Over a twenty year period, Rene and Dorie Pittsey of San Jose,
California built a 43'9"
ketch in their backyard. Using plans they bought from
Bruce Roberts, the Pittseys version of his Mauritius 43 aft-cabin,
center cockpit ketch took form slowly but with careful attention to every detail. Along the way, they had the evolving vessel professionally surveyed to verify the integrity of their building process.
For example, the Pittseys wrote the following in their
Morning Star building blog:
"The bulkheads are mahogany
plywood and are set against a lateral stringer along the
hull surface so that the ply never touches the
hull to create a hard spot. The bulkheads are glassed to the hull then through bolted through the glass lay up. The
surveyor called it belt and suspenders, but very strong. Much stronger than his
boat."
A 140-ton crane was necessary to
lift the vessel out of their backyard, up and over their house and onto a flat-bed truck for splashing at an Alameda shipyard. That was a day in early November, 1995.
Sadly, circumstances today have compelled the Pittseys to sell their lovingly created vessel. But that's where the story gets interesting. From last Friday's
'Lectronic Latitude, comes word of a "Dubai Prince" who wanted to buy
Morning Star, sight unseen:
* * *
Seller Beware!
December 5, 2008 – Nigeria, Dubai and Your Computer
" . . . with the recent market crash, we were getting desperate. So when we received an inquiry from a prince in Dubai that didn't ask for bank information, we got a little excited . . ."
* * *
To read the
'Lectronic Latitude account in its entirety, go to:
Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine
TaoJones