SPITIFIRE 1160

I am not a lifelong sailor; in fact, I am not a sailor - I hope to be one day. For now, I am student of sailing.

Every Pearson Ensign has a long history. This is my limited personal history in the long life of Spitfire 1160.

After my wife Sue and I bought our cottage in Pentwater in August of 2017, Spitfire and the Fleet 70 sailing community entered our life just in time for our retirement in the Spring of 2022.

Like many, I envied sailboats from afar for years, on the shore. In Pentwater, we would watch the Saturday afternoon races from our beach chairs, and often catch a weekday race, having no idea they were regimented Wednesday evening "beer can races." One day, sitting on a picnic table outside of PYC, I asked a guy (I learned later to be Mike Bass) a little bit about the race that had just concluded and he told me about Ensigns. He asked me if I wanted one? Off the cuff, I said "of course'', never expecting what would follow.

I wanted to stop watching; I wanted to participate. I then started my research to learn about Ensigns and everything I could devour about sailing. I saw a number of Ensigns for sale along the East Coast. I told myself, even if I bought one, there is no way I could get a sailboat to Pentwater, so those boats and my future dreams of sailing were over before they even started.

Then, I saw an Ensign for sale right here in the Village of Pentwater. The boat hull is red, my favorite color. The sail number is 1160, I was born in November 1960. How could this be? I had to follow up and "kick the tires." It's owner, Bob Steen, invited me to ride along with him during the Summer of 2021, and I thought what the heck, I may as well jump in. Ultimately, I entered in to a partnership with Bob Steen to buy Spitfire, but really what followed was a budding friendship with Bob, his crew and Fleet 70.

There was one condition in buying Spitfire from Bob - HE had to "come with" the boat, as my mentor. The value of the purchase was not so much the boat, but Bob, a salty ex-Marine with a serious love of sailing that spans 50+ years. Beyond his expert sailing skills and desire to share his knowledge are his dry sense of humor and endless tails of sailing stories. From Bob's regular crew, in so many words they were wondering about their future - thinking they may "lose their ride." I made it clear that Spitfire goes nowhere without them - literally. What I also learned was Mark Otto and Rick Neilsen are long time buddies with Bob, who share their own love of sailing and sailboat ownership. I get a kick at how those three argue with each other during a race but always enjoy the post-race beers together. I appreciate the Spitfire crew welcoming me into their boat and sharing their individual and vast sailing knowledge and friendship with me. Beyond my initial year of crewing with Spitfire in 2021, some of my fondest initial memories were spending the immediate first two weeks after retirement in the Spring of 2022 at a boat yard in a beach town. Each day working on the boat was a labor of love, every half hour reminding myself I was not at work, I am retired, I am using my hands and I am working on my sailboat.

With Spitfire, comes Ensign Fleet 70 based in Pentwater. I have one word to describe Fleet 70 - Welcoming. Sue and I hope to respond in kind with our efforts and friendship and remember that when the next "new guy" comes in to Fleet 70 that we pay forward the welcoming attitude.

A goal is to have our four new grandchildren one day be the crew. Perhaps they will be lifelong sailors.

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than those you did.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Not Mark Twain

Tim O'Connor

Spring 2023

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