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September 25, 2012  |  By Dorade Team

West Coast

dorade-on-her-cradle
eric-the-trucker
container-offloaded
tim-pyne-the-trucker
damaged-cabin-top-repair
masts-unloaded
found-the-plaques
cabin-top-2
re-assembaling-the-masts
laurel-working-hard
fresh-gold-leaf
hull-poished
golden-gate
mizzen-back-in
dorade-in-the-pacific-again
view-from-the-top-of-the-crane
looking-like-a-yacht-again
ben-fitting-the-awi
kkmi-sausilito
dorade-from-the-top-of-the-mast
sausilito-bay
dorade
a-space-ship-flying-overhead
spaceship-on-a-plane

After weeks of planning and preparation Dorade arrived in San Francisco early last week. There have been a lot of people involved with the process and I would like to say thank you to all of the people who have made it possible. The journey started in Rhode Island weeks before Dorade left, with the planning of how to get her across the states in the safest possible way that would cause her the least damage. The biggest problem with wooden boats is that they like to be in the water and not out in the open air drying out. As the wood dries out it becomes more brittle and with the constant vibration that she would be put through on a three thousand mile road trip the possibility for splitting planks and frames could be high. With this in mind we had to consider all options, the only other realistic option would be sending her on a ship. After some consideration we decided that the time she would be drying out for on the ship, would be that much greater that the benefit of less vibration would not necessarily be any better for her. Also, we want to sail her so the faster we get her here the better.

We all agreed that a cradle, supporting her down her entire sides to spread the load and avoid any point loading on the hull, would be the best thing. Fortunately, Greg Stuart from Nelson/Marek yacht design was on hand to do the drawings and design a cradle that would fit perfectly into the trailer we were going to use. Once we finally decided on the transport date we didn’t have a lot of time to get the project done and we certainly didn’t have any spare time to allow for mistakes. With this in mind the key players in the project had to get together for a meeting. Greg had talked a lot with the haulage company, Joule Yacht Transport, and they were very helpful in giving us the dimensions of the trailer we would be using. They also offered invaluable advice that they had gained through transporting yachts around the world for over thirty years. Through my short time on The Dorade Project, a reasonable amount of metal fabrication has been done and it seemed only natural to choose Syd Janes again to carry out the fabrication of the cradle. Syd has built several yacht cradles, been in the business for decades, has built all the bronze work on Dorade and is used to working under pressure. Between him and his son I knew they could get it done. Last and not least by any means is Joe Loughborough of LMI. Joe is a legend in the game and has probably forgotten more than most can remember about this sort of thing, as well as talking the talk he has walked the walk. He is responsible for the fantastic restoration of Dorade and taking the lead as project manager. It took careful coordination and communication between many people to make this all happen in time, I can only take my hat off to Joe and all his team at LMI (you know who you are).

Click here to view the cradle plan

Five and a half days later Dorade and all her gear arrived into Sausalito, California. I arrived on Monday morning to meet Dorade and the drivers at KKMI boat yard where we would begin the process of putting her back together and re-rigging. Fortunately, I was very happy to see that no damage had been sustained to the hull or topsides and that all the preparations in Rhode Island had paid off. In fact the only damage incurred was to some of the varnish on deck where a cover had worked loose and a metal clip on the corner had flogged against the coach roof for a while. Now that section has been stripped and a few new coats applied and she looks great again.

By Thursday we had the boat in the water again and the mizzen mast stepped. Friday morning we stepped the Main mast and spent the rest of the day getting them tuned. There is still a bit of work to finish before we go sailing such as stitching the leather work back on and re wiring the electrics that run through the mast but hope fully that will be straight forward. If all goes well in the next few days you should be able to see Dorade out on the water this Sunday.
Thanks again to everybody involved and we are all looking forward to what the west coast will bring us.
Ben

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doradesailing1929

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Mar 26

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“I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can “I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats,” writes Olin Stephens in the opening words of his autobiography, All This and Sailing Too, which we heartily recommend. Today you can read another take on Olin and his brother Rod in our latest blog post, at the link in our bio—a look back at the two-part feature story on the Stephen Brothers written by Morton M. Hunt for The New Yorker's September 1957 issue. In this excerpt, we pick up the story with the publication of Olin’s first design in Yachting magazine and the beginning of the partnership that became the pre-eminent yacht design firm of the mid-20th century, Sparkman & Stephens. A yacht named Dorade was soon to follow…

[📸: Unknown]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #olinstephens @sparkman_and_stephens

“I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats,” writes Olin Stephens in the opening words of his autobiography, All This and Sailing Too, which we heartily recommend. Today you can read another take on Olin and his brother Rod in our latest blog post, at the link in our bio—a look back at the two-part feature story on the Stephen Brothers written by Morton M. Hunt for The New Yorker's September 1957 issue. In this excerpt, we pick up the story with the publication of Olin’s first design in Yachting magazine and the beginning of the partnership that became the pre-eminent yacht design firm of the mid-20th century, Sparkman & Stephens. A yacht named Dorade was soon to follow…

[📸: Unknown]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #olinstephens @sparkman_and_stephens
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doradesailing1929

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Mar 22

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Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012. [📸: Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012.

[📸: Tim Wright]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #caribbeansailing #antigua @sparkman_and_stephens

Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012.

[📸: Tim Wright]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #caribbeansailing #antigua @sparkman_and_stephens
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doradesailing1929

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Mar 19

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Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the 2013 Transpac at the trophy ceremony. A stunning achievement as part of her "Return to Blue Water Campaign," the crew took to the podium 77 years after Dorade won the race for the first time. 

[📸: @sharon_green_ultimatesailing ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #transpacificrace #transpac @sparkman_and_stephens @transpacrace

Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the 2013 Transpac at the trophy ceremony. A stunning achievement as part of her "Return to Blue Water Campaign," the crew took to the podium 77 years after Dorade won the race for the first time.

[📸: @sharon_green_ultimatesailing ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #transpacificrace #transpac @sparkman_and_stephens @transpacrace
...

doradesailing1929

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Mar 15

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Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningha Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningham by the Nevins Yard on City Island, was the first of Matt and Pam's fleet of classic yachts. Designed by Clinton Crane, here is Lucie sailing upwind to 2nd place at the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta in 2016.

[📸: @silkenphoto ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #lucie #sixmetre #ncyr #clintoncrane #classicyachtregatta #IYRS @classicyachtoa

Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningham by the Nevins Yard on City Island, was the first of Matt and Pam's fleet of classic yachts. Designed by Clinton Crane, here is Lucie sailing upwind to 2nd place at the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta in 2016.

[📸: @silkenphoto ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #lucie #sixmetre #ncyr #clintoncrane #classicyachtregatta #IYRS @classicyachtoa
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