38' Atkin Ingrid Ketch (1975) - PILAR

PILAR was a dream we built for a home, a holistic way of life, and a return to the Solomon Islands where Bill Pool fought during WWII. She was named for the gypsy woman in Hemmingway’s book, For Whom The Bell Tolls…a dedicated mixture of earthy substance, an idealistic endeavor, and romance.

So, first, the substance:
Pilar’s laid decks are 1-1/8” Port Orford Cedar over 3/8” Brunzeel Plywood, long-scarfed over laminated Douglas Fir deck beams. Cabinsides are 2” Port Orford Cedar with some for interior paneling, also. Her wooden rudder, kingplank, covering boards and railcaps are air-dried Honduras Mahogany, the masts are Spruce, spars are Douglas Fir. Interior furniture is Oregon Myrtlewood, cabinsole is Honduras Mahogany, and a dinette table was a 12′ length of African Mahogany, a Christmas gift from our wood craftsman son, Billy. Many interior metal fittings are handmade. Hinges on galley drawers are individually etched copper plates, the topmost poem by Mason Williams reads: “LOVE IS A JOURNEY/THE MOMENT IT BEGINS/ THE JOURNEY IS ALL IT IS/NO MATTER WHERE IT ENDS.’

Which brings us to the romantic heart of boats and sailing:

…for me, in the early days of making our first passages, our sturdy Pilar took care of us like a big-boned gypsy…like a seasoned matriarch whose hands could shape and feed us tortillas before the campfire then dance surefooted amid fire’s flames and shadows…a fanciful illusion for the lifting and plunging in bad weather…but later…during calm night passages when a hand cou be light on the tiller…awareness of being in company with a living being became visceral…mystical…Pilar’s graceful length of springy oak seemed a forearm resting easily under the helmsman’s touch and in the manner of dancers we were promenading side-by-side…shoulders squared…chins lifted…eyes focused ahead…that’s when sailing Pilar softly morphs into a courtly Castilian dance of dips and nods over languid swells…her foaming petticoats swishing to the right and curling to the left…the enchantment of stars charting our course…

P.S. Aging brings Changes that are not Choices, but sometimes the temptation is to attempt controlling them in advance. I had been struggling with listing Pilar for sale now, knowing that her ‘classic’ attributes would greatly narrow the field of interested buyers, thus allowing me time to adjust to a changed life. Though that may still happen, this wonderful immersion in OCH’s virtual boat show allows me to again feel young enough to imagine bringing Pilar back into a community of boat lovers, builders, and sailors such as we loved when Bill and I built her. Then, when the inevitable changes that are not choices become realities, transitioning Pilar into like- minded hands will be enhanced. Until then, Pilar continues to make each day aboard her deeply satisfying.