Fiddler’s Green to In-Lieu-Of

      The first weeks of spring this year were passed working on our newly acquired 1975 Pearson 35.  The transformation has been exciting and rewarding for both of us.  We wanted to share our story with you.  But first we have to start from the beginning.  May of 2008 was the year we decided we must find a way to get on the water.  Growing up in Michigan and on Lake Michigan in particular, I had access to water at any given moment.  The waterways of Western New York are not quite as easily accessed.  During a visit to my childhood home in Harbor Springs, Michigan we had the opportunity to kayak on the Little Traverse Bay.  It was the perfect evening for this adventure.  Upon our return to Lewiston we decided a kayak was your ticket to the water.  With credit card in hand off we went to a kayak demo day on Tonawanda Creek.  The Hobie Mirage was complete with a sail, foot peddle propulsion, and a bit of storage space.  Everything we needed.  Ted was ready to purchase the kayak and drop it in the water the next day. I wasn’t quite so sure this was the way to go.  How often are we really going to haul this thing down to the river and paddle around?  I convinced Ted to at least go home and sleep on it before making a decision.  The following Monday Ted was driving down River Road when he spotted a 22 foot Catalina sailboat on a trailer with a “for sale” sign on it.  He stopped and took a couple of pictures.  That evening he showed me the pictures and said “what do you think?”   Without hesitation I said “Go for it!”  Even though the boat came with a trailer we both knew that if it wasn’t in the water, the chances of us using it were not great.  He gave a call to RCR Yachts and talked to Bruce Lort who said “Bring it on down!”  And so we did!

    I was a bit apprehensive, never having sailed before, but Ted assured me that he knew the basics of sailing from his experience of sailing a Sunfish in his youth.  This was good enough for me.  Everyone at RCR was so helpful, showing Ted the mechanics of the boat and giving him pointers at every turn.   The first day out it was just Ted and his brother Tom.  As we sat down to dinner that evening they told me all about their first day on “The Cottage”.   They were both so excited and had so much to tell.  Nothing told me more than the black and blue bruises on their arms as they excitedly told of the events on their maiden voyage.  It started off pretty well as they were out on the lake having a great day like two old salts.  As time went on they got a bit fatigued and decided to drop anchor and rest for a while.  It was during this little respite that a storm kicked up and things got interesting.  They pulled up the anchor, put up the sails, and all hell broke loose.  They managed to get back to RCR and were picked up by Terry Yonkers who was driving the launch.  Maybe it was the expressions on their faces, but it was at this time Terry shared his tidbit of wisdom:  Sailing is 90% pleasure and 10% terror.  Ted & Tom whole heartedly agreed and hoped that we had met our 10% quota for the season.  Despite our tenuous start, we all enjoyed a summer of sailing our little Cottage up river and out on the lake.  Every time we saw a kayak on the water Ted looked at me with a glee in his eye and said “Look honey, that could have been us!”   We enjoyed many hours of leisurely sailing before we started thinking about something just a bit larger.   We were told by Bruce that the smallest boat we’ll ever own is the one we own now.  How right he was.   During the RCR Customer Appreciation party we were talking with Ron Ciamaga and he imparted his thoughts on upgrading.  He advised us to go for the size boat we want now and to skip all the incremental steps.  Due to the fact that we got a late start getting into the sailing world we aren’t getting any younger, we found this to be excellent advice.

The end of September I was driving to work and spotted a 26’ C&C in a driveway.  Thinking it was for sale I quickly called Ted who stopped that morning to talk to the owner.  Turns out it wasn’t for sale, but he gave Ted a lead on a boat at RCR at the Erie Basin Marina.  We made an appointment with Rick Lenard and took a look at this boat along with several others.  Nothing looked especially interesting to us.  We came home and decided to look on line at RCR Yachts to see if there was anything for sail in our own Youngstown harbor.  It was there that we spotted “Fiddler’s Green”.  She was a well maintained 35’ Pearson.  We called Rick immediately and went to see her that weekend.  It was love at first sight!  We purchased her within a day or two and had a month to get her out for a couple of sails before pulling her out of the water for the winter.  It seemed serendipitous when we realized the panoramic picture of the Youngstown harbor, taken in 1998, featured Fiddler’s Green prominently positioned in the forefront.  This photo has been in our home for 10 years and now we own one of the boats in that photo.  It must have been kismet.

      The winter was spent making plans to refurbish Fiddler’s Green and make her our own.  We talked about renaming her “The Cottage”, the name we had given our Catalina 22, but somehow it didn’t seem to fit.  As we explained to someone, we bought the boat in lieu of a new car.  And there you have it; she became “In-Lieu-Of”.  (We could have named her “Celica” after my 1991 Toyota with 265,000 miles and still going strong, but we agreed “In-Lieu-Of” was a perfect name.)   It also seemed appropriate as we would rather sail in lieu of anything else.  As the winter grew cold we stayed focused on warmer days ahead.  We had the cushions reupholstered, made new curtains, and researched parts and pieces as we studied the West Marine catalog from stem to stern.  We had noticed this store before but never had a reason to visit it in the past.  We often wondered how they stayed in business.  Now they are our new best friend!  During this time we visited Custom Covers & Canvas to discuss a new sail cover, dodger and bimini (two words which were foreign to us 6 months ago.)  We also subscribed to “Practical Sailor” and “Good Old Boat” magazines.  One was read for information and the other for enjoyment and inspiration. 

      Finally spring came and Ted was ready to take on the task of getting the boat ready for commissioning.  Had he known what he was getting into at the time he may not have jumped in with such foolhardy enthusiasm.  This is where ignorance is truly bliss.  The first order of business was to scrape the bottom paint.  After stripping the first third of the boat with a hand scraper it was time for serious chemicals.  Jim Jaremka put us on to Peel Away. 

      This allowed us to finish the job in short order compared to the old hand scrapper.    Progress continued, under the constant tutelage of Bruce and John along with advice from all our fellow sailors at YYC.  Everyone was so helpful and encouraging as the hull was buffed and waxed, the teak was stripped and oiled, the deck was cleaned and polished, and the interior was given a once over with a toothbrush.  From the bilge to the top of the mast and from bow to stern we began an intimate relationship with our new love.  Thanks to Tony Byrne and his Bosun’s chair Ted found himself hoisted up 44’ to the top of the mast to make sure everything was in working order and ready for the sailing season ahead.  There is no better way to truly know you boat than to go through this process.    

It’s been a wonderful learning experience and we are so grateful to everyone who freely gave advice and encouragement along the way.  We are looking forward to a great first season with many more years of happy sailing on the horizon.

Submitted by Margot Walker & Ted Schriever