Subject: [harryproa] Re: Harry in Maine?
From: "Mike Crawford" <jmichael@gwi.net>
Date: 1/7/2006, 1:46 PM
To: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au
Reply-to:
harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au


  Waiting until spring sounds like a good plan if you want to get him
when he's in the right mood to talk about proas. 

  With that said, though, waiting might not be the best idea.  It's a
bit odd to see that the proasail.com site is gone, and that there's no
direct contact information.  I don't remember this fellow's name or
address because I figured I'd just get them off the web site when
needed, and now I'm not sure that will be easy. 

  One could argue that the sooner you call, the better.  He might be
gruff, but the worst that can happen is that the call will go poorly
and you'll just have to call back another day.  From another phone
number.  ;-)

  The next time I'm in Rockland I'll see if I can remember where his
yard was, and check to see if there's now a finished proa in it.

   - Mike



--- In harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au, Charlie Magee <charlie@s...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the update Mike. I was getting ready to give him a call, but
> now I think I'll hold off till late spring when he might be more in a
> sailing mood.
>
> Charlie
>
>
> --------------------------------
> Charlie Magee
> Signal Design
> 465 Washington
> Eugene, OR 97401
> 541-683-5363
> http://www.signaldesign.net/different22.html
>
>
> >
> > Message: 3
> >    Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2006 13:47:29 -0000
> >    From: "Mike Crawford" <jmichael@g...>
> > Subject: Re: Harry in Maine?
> >
> >
> >   I visited this fellow in March 2005, and yes, he does indeed have a
> > custom harryproa in his yard.  Or at least he did.
> >
> >   After being smitten with the Harryproa bug, I thought I'd take a
> > ride to see one.  Since I live less than an hour from Rockland, this
> > seemed like the perfect opportunity.
> >
> >   My wife and I have a Stiletto 27 catamaran, and wanted to get a feel
> > for the Harry's size.  We'll eventually upgrade to something larger,
> > and didn't know if a Harry would be enough of a step up from our
> > current boat to justify the leap.  I know the leeward hull is 40 feet,
> > but knowing that doesn't really convey how much space there is above
> > and below decks.
> >
> >   I called ahead of time, and the owner was every  bit as odd as you
> > describe.  He was quite brusque, told he he didn't have time to
> > explain proas, made it clear that he didn't want to bother with tire
> > kickers, and said there was no use seeing the boat because it was
> > demounted and stored in his yard.  I pressed to see the boat anyway,
> > and eventually he relented and said I could look at it.  I offered to
> > sign a waiver in case I fell in the icy yard, but he said that
> > wouldn't be necessary.
> >
> >   On the plus side of things, he was very gracious about offering
> > summer cruises and lessons, and said I was welcome to stop by any time
> > the boat was in the water.  Quite nice, actually, and very different
> > than the moment before.
> >
> >   When we arrived, he was working on another project in the basement
> > of his barn, wouldn't come to the door to say "hi", and would only
> > yell up to me.  However, he did give me permission to look at the
boat.
> >
> >   We walked around the demounted proa for a while.  Unfortunately the
> > hulls were right together, and it was also surrounded by piles of
> > debris and equipment, so we got zero feeling for its size.
> >
> >   It seemed too small for an upgrade from what we have, but then lots
> > of boats would seem small that way.  It also wasn't representative of
> > even a light cruising proa because the owner had it designed with a
> > walk-through cockpit in the windward hull instead of a cabin.
> >
> >   I yelled some thanks down to him in the barn basement as we left, at
> > which point we met his wife as she went to the barn.  She said that he
> > gets very, very focused on one project at a time, and just wouldn't be
> > in the position to talk about the proas until that became his warmer
> > weather project.
> >
> >   So, there you have it.  This man does exist, he had a proa, and he
> > was planning on using it this past summer for day charter cruises and
> > lessons.  He can be very gruff, and is in no way a salesman, but he
> > also seemed to be quite genuine about sharing the boat once the
> > weather warmed up.  Very much a Mainer in a number of ways -- just
> > more extreme than most.
> >
> >   We're still years away from commissioning a proa, probably a
> > Visionarry, but this was certainly an interesting step along the way.
> >
> >     - Mike
> >
> >
> > P.S.  I now see that the image on the harryproa web site shows a
> > Harrigami with a walkthrough cockpit, not a Harry, so this could be
> > another reason why the boat didn't seem that spacious.
> >
>






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