40' Kinney/Jespersen Sloop (1985) - CELESTE

Built to be both beautiful and rugged, Celeste has sailed from the Arctic Ocean to the tropical South Pacific. She was designed by Francis Kinney of Sparkman & Stephens for a sailor and businessman in Victoria, British Columbia. He wanted an elegant Spirit of Tradition that could cross oceans comfortably and safely.

Soon after her launch, she was awarded “Best Sail” in the 1986 Vancouver Wooden Boat Festival, a testament to the craftsmanship of her builder Bent Jespersen. Her long overhangs and curving sheer give her the look of a classic built to the Cruising Club of America Rule, but her inch-and-a-quarter-thick hull of cold-molded Western red cedar and mahogany, complete with a layer of GRP and Kevlar, provide strength and stiffness enough to withstand gales in the Bering Sea.

She is the perfect balance of simplicity and comfort, combining ease of handling with modern amenities like a water maker, hot shower, refrigerator, and cabin heater. On passage she can be handled by one person, and at anchor she is a lovely home, whether in high latitudes or the tropics.

With her previous owner, Celeste sailed a loop from British Columbia to Mexico, across the Pacific to French Polynesia, north to Hawaii, and then back to British Columbia. I’ve almost repeated that same loop since I bought her, as well as having sailed Celeste for four seasons Alaska and one season voyaging up and back through the Bering Strait to the polar pack ice at 72°N.

It’s hard to name a favorite experience I’ve had aboard her, as I’ve had so many! Watching bears fish for salmon while I sipped my morning coffee at anchor near Kodiak Island… Diving into the gin-clear waters of a South Pacific atoll to be met with an eagle ray winging past… Countless bonfires on beaches under the stars from the Kenai Fjords to the Marquesas Islands… Dolphins playing in the bow wave a thousand miles from the nearest land… Night watches with the boat sailing herself under the Southern Cross or under the Northern Lights…. These memories could fill a book!

A note on her design: While she looks like a CCA Rule boat above the waterline, she actually has a fin keel and separate skeg-hung rudder rather than a full keel. She’s a sloop, but she has a removable inner forestay: the staysail is a real workhorse that I use on all my passages.