Sunshine Rick

Sunshine's picture

Hi -- I created this website and forum, so I'll get the ball rolling in the New Member category!

My wife and I owned a Vega Nomad in the 80's (We named her "Kalena") and had a blast with our young children on it. We graduated to a 65-foot classic fantail motoryacht when the kids were older, and enjoyed it immensely exploring the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, San Juans, British Columbia).

Argosy

Ater the kids were off on their own, the 65-foot woodie was a bit much to maintain. After selling the big boat, an opportunity came up to acquire another Vega Nomad, Sunshine, which had been neglected for some time.

We've had her over ten years now, fixed a lot of things, made a lot of improvements, but still have a lot to do for her. I am a naval architect by training (registered Professional Engineer in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering), but am now semi-retired from that and have been working as a yacht captain for almost 15 years. My command for the last 5 years has been a gorgeous and historic classic Ted Geary fantail yacht, the 100-foot 1926 Blanchard yacht "Malibu".  An absolute dream job, but it has meant the Willard has been a bit neglected!

Malibu

Anyway, despite the wonderful summers cruising on the yacht, I would like to have more time for the Willard and be able to spend more time on her.

I built this website primarily to try and keep track of the Willard yachts that are still around.  I see them more and more as becoming collectors-items, and believe that a central source for information about them can be useful to potential owners and any other interested parties.  The boats are pretty unique, as a production series of full-displacement ballasted power boat hulls -- quite a rarity in this day and age!

Anyway, thanks for being here!

Rick