On Feb 24, 2020, at 12:44 PM, Priscilla Wheatley <wheatleyp@...> wrote:

Hello all! 
I guess I will have to call myself an "admirer" of the Flicka.  I am the original owner of Cadenza, hull #387. She is listed as a 1989 because the hull was pulled in September 1989, but she was built for 1990 because the original very dark navy gel coat was a 1990 color.  I purchased her at Coveside in South Bristol, Maine in 1990 and singlehanded the Maine coast through 1999, my last year sailing.  I worked in Boston but moved to Maine in 1995. I sold her around 2002 and she was relocated to Eggemoggin Reach (Penobscot Bay), was painted and spruced up.  I don't know anything beyond that until I had the intense desire to start seriously looking.  Last night I hit pay dirt!  It looks like she has spent years in the Great Lakes.  I wasn't one to spend a lot of time on maintenance.  Insurance covered her in the water from May 1 to November 1 and I wanted to sail every day I could.  April was the month to get ready to launch including painting the bottom, sometimes in view of some crusty snow under a tree.  She went overboard for the first weekend in May and came out by 10/31.   I'm glad to see she is in good shape, carefully refurbished and maintained.  I found a lot of my old messages on this board.  What memories!

I'm a real single-hander.  I rarely took anyone with me.  If you knew how to sail I made you sit on your hands.  The more you know, the more likely you are to upset established routines. 2 guys screwed me up at the Camden Yacht club trying to help me tie up.  I did have a great crew member, sister of a Crealock 34 owner, for the race at the Rendezvous at Christmas Cove. We handled 35-40 kts in 1999 when a lot of the bigger boats motored to the lobster bake.  I have giant pewter loving cup and still remember leaving Mike Mitchell (Coveside's owner) well behind our wake.

My signature cruise was in 1998, when I turned 50, to Passamaquoddy Bay part of which is in New Brunswick.  It was about 6 weeks in August and September, hurricane season.  I added a Bruce anchor and rode to the CQR.  I found the special flares recently in the garage  I had installed radar a few years earlier, added a handheld radio to the built in.  I stuck with handheld Loran because GPS was inaccurate by about 1/4 mile, which is dicey along the rocky coast.  I spent several days in Lubec because I knew the harbormaster, which was a good break to rest, do laundry etc.  I studied up on the area and planned carefully for 20 foot tides, wicked currents, and a real whirlpool that had to be avoided.  I toured Campobello (FDR's home), then went to St Andrew's (NB), and spent many nights anchored in gunkholes.  Last stop was on Grand Manan island, part of NB; the international border goes straight down the middle of the channel.  I hit a following current when I left for home and made over 8 kts over the ground! 

I still have a few things, including the bronze Lewmar winch handle which I took home so I wouldn't lose it overboard. I also have the original tiller which has some delamination, and I found the extra key for the Yanmar.  I carry pictures with me, along with some of my horse, Speckles, purchased in 2001 when I still owned Cadenza.  There are few of me and my Porsche from the 70s-80s, on the track at Watkins Glen..  Dad taught me to sail on a little pond on Cape Cod when I was 6 and 2000 was the first year I didn't sail at all.  What drove me to pursue 3 oddball hobbies (for women, some would say) was undiagnosed bipolar disorder.  It's taken care of now, but my horse and I are still at it:  I'm 71, he's 25.  Saturday a friend is taking me to a lecture of sorts about Maine lighthouses, most of which I have seen from the water, never the land. 

More Cadenza gear will surface without a doubt.  I don't throw out useful things unless they have turned green and liquid in the vegetable drawer.  I still have the stainless fittings and fastener kit   Take Care!!!
Thanks for letting me reminisce! 

Priscilla