This was in the Letters section of Scuttlebutt this morning.  A very good indication of the kind of shop the Abbott’s ran:

“From John Horsch: Man, it was sad to read about the fire at Abbott
Boat Works. In 1995, the Abbotts built us a new Soling, and I had the
unique and memorable opportunity to witness the boat shop in all its
glory. Among the highlights were hockey games on the radio, breaks in
production so that the employees could put the finishing touches on
Chief’s new fiberglass ice-fishing hut, and constant stories about
Bill’s kids’ exploits on the rink. The topper was when we got set to
leave, new boat in tow, Bill gave us a license plate for the new
trailer, saying: “Now this is the license plate off of the moose hunting
trailer. And moose hunting season is coming up. So make sure you mail
this back right away when you get home.” The Abbotts are great people
and they build fast boats. Here’s hoping we’ll see a phoenix rise from
those ashes.”

Well we’ve had some set backs but we’re still trucking along with our bid for the Worlds.  With the demise of Bill Abbott’s shop in Sarnia, there is no hope of getting Heavy Fuel ready for the next two big regattas.  We were lucky in one sense, that we just lost the keel and not the whole boat in the fire.

We’ve managed to secure a boat for the Canadians and a boat for the Worlds, but we still have a pile of work to do.  Hal sounds like he’s giving our first loaner a small refit in his driveway, and we’re still assembling parts that will be suitable for the three of us.  (I believe you can step onto a full on mediocre boat and do well, but there are a few key elements that make it all work smoothly.)  Luckily for us our loaners are anything but mediocre, and Hal has the time to tweak things so they are a little more logical.

Paul has been playing with sail designs and he has never disappointed me yet with his rags.  I have to say it’s really nice sailing for a sailmaker. 

I must admit that I wish we had some more boat time together.  At Trillium, our crew work was OK, but not as tight as I would like.  This is the one disadvantage of having crew spread out across the province, no time to practice.  That said, we’ve all been sailing a lot individually, and that goes a long way.  I feel really good about my sailing progress this year and Paul and Hal have already forgotten more than I ever knew about sailng.  We’ll be fine.

We’re a little less than two weeks to the Canadians, and we have all the elements together, we just need to visualize it all coming together.  That’s always the hardest part for me.