Spring is here, in Fort Bragg, on the north coast of California. The morning fog rolls out early and we are enjoying bright, sunny days on our Noyo River with our Whale Boat, the Helen Dee.
We have a brand new whaleboat that was built by Ejler Hjorth-Westh, a Dane, a member of our Lost Coast chapter of Traditional Small Craft Association, and a local instructor who teaches at the Krenov School of Woodworking in Fort Bragg.
Dusty Dillion, our president during the past two years, had a vision for the rowers of our whale boat, Helen Dee. Her crews have been frequently exploring the ocean, but Dusty worried because our Miss Dee had been renovated extensively over the years. He wanted her rowers to be able to accomplish long distance coastal excursions on a new whaleboat, specifically built for safety in the ocean, designed after the Coast Guard Monomoy rescue boats that were rowed by crews of oarsmen back in the day.
During the past two years, Dusty accumulated the funds for accomplishing his vision. The funds consisted entirely of donations. Dusty commissioned Ejler and his hand-picked crew of extremely talented woodworkers to build the boat, and the task was accomplished in exactly one month. She is absolutely beautiful, lapstrake marine mahogany, and the craftsmanship is outstanding.
Dusty passed away last November, just after christening the new Monomoy the “Coastal Challenge” and taking the sweep oar for her maiden voyage down the Noyo River. He was very proud of his accomplishment. What an incredible gift, so typical of his generous nature.
He left a list of mandates. One is to take “the Challenge” to San Francisco and row her with the Bay Area Whaleboat Rowing Association crews, and another is to use her specifically for educating our local children with our Rising Tide program.
Rising Tide, an offshoot of the Lost Coast TSCA, is dedicated to teaching our children everything there is to know about boats — building and rowing them, water safety, marine science, navigation …. Its goal is to lead children towards future study at a marine or naval academy.
Rising Tide has partnered with the Mendocino Coast Recreation and Park District, led by director Natalie Cottrell, who runs the “Just for Kids” program at the C.V. Starr Center in Fort Bragg. Events and activities are in the planning stages for the upcoming 2018 boating season.
