Why the West Wight Potter? |
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Why the West Wight Potter? |
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Ever since that first sail on a blustery overcast winter's day 30 years ago, sailing has always held a strong attraction for me. In my imagination the sailboat is a symbol of romance, high adventure and excitement. Over the years I've owned only small sailboats, all under 16 feet in length. Like most of us, I've dreamed of 30 foot cruisers and sailing away to exotic shores, but, also like most of us, I knew that the reality of costs, storage, repairs and, most important, time would not allow me to live these dreams. So I decided early on to seek out boats that maximized utility in the minimum space.
The first time I saw a West Wight Potter, I was sailing the Laguna Madre off South Padre Island near Brownsville, Texas. I had been sailing a 14' gaff rigged cat boat for a few years. It was a great boat, roomy, stable, fun to sail and easy to trailer and rig. It had only one major fault. I had begun exploring the northern reaches of the bay and wanted a boat I could sleep in for a night or two. The catboat had a large open cockpit, but it's layout wouldn't allow one to stretch out and sleep, even under a boom tent. When I saw that little Potter out on the bay that sunny afternoon, I fell in love immediately. I didn't fall in love with her lines (the Potter isn't a pretty boat in my opinion), I fell in love with the concept. Here was an extremely shallow draft boat that would allow exploring the thin waters of the edges of the bay, permit sleeping and carrying gear out of the weather, was easy to trailer and launch and stable to boot. I wanted a West Wight Potter. Especially after I looked up the definition of the British "potter", meaning to poke, and the American variation "putter", meaning to move or act aimlessly or idly. This described my kind of sailing to a tee. Here was a boat designed for me.
I moved away from the coast soon after that first encounter, and circumstances prevented me from searching for any sail boat for a number of years, but always the Potter was in the back of my mind. In fact every two or three years, I'd get an up-to-date price list from the manufacturer, just to keep current. Eventually I was lured back to sailing and found a 16 foot racing dinghy at a price I couldn't pass up. This boat was exhilarating to sail, but was over-canvassed for family sailing with small children and certainly not designed for pottering. I kept thinking back to the sailing I had enjoyed most over the years, poking around in shallow water and leisurely sailing. The time had come to start a serious search for a West Wight Potter.
Watching the classified ads in the Dallas paper for a year and a half produced not one ad for a used Potter, so I called International Marine for a current price list and began working up an order for a new boat. For 2 or 3 months I procrastinated, knowing a new boat would cost me thousands more than a used boat in good condition and the new boat would have fewer extras than the used boat. Finally, one Saturday, I happened to look again in the Dallas used boat ads, and there was a Potter 15, fully outfitted with engine, genoa, bow pulpit, anchors, etc.,for $2,500. I couldn't believe it. I called immediately, and the owner said that three people were coming by that afternoon to look it over. Now, I live 4 1/2 hours from Dallas and wouldn't have been able to get over there for a few days anyway. Visions of the boat slipping through my fingers flashed before my eyes. "What condition is the boat in?", I asked. "Excellent", was the reply. "On the condition that the boat is in excellent condition, I'll give you $3,000 if you hold it for me." says I. "I'll deliver it to your house tomorrow", says he. "Done!" I had my Potter.
The boat was in my garage by 2 pm the following day. It was in super condition, having been rarely sailed and always garaged by the previous owner. I have not been disappointed in the Potter, for it has lived up to all my expectations. We've sailed with 4 adults aboard, 2 adults and three kids, one adult and 4 kids (not recommended if you value your sanity), combinations one wouldn't want to try in a most 14' boats. My two young daughters and I have slept over night on our local lake in Spartan comfort. I've sailed her in light airs and in 30 mph gusts and she's handled them all in stride. This is one fine little boat and I'm looking forward to a long and enjoyable relationship with "Zephyr".
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