Photos by Kate Lambert

Fair winds, and thanks for checking in.

Like any good voyage, this one has taken a few unexpected turns. We've made exciting progress on the documentary, uncovered a few treasures from the past, and even launched a new adventure or two along the way.

Here's what's been happening.

It’s all yours.

At least 30 years ago, Scott Brown and I started collecting footage for this documentary film. Maybe 13 years ago, we decided not to make it. We didn’t want to spend the rest of our lives trying to raise the money. Almost exactly 3 years ago, Andy Zimmerman decided he would try. Today, he might confess he had no idea how much of his life—and his money—it would take, but he’s done it—almost!

The time, and the money, keeps getting moved ahead because we keep coming up with more footage, and some of it is precious. In case you haven’t heard, Nancy Piver recently donated a trove of 16MM multihull gold from the 1960s. Rich Gurling, who was Arthur Piver’s Viking-like shipmate for most of those pioneering passages, was behind the camera for this footage, and that stuff just must go into the film.

With surprisingly great good fortune, the cost of digitizing and—more daunting—editizing” this material into the story has now been met by a magnanimous gift from Rich Gurling himself.Talk about surprise!

Rich and I are the last of the multihull mavericks from the 1950s. Our mutual mentor, Arthur Piver, disappeared at sea in 1968. He was a visionary. He knew well that multihulls were to cause a sea change in marine architecture, and he gave Rich the cameras and film for this latest section of the saga.

When I say “It’s all yours,” I mean none of it is mine. The wherewithal that’s gone into making this film, including your generous donations, has all—well—gone into making this film.

Yeah, I know, the final release has been promised many times.“This fall,” or “next spring….”

But now, Andy has slammed the barn door, and said, “We’ve got to stop here. If the film catches on, maybe we can make another chapter. There’s more to the story, for sure, but we have the mavericks chapter now and now’s the time to tell it.”

So, when is it coming out? I know that Michael and Kevin, Andy’s veteran film makers, are no longer trying to put more in, so the documentary IS coming out. Soon, dare I say.

Photos by Kate Lambert

DA DINGK is my name for Allan Murphy’s nifty skiff. It’s a DIY kit project from CLC in Annapolis. “Doc Allan,” as Andy calls him, was, before he retired, my gifted cardiologist, and is now a tenured fellow at Andy’s occasional sailing shindigs held somewhere on the mid-Atlantic seaboard. (You can Google “Brown’s Creek,” but like Da Film and DA DINGK, the creek is not mine).  Anyway, Doc Allan’s skiff was outgrowing his shop, so I asked him to bring it to mine, and we three—including my son Steven—have enjoyed “fledging this last hatchling from 'Brown’s Boat Hatchery'.”

Over the years, we’ve seen some cool stuff come out of here. It started with my two sons each building the multihulls in which they jumped out of the parental nest. Then came our early Constant Camber experiments, the trimaran SIB and the catamaran BUSICAT. They led to a slew of charter cats built elsewhere, and then there came the ruination of my Windrider 17 by morphing it into the little ship BOX TURTLE.  

Of course, this shop was the wellness clinic for SCRIMSHAW, during those 40 years that we sailed her from here to somewhere else and back. Bruce Matlack now has her on the hard in Florida, where she is ready, at age 53, for returning to the water.

Doc Allan’s skiff, with its “standing lug” rig and its fit-into-the-boat spars (which we have experimentally made from reinforced windsurfer masts) is a singular hatchling because, I feel certain, it’s the last boat ever to flee this coop of mine. My “low vision” has now climbed “high screw-ups,” and that’s just too damn frustrating for the birds.

Photos by Kate Lambert

Nevertheless, I can still write, sort of, as you can see. Last boat from The Hatchery is not the same as the “Last Boat For Mangalaelae,” which is the working title of a book I’m trying to write. With help from my Zoomtext program, this fictional phantasm features lots of sailing and too much alliteration, while trying to make multihulls save the world. Stand by … but please, send no money.

We think of you ALL with true gratitude and in the best terms. 

Fair Winds, 
Jim

Help us tell the greatest sailing story never told.

We are deeply grateful for every GoFundMe donation and for those who share our journey with others who love adventure, innovation, and powerful storytelling.

Stay connected and follow along:

Like & Follow on FACEBOOK 

Like & Follow on INSTAGRAM

Make sure you’re signed up, and share this email with 
friends who may enjoy coming along for the journey.