Above and below-With CHRISSY laying to, Harold hauls a trap aboard.

After swinging around KIM’s stern, John neatly ran the bow of his boat on the marsh to tie her up. Unfortunately, as his bow rose, his stern set down just enough to put the transom under, and within a split second the boat was completely sunk. I can’t remember exactly how the events transpired from that point, but before he moved to North Dakota John sold me his traps with the understanding that we would retrieve them in my boat, under sail. The next season, armed with John’s traps, a nicely printed brochure, and an inexpensive slip, I moved my charter business to Gloucester.

I often laugh at the fact that when I began this venture, all I know about lobstering was that fishermen tended to keep their traps in the vicinity of the rocks. Although I doubt that this "knowledge" increased my catch, it certainly expedited the learning process and made me appreciate the fact that I had built a rugged boat. On the other had, the size of my catch, or lack thereof, has never mattered to me, as I have only lobstered to entertain my passengers. What is more, those passengers seemed as entertained at watching me learn as they would have been had I known enough to teach them.

Among the many things I learned was the fact that a 22’ sloop was a little small for taking six people out on lobstering trips. However, once again the answer to a problem presented itself to me: at the same time I realized that KIM (the boat) was a little small for her work, Kim (the wife) mentioned that the Wieglebs had called to say that they had agreed to accept my offer for CHRISSY.

CHRISSY is a sloop built by Charles Morse in Friendship, Maine, around 1910. She had a long career in the fisheries, and then Mr. J.W. Balano (her owner at the time) went to serve in World War II; during the war, CHRISSY was laid up. Although suffering from neglect, toward the end of the war CHRISSY caught the eye of Mr. Ernst "Ernie" Wiegleb who saw something more in her than a humble little fishing vessel.

Ernie bought the boat and owned her for the next 47 years, during which time he transformed CHRISSY into one of the most elaborate yachts in the Friendship Sloop Society. With her powder blue topsides, extended cruising cabin, small self-draining cockpit, varnished mahogany trim, and nine bronze winches, CHRISSY looked like the winner she proved to be. Under Ernie’s competent hands and with the high-aspect topsail rig he put on her, CHRISSY won 10 out of her first 18 Friendship sloop races.

Unfortunately, as both Ernie and CHRISSY got older, maintaining the boat became more difficult, and she once again fell into a state of neglect. After Ernie’s death at age 90, my friend Bruce Morang (who had been a good friend of Ernie’s) coerced me into having a look at her.

It wasn’t exactly love at first sight. In fact, despite her yachty trimmings, I must say that my first impression of CHRISSY was that she was the most hogged and one of the ugliest Friendships I had ever seen in my life. Nevertheless, with Bruce’s relentless encouragement, I told the Wieglebs that I would give them a token sum for CHRISSY’s hardware and take the old wreck out of their yard. At the time, I was half hoping they would refuse, but Bruce told them that if they sold me the boat, I would sail it, and he proved to be right.