When talking about building the Ardelle, two aspects of her construction stand out. First is that she was built with no paid help and the second is that by weight, volume, or cost, she was built from about 90% recycled material. This is something we are striving to repeat with the Beal’s rehabilitation. Whether it is getting logs that are reclaimed from land clearing and tree work, or installing equipment taken from other boats, we find it particularly rewarding to add to the life of to an object of use by putting it to work.
And so it was that this weekend that Mary Kay and K. D. drove to western Connecticut to pick up the used Nat Wilson made fore sail and jib, to join the main sail we picked up last spring. While the boat they came from met a tragic end, the sails will live on on the Beal for a very long time. The sails are a lot heavier and larger than the Beal needs, but as my friend Ed Perkins says, nothing to rugged ever broke . When we get through re-cutting them they will look great and serve us well.
I can hardly wait to hoist them up.
Harold