The Old man And The Schooner...

Captain Ron Strathman and his 1977 wooden schooner have been cruising the Sea of Cortez for over 6 years together.  Their journeys became one over 10 years ago, each of them living many different lives before.  The man built a successful safety company in San Diego at an age when most of us would have long since retired.  Working long hours to geneate the funds necesary to restore a 30 year old neglected wooden boat with cracked frames, rotten masts, and varnish that had gone black for want of a loving hand; he arrived home late at night day after day, week after week, and year after year, often to be found sanding in the dark.

When you rerstore an old wooden boat with your own bare hands, there is a magic created that none will know if they have not completed this arduous balancing act of love and hate.  If one is strong enough, as Ron was for all those years, finally the day comes that they will stand back at days end and look, not mesmerized by a glowing coat of varnish on the cap rail, not transfixed by a single run in an otherwise flawless coat of paint, but in sheer awe of the vessel that floats before them, ready to put to sea once more.

Ron gave life to this vessel.  What's more, is that she gave new life to him; each one offering the other, another chance at freedom.  It has been said that ships are the closest things to dreams ever made by human hand.  This dream is in grave danger of becoming a nightmare.

Hurricane Odile Ravaged the coast of baja in September of 2014.  The Gold Eagle lay well prepared in Marina Santa Rosalia.  When the winds maxed out over 100kts, the marina came apart, it's and other debris slowly piling up alongside the Gold Eagle.  Eventually for all her well placed lines and tackle, she was overwhelmed by the weight and with a splintering of the pilings around her, fell into the marina ramp destroying it completely.  

While most other vessels in the Baja region where floated in the days following the disaster, Gold Eagle has not been so fortunate.  Demands where filed against the vessel on the grounds that she had destroyed marina property and that she must pay repair costs.  Ron was in fear of imprisonment on the same grounds.  All his attempts to float the vessel including the help of a 100 ton crane where denied by the local authorities.  The vessel had been seized.

After breif re-grouping in San Diego in order to seek legal advice, replace his documents (all where awash on board the schooner and never found after the hurricane), and some clothes (also awash),  Ron is on his way back to Santa Rosalia, armed with an attorney who has resolved the seizure, and all necessary facilities needed to float the vessel.  

While this is a great victory for them, the process of rebuilding a life destroyed is all but hopeless.  For this reason, we ask for your generous contribution to this cause.  If ever you had a dream to do something small or great, wether you suceeded or not, we hope you will see it in your heart to help the Old Man and the Schooner, to sail again.