WINDSONG - New Owner

[TaborKP!]

Hello All,

I wanted to introduce myself as the soon to be new owner of the Alden Caravelle WINDSONG. I have been following your posts for years in an attempt to learn everything I could about these beautiful boats and am thrilled to be soon owning one of them. I have been working closely with Mr Burrage the current Owner who has been a real gentleman, a great help and has maintained her very well, the Surveyor was very impressed with the soundness of her construction after 50 years.

Interestingly, I grew up in Sherborn, MA, the same town as the first Owner, Bill Anderson, and learned to sail as a kid on the lake next to his house. No relation to him, but an interesting coincidence.

Windsong will hail from Marion, MA later this summer.

I will have a lot of questions for all of you as I begin to upgrade her, but keep her classic appearance.

Best Regards

Lloyd

 

[TomY]

Beautiful boat, welcome.

 

[SKraft]

Lloyd,

Welcome to the club. Windsong is a beautiful boat. I'm sure you will come to find that the Caravelle is a super stable and comfortable ride in any and all weather conditions. You will enjoy just how many Bermuda 40s that you will pass. And, you will never tire of smiling every time someone rows by or shorts out a compliment from the launch, no matter what harbor you are in.

We will be making two transits of Buzzard's Bay aboard Bounding Home,(x- Excalibur) 992A in late June and early July as part of the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club's cruise to Boston for the July 4th celebration. Our itinerary now calls for Cutty on June 28th, New Bedford on June 29th, Hadley Harbor on the 30th and Red Brook on Wednesday, July 1st. Our return trip will see us in Padanaram on Thursday, July 9th. I would love to hook up with you and compare notes. After 18 years of ownership, there are few parts of Bounding Home that have not been touched.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you so much for helping to maintain the marque.

Scott Kraft

 

[TaborKP!]

Scott,

Many thanks for your comments, I will have a lot of questions and Bounding Home looks to be identical in many of the details, in particular the combing around the companion way only and the forward dorade arrangement. I sailed Wind Song down from Manchester to Marion over the weekend, made great time, mostly at 6.5 kts with a NNW blowing in the low 20s. Of course on the nose coming our of the canal with the tide into 30kts SW, so stacked up seas and some green water over the bow while motoring.

I will be traveling during the time you are in buzzards bay, so will not be in the area to visit with you. I need to put together a several year project plan to bring Wind Song back up. I will be starting with the deck, almost all of the fittings on deck are leaking, the deck needs to be painted, all varnish stripped, port lights rebeded ete.... All the joints in the cabin top, and cockpit are tight and well sealed which is good. The toe rail is also apparently leaking back on the stb quarter, as water is running down the inside of the side shell, so this will be rebeded. I am hoping it can be removed without destroying it, does anyone have experiance with this? New 6 spoke helm, self tailing winches, anchor windlass. Not to mention a holding tank. Current arrangement in the head is very tight, so need to redesign that and integrate the holding tank. I do need to replace her boom, as the original roller furling boom is massive and very heavy. Lots to discuss!! Would like to touch base with you on the phone at some point!

BR

Lloyd

 

[SKraft]

Sounds like you are starting out where we were 18 years ago with Bounding Home. Leaks and all! Check the joint where the glass deck meets the wooden house. That was our first project. We too needed to re-bed all of the hatches and coach top fittings, have the overhead dried out and then put on a barrier coat and Awl Grip.

Holding tank went between the V-Berths. Could only fit a 15 gallon tank. We installed a propane system the first year as Anne refused to deal with alcohol again. An 11 pound, horizontal tank fit nicely in the lazaret behind the traveler.

Also, don't make the huge mistake that I made. I had no idea that the cushion covers were wool. After taking them off the old foam, I threw them into the washer and hot dryer and shrunk them to Barbie doll size, so new cushions were put into the first year's budget.

We wanted to just paint the existing mast and boom. The estimate to strip all of the hardware, sand, prime and paint actually came to more money than replacing the entire rig so we went for the new rig. Should have gone for the taller rig that Jay Zitter put on Banjo Girl.

It never ends, but it is well worth it. You have a beautiful yacht and you will be amazed how many people will stop to tell you that. We had a similar sail over Memorial Day weekend heading SW to Shelter Island in a sustained 20 with gusts to 30 on the nose. Very wet but stable. Not fun but not into the red zone on the excitement meter.

Let's plan on a rendezvous in Newport over the summer.

Scott