The Bote 1966

 

It is a perfect day. The wind direction allowed us to raise the sails at the dock. I am raising the jib and my dad , Walter, is bending on the mizzen.

This is 1966. I am thirteen years old. I was just learning to sail. We had exchanged our Moth sailboat for a twenty four foot Bugeye  Ketch, “The Bote”. The previous year she was motored from Ste Annes to Preville. She badly leaked. We beached her at Valois bay in Dorval overnight so she would not sink. Over the winter we rebuilt her. A new bottom and a complete paint job.

You will see in the background Jean-Marc Brien’s Folkboat that he built. It is a bit short as it did not fit in the garage. I remember sailing her.

The “Bote”  was an awful yacht. She was painful to tack but she was our first cruising boat. Notice that the filming stopped each time we tacked.  My mother, Pearl, took these movies. I had a great time sailing with my father. I do not remember my sisters sailing on her.

I have this theory that the subject of the video or photo is rarely the interest later on. There is no Olympic Stadium. There is the red and white  coal gas tower. And there are the familiar grain silos.

Route 132 had just been built. It has cut off casual access to the river. The old club house has been abandoned and a new club house has been planned.  My father was the plumber for the project.