Ray’s dad stood on shore yelling directions as the kids took turns learning to sail the new dinghies he built. As the dinghies sailed this way and that across the bay he would call out to the kids. “Head her up! Haul in the sail! Let her out and run!”
When Ray was very young he loved to sail his dinghy, the Lassie. His father’s name was Albert and his mother’s name was May. May often called him Abner and Albert also called her Mae. May and Albert had three sons. Ray was their first and then came Randy. Ricky was the youngest. They also had a cat that Abner had found in a boathouse down by the sea. The cat was just a little orange Manx kitten. He was born with only a short tail. To Abner, he looked more like a peach. So he called him Peaches and took him home to his family.
Now Abner, he built sailboats. He had a workshop in their basement and built them in their backyard. He built many sailing dinghies and larger boats too. He built the kids a dinghy and for the family he built a bigger yacht. He realized Ray liked to paint pictures so he would often assign him to paint the names on the bow and the stern. When he asked Ray to paint the name on the transom of the dinghy he let Ray choose the name, but as Himalaya II was so long he decided to call it the Lassy.
The boat he built for the family was 22 feet in length and had a cabin high enough to stand in. It had a inboard engine and it could sleep six. The mast was carved from a tree he found. It had grown very straight and it also was nice and round. To Abner, it was a simple boat to build and it did not cost too much. In the keel he poured concrete and iron scraps to ballast her. When he had her all finished and painted her inside and out, he called on Ray to paint the name Forty-Niner on her side. He called up his old friend, Pat, who had a truck and trailer and one fine day they launched it at a boat ramp down in the bay. After that they kept it at a mooring buoy in Eagle Harbour which was not far away. On weekends, they sailed it to Gambier Island and they also sailed it to Bowen. On their summer holidays, they would go on longer trips. They ventured up the coast and had many joyous days full of swimming and rowing.
