About Potters and stuff . . . . . I got my first Potter back in 1970 or so,
a gunter rigged 14 #307 and used the hell out of it. One memorable cruise
found my wife and I aboard on a 7 day delta adventure and we never got off
the boat during that time. I think that the older boats with the footwells
in the cabin make for much more creative procedures down in the cabin in
most instances. In 1977, I was a Potter dealer in Sacramento. On my first
trip to the factory to pick up a boat, I just missed Herb Stewart as he had
just gone down to the marina to do a few chores on his boat, a Ericson 34T
the "Junk Yard Dog". His wife welcomed me with open arms and a great big
smile, then called Herb and told him to get back to the office to meet me.
Now I had been in the boat business for a while, mainly Catalina, Ericson,
Coastal Recreation and Hobies, with the exception of the folks at Hobie, I
had never met people like the Stewarts, just real down to earth sailing
folks that made their first meeting one that would always stand out in your
memory.
About 10 years ago, I picked up a grubby old HMS 18 that I very quickly
stuck in our shop here on the marina for a year while I got all the old
paint and general grime off and found the real boat underneath. What I had
turned out to be the oldest HMS 18 still being ACTIVELY used, and was
claimed to be Herb Stewarts personal boat. I can't really substantiate that
claim, but he did tell me at one time that he liked his Ericson almost as
much as he liked his HMS 18. Anyway, the potter got its re-build and
immediately took a trip down to Baja, then another, then in 1996 it took its
last trip down south. A lot of changes were made during those years, it
went beyond being a weekender/daysailer and become a rather serious cruising
boat that always handled whatever the Sea of Cortez could hand out. On one
trip, another Potter sailor and I spent ten days on the boat . . (being on
the boat with a spouse/significant other takes up far less space), and we
had storage to spare. After the last trip, it dawned on me that I had no
great long list of improvements to make on the boat, it was just what I
wanted it to be.
So what's all this leading up to . . . . . Well, HAMADA is going back to
Baja, but only this time it is going to stay. I have got a little spot down
there with a couple small trailers on it, and I'm in the middle of
liquidating my fleet here in Hidden Harbor so I can make a permanent move
down there, and HAMADA is going with me. I am right on the Pacific at San
Quintin, and as such, not much sailing there due to the surf and things like
that. But, I am only a few hours from my favorite old stomping grounds,
Bahia de la Angeles, and have a trip over there already in the works. I
will be keeping one boat here and will probably be coming back up here a
couple times a year for a duty family visit.
I know that a couple of you have been to LA Bay sailing, and if you ever
want to do another trip down that way, just give me a holler, (I do have
e-mail down there), and we can probably set something up. San Quintin is
about 5/6 hours from the border (while towing) and a good place to stop for
the night, then about the same time frame to get over to LA Bay . . . . .
Anyway, its been great, I will continue to be a member of the Potter Yotters
and I will continue to keep up with the list as much as possible once I get
settled in a little better down there. As it stands right now, I'm outta
here on the 30th of May.
Adios mis amigos . . . . .
"I'd rather be in Baja"
Dik Richardson
HMS 18 #11 'Hamada'
Columbia 26 #178 'Reposado'
Islander 33 'Vas Kora'
Newporter 40 Ketch #87 'Maņana'
Hidden Harbor Marina, Rio Vista, CA
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember four years of good friends, bad clothes, explosive chemistry
experiments.
http://click.egroups.com/1/4051/5/_/917698/_/958405097/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: WWPotter@egroups.com
Help: WWPotter-owner@egroups.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed May 17 2000 - 03:27:11 PDT