The Story of Perelandra
(page 2)
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Post-Fire Assessment
After the fire, the extent of the damage was apparent.
To douse the flames, the boat had more or less been
filled with water, adding insult to injury.
 Much
of the woodwork at the aft end of the cabin, and in the
galley, was badly charred. The trim around the
companionway was badly burned; the fire had charred much
of the port cockpit locker, and had destroyed the inner
skin of the deck's balsa cored sandwich on the sidedeck
above the port locker. The smoke, flame, and water
damage inside the cabin was substantial.
Over the months
following the fire, the owner slowly began working his
way into the remains of the boat. He removed the
engine, fuel tank, and their foundations, and began some
basic cleanup by powerwashing parts of the boat, and
then concentrating on some exploratory grinding to
determine not only the extent of damage, but his
willingness--and inclination--to repair. |
 Here's
Where I Come In
At some point in 2003, I heard about the boat's sad fate
from a friend, former Triton owner, and current
Seabreeze owner, Art Hall. I initially contacted
Perelandra's owner, but
at that immediate time he was still unsure as to how he
planned to proceed with the boat, and was not, at that
point, ready to sell. I left my information and
mentioned that I might be interested, should he have a
change of heart.
In spring 2004, I heard back from Art with an update:
Perelandra's
owner was buying another Seabreeze, and Art figured he'd
probably be interested in selling. Again, I
corresponded back and forth with the owner, but it was a
bad time for both of us, and we couldn't manage to find
a mutual time to get together. He sent some
pictures of the boat for me to look at in the meantime,
but after some thought, I sort of put the boat from my
mind, as I was unsure whether the Seabreeze was the
right boat for me or not. |
 With
summer, sailing, and cruising ahead, I promptly forgot about
Perelandra
for a time. However, when we returned from cruising in
August, I had managed to infect myself with the bug for a new
project boat, thanks to a friend's pointing out a Rhodes 41 in Bucks
Harbor. For a few weeks, I obsessed over the Rhodes, and even
attended a Rhodes in Massachusetts, and a similar Bounty II in
Wiscasset, ME, all the while considering options. |
Clinching the Idea
 I
had sort of discounted the thought of a Seabreeze during
this Rhodes obsession, but shortly thereafter I received
an email from Perelandra's
owner, asking if I was still interested. After some
thought and discussion, I decided it would at least be
worth going down for a look. I chatted with Art
Hall about the boats for a while, and then one day he
asked me out on his boat for a sail. I was
thoroughly pleased and impressed with the sailing
qualities of the boat, and, as always, admired the
additional space on board. The idea of taking on a
Seabreeze project started to become exciting.
On Saturday, October 9, 2004, I drove down to Boxford,
MA to view the boat. I had pored over pictures ad
nauseum, but they didn't tell enough of a story. I
had to see the boat in person.
On the following pages are more
photos of the boat from that day, along with comments about the
visual condition of things.
Please click here to go to the photos. >>>
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