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I’m joyful to write down that I’m now the proud caretaker of a Chelsea Ship’s Bell clock and barometer which belonged to my father, Capt. Arthur Crimmins, for greater than 40 years. The 2 items not solely maintain such great reminiscences for me, however have fairly a particular historical past, which I’m happy to share right here.
My father, Capt. Artwork, loved a protracted and thrilling profession because the proprietor and captain of a number of constitution crusing yachts, crusing the Bahamas and different elements of the Caribbean. He chartered his first sailboat from Miami throughout the Gulf Stream within the Forties till 1959 with the Traveler, a 40′ ketch, which he constructed within the Forties in Man-O-Conflict Cay within the Bahamas. After I was an toddler, my “mattress” was a milk crate caught within the maintain of the boat whereas it was being accomplished on the Miami river.
In 1959, my father bought the Traveler and bought Traveler II, a 68′ ketch, which he then started chartering all through the Bahamas, with my step-mother, Peggy, as his “first mate.” That very same yr, he outfitted his new craft with a Chelsea Ship’s Bell Clock and Barometer, which continued to sail with him aboard each new boat thereafter. For practically fifteen years, my father launched numerous constitution company – some well-known and others notorious – to the thrill and adventures of crusing aboard the Traveler II. This luxurious yacht, designed by John G. Alden, may accommodate as much as six company in non-public staterooms and, in Nineteen Sixties promoting, boasted such facilities as air con, electrical refrigeration, an 11-cu. ft. deep freeze, air foam mattresses, and a hi-fi stereo system.
By the early Nineteen Seventies, my father was longing for a change – feeling considerably overwhelmed by the upkeep calls for of Traveler II – and determined it was time to “downsize.” That’s when he and Peggy moved to Hong Kong to supervise the development of a 62′ ketch, aptly named the Traveller III. Accomplished 18 months later, they returned to the U.S. with this new vessel and chartered it all through the U.S. Virgin Islands. This boat was a dream-come-true for my father. Along with its 16-foot beam and six-foot draft with centerboard up, the Traveller III provided two well-appointed staterooms, crew’s quarters, two loos with showers, and a spacious primary air-conditioned salon.
My father had an incredible expertise for crusing and true ardour for all times at sea. He recounted great tales concerning the folks he met and the adventures they shared collectively aboard his prized charters. My father ultimately bought his final yacht, the Interlude, additionally in-built Hong Kong, in 1989 and retired inland to Beaufort, SC. After all, his Chelseas retired there with him, proudly displayed alongside different “trophies” from his superb crusing days. I’m so happy to have these particular keepsakes (that are in wonderful working situation, I’d add) in my dwelling now. They not solely remind me, each day, of my expensive father and the great, adventurous life he led, however encourage me to proceed to discover and luxuriate in all of life’s prospects!
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