Thursday, April 22, 2010

Two pair of Paines

Pair-of-PainesIf we were playing yacht designer poker it would be a reasonable hand. Two nights before we departed Bonaire, another Chuck Paine design, Home Free, was on the mooring next to us. I first met Home Free, a Morris 51, in 2005 at the Morris yard where she was undergoing repairs. Her owner, Bob Trenary, and I traded email for several years before we finally met at the Newport Shipyard in 2008 while both waiting to depart for the Caribbean. We later shared an anchorage in the BVIs in 2009 and our delayed departure from Bonaire brought us together again in 2010.
Then, two nights ago we came on deck to swim across the anchorage and thought the boat that had just anchored next to us looked very familiar. We looked closer and she was another Chuck Paine design, a Kanter 62. Now owned by a New Zealand couple, they had purchased Sequel II in Florida and were on their way back to New Zealand.
So our passage from Bonaire to San Blas was bookended by two other Chuck Paine designs!