The Beverly Gee

The Bridgeport Boat Basin- The Beverly Gee is the one with
the gray decks in the middle

I don't know the last time you stopped down to the Bridgeport Boat Basin, but if you do go by, you will see a rather large sloop parked on the dock in the middle of the pile of boats. She hasn't moved from that dock since last year and prior to that moved even less when she suffered multiple injuries at the hands of the public she was hoping serve. But the Beverly Gee is a fine old girl even if she has a few scrapes, a leaky engine and a half a decade of crap stuffed in her spacious holds.

I learned of the Beverly Gee when I saw an ad for her while working at Pequot Yacht Club. Looking for a live aboard vessel that could handle the open waves while being on a tight budget is a pretty specific order and believe it or not, in the late days of 2006, money was not my chief concern- sailing was.

I had a vision that I would restore a vessel, install a wood burning stove and set sail up and down the coast of Western Long Island Sound while keeping my day job as the sailing director of Pequot Yacht Club. And this boat had all the markings of a vessel that needed my hand on the tiller.

On The Hard! (at Captain's Cove) This is how I found her. 

She was stored in the back of the Captain's Cove and was on the hard for at least a few years. Water had settled into her foredeck and the motor had not been turned over in at least a year, but otherwise looked OK. The owner had moved to Florida after a few decades of sailing her out of Black Rock at Fayerweather YC. He hadn't looked at her and the all the folks at Captain's Cove wanted to see was an open slot to make more money. They wanted her gone and the owner needed to unload her.

I don't recall what I paid, something like $13K which for an old boat like that was a bit high, but my dreams of cooking breakfast with a coat of freshly fallen snow at anchor in the Housatonic made it seem to me like a steal- word of warning to all you prospective boat owners- buy with your head, not with your heart.

Upon closing on the boat, without the benefit of an inspection or sea trial, I received in the mail, a Bible of sorts. You could say a lot about the owner, but he was fastidious about record keeping. Every washer he bought, every coat of paint he painted, every oil change and every vhf installation going back to 1976 was listed in this book. If you do decide to buy a boat, much like a plane, I say demand the log book if available. It saved me thousands and told me the story of this mysterious new woman in my life.

The Bible, (as I call it) told me all about the 34' Cal Mark II that was launched on May 30, 1976. I immediately fell in love with my new bride as she had the same commissioning date as me. It also told me that the Westerbeke Diesel in her belly was well loved, but could last forever if properly cared for and in its pages had every fuse, part number, gasket and fluid used to make her run. It was complete.

I then took to doing what every new boat owner relishes most, digging in all her lockers, cabinets and bilges to find all the parts and pieces that I needed to recreate the moment she was launched- after 30-something years, there were lots.

I slept that first night on the boat in the middle of February. Paranoid about sleeping in a dark parking lot in Bridgeport, I bought a retractable ladder that I could pull up onto the decks as I went to sleep and a cheap radiator that could be plugged into shore power to keep me alive in the -10 degree overnight temps. All told the first night though a bit harrowing, was a one of the best nights sleep I ever had.

The next morning I awoke as the temps topped 32 and started to wash 36 months of soot from the decks of the vessel- A boat from Bridgeport can always be identified by the layer of cancer causing soot spewed out from the power plant, recycling plant and I-95. I also began removing every scrap of her old name from her hull and contents with the idea that I would rechristen her as the "Beverly Gee" once I had a few dollars and a place to park her.

A Note on Re-Christening- It has always been a touchy deal to change the name of a boat- legend has it that Poseidon has a record of every vessel on the Sea and if you change the name without satisfying the Gods, they will call that vessel down to the depths - perhaps for a better look see, but more likely to punish the wayward skipper who dared to offend the old man. The only way you can ensure safe passage is to do the name change with style. There are a bunch of texts on the proper way to call to Poseidon and announce your plans, but all require an offering- a bottle of the best hooch you can afford.

Poseidon has a book of names where all vessels are recorded 

The procedure is all pretty much the same too- you call to the four winds, "OH Mighty Poseidon, ruler of the seas, we ask you to remove the name of "Insert your old name here" and replace it for forever more with the name of "Insert New Name Here". We offer you this gift of ($75 bottle of old scotch or whatever you think he'll like) and ask for your protection on all her voyges yet to come- blah blah blah." You can say a whole bunch of things, but you got to say it in all four directions, (Poseidon is a busy man, you have to face him when your talking to get his attention) and you have to get him a little tipsy- (He's got one hell of a tolerance after several millennia of drinking heavily). Once you do that, you unveil the new name painted on the back of your boat and your good to go. But be warned- so much as a match book under the sink in the head with the old name can undo the whole process and you have to do it again complete with an expensive bottle of something good- and don't use the cheap stuff- save that for your guests- use the most expensive bottle you can find- after all your paying for the life of yourself, your guests and your boat- would you accept a can of Bush Light as payment for the safety of that crew? Neither would Poseidon.

Back to the Boat (I wont tell you her old name as we have yet to rechristen the Beverly Gee). Once clean and ready to launch I had one thing left to do- paint the bottom. On a big girl like the Cal, its not hard, but it is time consuming. I was there at dusk one night dipping my brush and one of Bridgeport's most entrepreneurial convicts came up to me. He asked if I had any work for him saying he was just released from the North Ave jail and needed cab fare. I said "I could use a hand painting, what's your price tag?". He said $20. I said "How about $25 and dinner if you work with me til its done?" He agreed. I told him I didn't carry cash in Bridgeport, but that I could go get it for him from the ATM. He offered to drive with me, I said no thanks, but get to work and I will be back in 10 minutes. When I left, he was up on the bow running the brush down the leading edge of the hull.

When I got back, I saw he had made it a grand total of three feet down the bow and was sitting under the boat. I asked him how he was doing and he said that the work was too hard. He asked if there was something else he could do for me. I said no that was the only job left to do. He said well can you give me $10 for what I did? I laughed at him, cautiously, and said how about $5. He said that'd be fine, took his $5 and walked away. That was my first lesson in the initiative of Bridgeport's locals.

I went again to bed that night half thinking I would wake up dead when he came back to collect his remaining $20, but all was quiet- I decided then and there that I needed a dog and dreamed of a wiemaraner launching from the decks after a tennis ball. You never sleep well on a boat, but if you have a second set of eyes watching you do sleep better and a dog or a wife we're definitely in order for me to continue this venture- but dogs don't sue you for divorce, so it was settled.

A Boat Load of Kids- this was the first community voyage
we took with the kids of the Shehan Center- Not much wind that
day but we had a blast all the same. 

The next day, the boat was launched, and she floated. The motor turned over and she sailed. I was so thrilled to have a vessel of my own, but also now forever going to have to find a place to park this vessel- a boat never stops moving and so therefore, a skipper never stops worrying. Shortly there after I would start CCB, and the Beverly Gee would act as my home, my office, and be donated to CCB to act as our flag ship for many years to come. Members would take her out, use her, abuse her and bring her back with parts missing, sails torn and fuel tanks empty. Such is the life of a public vessel. This vessel which started her life in Milford, sailed the Carribean for her first few years and became a Bridgeport fixture for her present life, had the legs of an explorer, the grace of a ballerina and the wisdom of a sage.

She now sits with a fried electrical system, an oil leak in her motor and a few ugly gashes left over from Hurricane Sandy. But her soul is good. My hope is we find an owner for her that will put the time and energy into her to bring her back to life. But if we can't, my hope is to find the funding to bring her back so that she may sail again. But you never know what Poseidon will do- her name is still unlisted, her home is shut down by the State and City, and her benefactor is on skids. Maybe the best thing for the old girl is to let her slip beneath the waves if she is called during one stormy night in October. But my thoughts, Poseidon loves her as much as I do, and he would never let that happen.

She will sail again, with or without a motor. I may not be the skipper for her next voyage, but that lady has an unsinkable spirit. Even if her next life is in some far away place, under the unknowing hand of a half-assed skipper, she knows the way. Her well balanced rig, her stiff hull and her easy-going manner will make up for a host of insults in handling. And the days of man and his dog, with a dozen screaming kids will forever be etched on her record in the Sea. Poseidon knows this, and he smiles when he sees her out there. And which ever kind-hearted owner decides to bring this lady back to sea-worthy condition will be rewarded with the good karma that only a lady like the Beverly Gee is worthy. That my opinion anyway- thanks for reading.