19' Oughtred Caledonia Yawl (1988) - BONNIE LASS

Bonnie Lass, a Caledonia Yawl, was named after my late mother, Bonnie, with a nod toward my Scotch-Irish heritage, and the home of her famous designer. I am the 4th owner, and she sailed for many years with no name at all, but she was originally named Erika, Caledonia Yawl hull #1.
This Caledonia Yawl was commissioned by Peter Mumford of Maine in 1988. He named her Erika, in honor of his own mother, who died quite young, that same year. Iain Oughtred was already a friend of Peter’s at the time, so they discussed the benefits of a smaller plywood version of a lovely Shetland Island Sixern which Peter had witnessed being built as a volunteer at the Apprenticeshop in Rockport, Maine. Iain drew up the plans for Peter and the Caledonia Yawl design was born!
At the time, Peter did not have the carpentry skills to tackle such a big project, so with a gift from his father, he hired boat-builder Ernie Tarr of Gloucester, MA (a contemporary of Phil Bolger) to complete the build. Peter sailed her out of nearby Tenants Harbor, Maine for a time, but after his mother’s death he wanted to start fresh and leave New England behind. He loaded up the boat and moved across the country to Seattle. He had attended college there before, and had made a lot of friends in the area.
As time went by and Peter started a family, he found an O’Day Daysailer with cudy cabin and a transom for an outboard that was better suited to sailing with his young boys. He donated Erika to the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle where the boat became a part of their rental livery, the heart of the organization’s mission on South Lake Union. She stayed part of the livery for nearly 20 years, so long that her original name was forgotten. Eventually, CWB decided to sell Erika, perhaps because she was becoming too difficult to maintain, or perhaps simply to make room at their dock to save other boats. It is unclear.
She was purchased from CWB by Joe Donahue of Camano Island, who set to fully restoring her in 2014. Joe sold her to me in the Spring of 2022 and we now sail her out of Everett, WA to all the wonderful destinations in the Puget Sound and San Juan Isles