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I owned St Lawrence Marina Sales in Brockville, Ontario. We were big in Sales and Service in both power boats and sail boats. In addition to O'Days we were the largest Aloha dealer in eastern Ontario. We had a booth at the Toronto Boat Show every year and it was at one of these shows that I saw the Nordica 16 and 20. It was love at first site. Just standing behind the hulls and looking at those lovely lines I knew they had to be great sail boats. I applied for and got the dealership for Eastern Ontario. Over the next six or more years I sold over 60 Nordica sailboats, some two or more times over as I got beginners into sailing with the Nordica then having them trade them in so as to move on up to much bigger boats. The 30 Nordica and the 32 Aloha were the two boats I liked the best. But the 30 was hard to get and eventually was the cause of many of Carl's problems. But that’s another story.
My own boat has quite a story too. I was sitting in Carl's factory office when I saw a 16 Nordica being dragged behind a truck with out a trailer like a dead cow. It was still bright red but it had been stripped of all hardware including the windows. Carl explained that it was to be taken out to a field and burned. The previous owner had allowed it to drift away from its dock only to be found days later washed up on a beach, full of seaweed and dead fish. She had a great hole in her side from the rubbing on the rocks. The insurance company bought the owner a new boat. I asked for, a got the boat for nothing but "as is." I brought the boat to Brockville, leaking water all along the highway, and turned it over to my "glass man" who was one of the best. Casey told me that he did not have to grind back very far to pick up solid material before repairing the hole. He said the boat was very well made. It took me the rest of the summer to assemble the hardware, windows, mast, boom, and sails. The hull was repainted Fire Red. The original name of “HAGAR” was never changed and her hull No. is 00292 M76 I.
I not only kept her at my place but I sometimes used her as a demo when trying to sell a new one to a customer. A lawyer from across the river (USA) and a first time sailor, wanted to buy my boat, he liked the way I had it set up. With a lot of sorrow, I let it go. He had a custom trailer built with oversize wheels and brakes made before moving it to his winter place in Florida. There it remained for the next two years sailing in the Atlantic. One day he brought it back to the marina asking me to sell it for him as he had bought a 30 footer in Florida. The problem was that he had tried to up-date the boat by painting it grey and white and made a real mess of it. No one would touch it so I bought it back, custom trailer and all for $1000.00 CDN. I have since repainted it back to its original red and white. The boat is showing its age but so am I (I will be 80 in March.) It still sails like dream and I enjoy taking my grandkids out when they come to visit. I had a wonderful 2 hour sail alone last week before I hauled her out and put her in storage. I have replaced the small gas engine with an electric fishing engine and I have a large booster battery stowed in the cabin. I love it and have also added lazy jacks this year.
LM - I sent a response to his email and said that I hoped that “Hagar” was weathering well (was in the winter) and that maybe she was tucked away in a nice heated barn, but if not that she would be ready in the spring when he was. This was his reply:
Hagar is stored outside and covered with two tarps. Her bow is up and the drain plug removed. I gave her a nice pat on the ass when I paid her a visit last week… All is well.
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