Sunday, February 27, 2011

Catastrophes of 2010/ the loss of the Fog Ducker


After the Thunderbird sank, some losers stole the Fog Ducker from out at Jericho Beach. Vancouver is a pretty crime free city, but after this I just about packed up right then and there and walked away. Luckily Kevin and i found it stashed in the blackberry bushes, with one broken oar, and a hole in the side, and we took her home for servicing. The patch job didnt really hold though, and sometime in the fall my old friends the marine cops "impounded" her from the dinghy dock because she was full of water and assumed to be abandoned. I asked them about it when i saw them, and they said they knew nothing about it, but my friend Pete wrote a letter to the city and somehow uncovered the truth that it had been crushed. Rest in peace little Fog Ducker, you were the best rowboat a guy could ever ask for. I used to row from Cambie bridge all the way out to jericho in about 45 minutes on a good tide. The photo below is of Kevin teaching me to sail in the Fog Ducker, (I still haven't managed to teach Kevin how to row)!
The Fog Ducker was never a loyal boat though, like the time Naomi, Kevin, and I were running downwind with the T-bird in about a 20 knot breeze from northwest bay, and we were right out in the middle roughly between French Creek and Lasqueti, when Kevin at the tiller noticed we weren't actually towing the Fog Ducker anymore. I thought i was going to get washed off the deck dousing the main, but luckily we were able to find and retrieve the Ducker under power relatively easily due to the bright red windsurfer mast.

The Fog Ducker also carried a tremendous load, and motored swiftly and safely under the power of the Seagull. Really, it was the perfect little boat from spearfishing expeditions, to loading cargo. 6 people was never too many, but even if it was just you you werent alone! If Kevin was here right now we could mix up a turqoise turtle and cheers to the Ducker.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Is my rowing really that bad?

Unknown said...

Do you have lines and offsets for fog ducker? I love the look of this boat and have built a 20 ft umiak in the past.

Unknown said...

Do you have lines and offsets for fog ducker? I love the look of this boat and have built a 20 ft umiak in the past.

Unknown said...

Do you have lines and offsets for fog ducker? I love the look of this boat and have built a 20 ft umiak in the past.