Sweet Gale is at risk of becoming a metaphor for “Men who go down to the sea in boats”, or don’t. Wonderful story, thanks .

Interesting that you should bring this up after 2-1/2 years! @TomY what has become of Sweet Gale? Who does she haunt now?

 

[TomY]

Interesting that you should bring this up after 2-1/2 years! @TomY what has become of Sweet Gale? Who does she haunt now?

Ha! Funny to see your post, Scott.

The following spring we hired a local wooden boatbuilder, Bruce, with a boat yard to move SWEET GALE into one of his sheds, perhaps for some work and a later launch.

As they were pulling SG down the driveway, I got an emergency call that one of the legs on the cradle let go and SWEET GALE threatened to go through the back window of Bruce's pick-up truck.

I luckily had a bunch of scrap lumber, construction screws, and the needed battery-powered tools in my truck. We quickly pulled her back a bit with a come-along and cobbled together enough braces - we hoped - would survive the 3-mile road trip.

I got a text about 15 minutes later, BOAT ON JACK STANDS IN SHED. He converted the cradle into kindling.

That was two years ago now. We came dangerously close, the owner's brother and I in Maine, to putting SWEET GALE in the harbor. In the end, the owner, still in Denmark, balked as he said he really wanted to be there for the event.

So into a nice dry shed, she went, to round out a solid 30 years of indoor storage.

Since then, the owner of SW has bought a home here in town and plans to move to Maine once school is over.

Looks good, right? Wait! The property comes with an extra building, just big enough to house SWEET GALE. "I'll work on the boat in the shed and get her ready,...."

I know it's dangerous to read too much into a boat and its people. But I have a hunch SWEET GALE may represent a life unlived, a door that was not opened, 30 years ago.

You can't go back and open that door.

 

[Crusty Ol Salt]

Such a sad story and at the same time, such a cool story.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Such a sad story and at the same time, such a cool story.

I tend to think that it is amazing that a sailing dream that was born in the South Pacific during WWII is still alive today, even if it is still largely unfulfilled. There is definitely hope & possibility for a promising life! The owner surely has family to carry on in Maine ... or Sweet Gale can still be passed on to an enthusiastic heir! She will never see the South Pacific in all probability, but Maine is a great place for this little beauty!