From A Passenger’s Point of view
I have been a passenger on Sailboats since I could walk. Of course I sailed way before life jackets and sailing lessons and large boats. I sailed from the Pump House on Skaneateles Lake with my father, but not because of any great talent or interest. I liked my father and the ride, and he liked the extra weight which was easily moved from one side of the boat to the other to help balance things out. It was all very exciting sitting in the bottom of the boat and then suddenly being quickly uplifted to the other side before my side sank.
This boat was a Mower, A sailboat made before the Lightning. From a passenger’s point of view this was a comfortable boat. The lines of the boat were round and rarely jabbed you. The bow and deck were long enough to lie on as a child or adult.
When I wanted to “hang out” on the lake I looked for a captain and his boat. Bill Dean was the captain and my sister, my cousin, I, and anyone invited were the passengers. There were no motorboats. The Mower had to be our fun and fun it was! The captain hooked a trapeze on the Mower and offered the passenger an exciting hike out over the lake. The friendly large bow and deck of the Mower allowed this to be quite easy. I doubt the speed was record breaking but the fun was as much as we could think up at the time.
The Mower also had its romance as the teenage years came around. My cousin took a Mower to Mid-Lakes Golf course and spent a summer restoring it while he courted his wife-to-be. I was invited to sail to Borodino in the middle of the night. Then the passage of time took the Mower to my younger brother. He put it in a barn for awhile. He then traded it to my husband for his Honda motorcycle. When we lived in Ithaca the Mower was put into Cayuga Lake where it held its youngest passenger…..a 2-week old baby. This was not too exciting for the captain so the Mower was put in a barn as a boat to be again restored.
It remained in the barn for 10 years or so. My family returned to the Skaneateles area and wanted to be on the lake once again. Therefore, my husband got it in shape and put it into the water at the Skaneateles Country Club so we could have a sailing membership. Every year it promptly sank for a few days while it was swelling up. The children had to help my husband bail it and sail it on Father’s day. We raced it a few times and then just kept it for lounging in the middle of the lake. The children learned to sail but never loved the preparation for sailing. The soft lines, great bow, wide decks, and no sliding stays were always pleasant for passengers but not so great for racing. I guess that (and the high cost to make the original design) is why there are hundreds of Lightnings coming to the Country Club and the Mower now sits in someone’s barn waiting for yet another restoration and a loving passenger.
I am not sure any time will come that will put the Mower at the top of someone’s memory but it remains as one of my cherished memories. Who am I?
I am just a happy passenger……. never a bailer, never a designer, never a captain, just a willing passenger who will pull the jib sheet when directed. Marion Wiles Krauter
The Lightning Regatta about 10 years ago
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