Can you help me find the Somar?

[jaybill]

Here's a bunch of pictures of it, including construction photos: Photo Album - Imgur

Here's the back story: My fiancee (She'll be my wife on Friday! Yay!) showed me some photos of the boat her grandfather built. He was an amazing woodworker and made his living making furniture. This boat was his hobby. Someone else started it, getting only as far as the keel and some of the bow before they gave up and sold it to him. (This was in 1976.) It took him years to complete, but it was incredible. I've never seen a boat quite like it. The woodworking is really something, obviously, but the attention to detail is what really blew me away.

Anyway, I asked my fiancee what happened to it, and she said that due to a financial hardship in the family around 1987 or so, they had to sell it. She thinks they got around $300K for it. He died a few years ago, sadly. I wish I could have met him.

It occurred to me that a one-of-a-kind boat like this must still exist somewhere, so I scanned all the pictures she had of it and here I am.
Does anyone know how I might track it down? I'm sure my fiancee and her mother would get a kick out of knowing this boat was still out there. I'm sure whoever owns it now would also love to see these pictures of it being built.

Here's what I know about it:

• It's a wooden sailboat called the Somar.
• Not sure how long it is, but I'd guess it's about 30'?
• My fiancee's grandfather's name was Ernest (Ernie) Ramos. He's the guy in the pictures. (Except for the color one of the guy standing behind it.)
• The boat was finished sometime in 1979.
• He sold it in 1987 or 1988.
• They sailed out of L.A. somewhere. They took this boat to Catalina a lot, apparently.

Please let me know if I can answer any other questions. It would be completely and utterly awesome if we could track down this boat somehow.

Thanks for reading!

[Jeff_H]

That appears to be an Atkin's Eric. The Erics were roughly 32 feet on deck but you sometimes see people refer to their overall length from the tip of their bowsprit to the tip of their boomkin as being closer to 39-40 feet. From the photos it looks like he did a very nice job on her.

Back in the 1980's she would have been worth something closer to $30,000 than $300,000.

One way to seach for her is to try to find ads for a wooden Atkins Eric built in that time frame. Another way would to post in the WoodenBoat magazine webpage, where there is a larger group of wooden boat folks.

These days wooden Eric's are pretty rare. On the other hand, boats like these were built for distance voyaging and there is a good chance if used as designed, she has long since been worn out and is no more.

Jeff

[WanderingStar]

The Register of Wooden Boats has an entry for an Atkin Eric, built 1978, formerly named Somar. Now homeported in LA, at the Pacific Mariner's Yacht Club. The entry shows Dave Brown as the builder (maybe he started it?), though that information could be based on inaccurate oral history. I checked US Vessel Document list, no entry there.

[Jeff_H]

Originally Posted by WanderingStar

The Register of Wooden Boats has an entry for an Atkin Eric, built 1978, formerly named Somar. Now homeported in LA, at the Pacific Mariner's Yacht Club. The entry shows Dave Brown as the builder (maybe he started it?), though that information could be based on inaccurate oral history. I checked US Vessel Document list, no entry there.

Dang WS,

I am very impressed!

Jeff

[jaybill]

Wow! You guys are awesome! That's a hell of a start!

So I guess all I need to do now is contact the Pacific Mariner's Yacht Club and see if they know anything about it!

[Jeff_H]

Yup, that would be my next step if I were in your shoes. BTW what do you want to do if you do find the old girl? In other words, What is this about?

[paulk]

Sounds like a Honeymoon voyage to me. Is there a double berth on an Eric?

[WanderingStar]

Thank you Jeff and Jay, glad I could help. I love old boats and have tracked down history on my own, and two prior. They have a life and a story.

[WanderingStar]

Her current name is Heron, I probably should have posted that before!

[jaybill]

Thanks everyone! I'll let you know what happens!