Story by John Heintzman, Yacht Broker Harris & Ellis Yachts / December 16, 2024
When I got the call in May 2024 to list a special Westsail 32, little did I know there was a bumpy road ahead. Literally.
But let’s start at the beginning.
Open Sky was purchased in 1977 as a kit from the Westsail Corporation. The eager young buyer had the pieces delivered to Willowdale, Ontario. Then, realizing that the boat was far too big to be worked on in his suburban Toronto home, he had her trucked north to a boat yard in Midland. He traveled there every weekend to work on the vessel, filling his Volvo wagon with tools and materials before making the drive.
His dream was to finish the boat, sail her across the Atlantic, and cruise the Mediterranean with his beloved wife.
Years passed and the children grew up. The couple bought a plot of land in Uxbridge, 45 minutes northeast of Toronto. To save the long drive to Midland, they moved Open Sky to their new home. There, the boat sat on a wooden cradle made of hemlock timbers and boards. The young man’s carpentry shop lay between the house and the boat. He painstakingly crafted the interior. He made cushions and sent them out for upholstery. He installed a Farymann diesel along with fuel and water tanks. A local sail maker measured and stitched a complete inventory of sails.
Over the years, the DIY boatbuilder enjoyed working on his boat, but time catches up with the grandest of plans. This year, that ambitious young man turned 90 years old. His beloved boat was still on her cradle. The time had come to find Open Sky a new home, and he asked Harris & Ellis Yachts for help.
An eager buyer soon came forward. He climbed aboard Open Sky and immediately fell in love. He and his young son excitedly clambered about the interior deciding who would sleep in which berth. A former marine from Michigan who studied yacht design following his time in the service, the young man had the energy and skills to complete the project.
And so, our adventure began. The project: move a 32-foot sailboat complete with cradle along a narrow lane that over four decades had filled in with mature trees.
Several trucking companies turned us down. The drive was too narrow, they said. Their trucks and Open Sky would be damaged by the low canopy from the trees.
Undaunted, the owner and the young buyer decided to hire an arborist, the first of an army of workers. He removed some trees, trimmed back limbs on others, and hauled out stumps. A local quarry dumped fresh gravel on the driveway to widen it and allow entry of a truck and trailer.
The day before the October move, the industrious young man loaded the boat’s inventory into a U-Haul truck. The builder had been meticulous in his planning. Open Sky’s gear included pre-measured shrouds, hundreds of feet of chain and rode, even a soapstone fireplace and chimney.
On the day of the move, the crane operator was the first to arrive. He had visited previously to take measurements. The truckers came with not one but two trailers. A smaller truck and trailer would venture up the drive and load Open Sky. Then she would be transferred to a larger rig that waited down the road to take her across the border.
The crane operator carefully loaded Open Sky on the small trailer. We knew that the bow pulpit and boom gallows were the highest points on the boat. We had measured carefully to ensure we would meet height restrictions on the highway. But the boat was still precariously close to the trees as the trailer slowly crunched down the drive. Finally, trailer number one made it to the end of the driveway. The crane followed behind to load her onto the larger transport.
With Open Sky finally secure, the elderly man’s anxiety changed to a more bittersweet emotion. The DIY boatbuilder would never realize his dream of an ocean crossing and liveaboard life in the Med, but his boat was on to her next adventure. He took solace in knowing that he had kindled the imagination of an ambitious young man from Michigan.
Many a day prior to the sale, I had listened to the original owner’s vision of how he wanted Open Sky to be finished. Now she was a little bit closer, with another devoted owner. What a happy ending for all, including me, the project manager. The sense of joy I feel when I meet people who love their boats is one of the best parts of my job.
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