Mystery Solved
All sailboats have stories to tell. Ours is no exception. When we found Windover, neglected in a marine storage yard in Eastern Ontario, we had no idea where she had been or what adventures she had endured. We did have a few clues however. The name on her stern was "Fly Half", the seller told us she was used for many years by a YMCA Girls camp and on one of her sail bags was a tag that read "YMCA Camp Tock----". The last part of the name was indiscernible. I did a quick search on Google and found a YMCA Camp on the Chesapeake name "Tockwogh". I sent a letter to Elizabeth King, the camp director on December 28, 2014. We immediately got an auto reply back that she would be away for Christmas but would contact us when she returned. On January 10, 2015 I got an e-mail from Courtney Izett, the waterfront director from the time Windover was owned by the camp. Here is what she wrote;
"Fly Half was our Big Boat! She was a great boat, loads of memories… although my skipper liked to bring her to the dock on low tide days, taught her that she could get close to the beach… and then she tried on her own… A LOT. Located on 2 miles of beach on the Chesapeake Bay directly across from Aberdeen Proving Grounds, YMCA Camp Tockwogh is a premiere sailing and skiing camp. We boast having the largest fleet of boats on the bay second only to the Navy in Annapolis". Courtney included two photographs with a promise to distribute a link to our site in the hopes that others would provide more stories and pictures. You can read more about YMCA Camp Tockwogh on their site at www.ymcacamptockwogh.org While I was putting this together another e-mail arrived. It read as follows; Hi. To whom I'm sending this email to. My name is Martin. I live in the UK and I worked at YMCA Camp Tockwogh for 10 summers. From 2002 fly half was a part of my summers for a good few summers. I think maybe 4. But I can't honestly remember. I have been part of many teams that have helped out from getting her de-beached. I was in fact part of the team that got her free from the time she was beached shown in your picture. There was another time she was on her side and I was one of the lucky ones ( let's say heavier) ones to sit on a plank of wood which was tied to the main halyard. Once we had the keel free the boat then righted herself and I'm sure you can guess, catapulted me and the 3 others on the wood high into the air. But please don't worry. I used another member of staff to break my fall. I was lucky enough to go out sailing on her. And other members of staff used to have BBQs on her. I do have a lot of pictures of her floating around which I will try and dig out for you. I'm sorry to say I think most of them are of her beached. An I do also have pictures of her tender. It was named baby. (In case you didn't know.) I hope this email finds you safe and well and helps put a few more pieces of a puzzle together. May I add the boat looks amazing. I think you have given her a new lease of life and the news of this will make a lot of people happy to see/hear. Kindest regards. Martin. . |
Here is a map showing where Windover lived for many years at YMCA Camp Tockwogh in the Chesapeake.
It looks as though the boat is sitting on her keel during low tide in this picture. It could just be the picture but it looks as though her boot-stripe may be light blue instead of the dark blue it is now. Was this stripe repainted?
This explains the scratches I had to repair on her bottom on the port side. Fortunately she was re-floated no worse for wear
Getting it on the shore was easy..............
|