Bumper

This is a photo of Bumper with her original Dacron racing sails, which were made by the original owner and builder - Dennis Clark of Clark Boats/Clark Sails. The sail numbers are green and red, which was OK in 1979. Jane is sitting on the weather rail, and I'm driving from leeward, so the boat is fairly flat. Our daughter's arm is sticking out of the cabin and we're on a cruise north to the San Juan Islands for a couple of weeks in 1987 (or thereabouts :)

Bumper was a pure pleasure to drive into the wind as long as the wind was light, and the waves were small. In a fresh breeze, the weather helm built up, and the mainsail had to be dumped or trimmed to ease the heel of the boat and the pressure on the tiller. That said, once you figured it out, it was sure fun.



Here's a photo of us crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca (headed south) and if you look closely, there are Dalls Porpoise riding our bow (you can just see three dorsal fins in front of Bumper). There wasn't much wind that day, so we aren't sailing, but we have all our gear on because the water is 45 degrees F and we are moving thru it at 6 knots.