You may wonder why a boat that isn't a Cape Dory 14 and hasn't been to the DELMARVA barrier islands (yet...) is included here. Well, the boat shares a common heritage to the Cape Dory 14. A Wherry is an old English boat that was the predecessor to the Whitehall style of small boats that was the inspiration for the Cape Dory 14. The particular example included here, at kit boat sold by Chesapeake Light Craft and built by Mr. Harlow Bickford in 2001, is in one sense the grandfather of the Cape Dory 14, but is also related by common use profile; small boats that row well and can carry a lot. How I came to be in possession of this particular boat is a rather amazing story of coincidence as you will see.

I received an e-mail one day from my brother in VA that was forwarded to him for the Potomac River Sailing Association (PRSA) google group e-mail list server. The e-mail in question had been forwarded to PRSA from the Daingerfield Island Sailing Club (DISC) information e-mail address by the web master for DISC. The original e-mail had been sent by one Michele asking if someone wanted a donated boat and included two cryptic pictures. After a couple days I e-mailed my brother and ask him if he followed up on the e-mail and he said he had not.

So I texted Michele and inquired if it was still available. She replied almost right away and asked me if I could come get it right now! I couldn't meet that time due to prior commitment, so we agreed the following Friday at 10AM I would come look at it. My brother lived near location so I planned to come to his house the night before to visit and avoid morning rush hour traffic.

That Thursday night I was having dinner with him and his girlfriend when Michele texted me making sure I was still coming the next day. I have been party to many used vehicle transactions over the years and I rarely have a seller follow up to make sure I am coming the next day, let alone someone trying to donate something. It was a red flag for a "free" transaction. I will admit it was a little concerning my physical safety might be at risk.

The next day I went to the location and there was nobody there. I texted Michele and after I sent it two women showed up who were expecting me. One of them, Pam, ask me if I had anyone coming to help me move it. She lead me into the house to the basement where the 2nd Wind was. To say that I was stunned when I saw the boat would be an understatement. I was at ease that I was not at risk, but I just could not believe that someone wanted to give away such a boat. It did not compute.

Pam kept asking me if I was going to take the boat and I admit I was half expecting a sales person to walk in and start talking to me about price. I told Pam I would, about the same time Michele texted me back to make sure everything was ok and to also inquire if I was going to take the boat. I told her I was and she said "Yippee! Please send a picture at some point!" to which I said I would and set about to the work of getting the 2nd Wind out of the basement, alone... I had brought a dolly from my brother's house to help with the process, but it took me a while to get the boat, oars and dolly made for it I discovered in the basement all loaded in my truck. The boat is almost 18 feet long and weight almost 70 pounds so securing it in a 8 foot pickup truck bed for a 50 mile highway drive required a lot of thought.

After I loaded the boat up I closed up the basement and went upstairs to thank Pam for her time. She told me that at three o'clock that day a company was coming with a dumpster to clean out the house in preparation for selling. Everything had to go, including the boat. The owner was worried nobody was going to take it and feared it would end up in the landfill. It was then that I found out he was the builder. Suddenly it made sense why Michele asked me to send a photo. To let the builder/owner know what happed to the boat he spent so many hours doing an excellent job building.

Because of this I recorded a video of our sea trial with 2nd Wind and the first time I took her out into deep water of Annapolis Harbor and to Whitehall Bay. It was rather fitting to be rowing a Wherry to a Bay called Whitehall.

I am very thankful to Michele and Pam for assisting me getting the 2nd Wind and honored to have such a beautifully constructed boat that Mr. Harlow Bickford made. I am already planning trip around its use. Check back here soon as I will include the builder's log and technical info on the boat as I have for the Cape Dory 14.