Reliving the sailing days of my youth

[ChrisBenSeaborn]

I was raised in a sailing family in the Pacific Northwest. My grandfather, Charles Nelson Seaborn, owned his own Seaborn Shipyards in Tacoma, Washington during WW I. My great uncle, Henry Seaborn (Charles Nelson's oldest brother), was an early Commodore of the Seattle Yacht Club. My step-grandfather, Ray Welcome Cooke, built and raced the 62' Circe. My father, John Henry Seaborn, for years owned the Circe. And then, of course, there was my dad's identical twin, Benjamin Charles Seaborn, who designed the Circe and a number of other sailing vessels, most notably the Thunderbird.

The last time I went sailing was on our Circe when I was fifteen years old, 40 years ago.

Although I am not sailing now, I am writing a book that covers my own sailing days of my youth and that of my family.

[CalebD]

The book sounds like a great idea for someone who's family was so immersed in things nautical.
Are you still in the Washington state area? Are the Circe or Thunderbird still extant and sailing?
I'll suggest that a sail on a nice old wooden sailing vessel might bring back some of the visceral memories of long ago to inspire your writing.
There are still some good old woodies around and there is a fellow who posts here on occasion under the name Charlie Cobra who actually works on restoring these old beauties.

Welcome to the asylum.

[WanderingStar]

Seaborn designs are highly regarded, thanks for posting.

[ChrisBenSeaborn]

Thanks for the reply/welcome/thoughts/etc.

No, I am not in either Washington or Oregon anymore. Currently I live in Reno, NV.

To my knowledge, the Circe (which was built and launched in 1932) is still in the Seattle area; still registered with the Seattle Yacht Club. The Thunderbird was not so much one boat but rather it is a class of boats. There are now Thunderbirds all over the world. It is probably my uncle's most famous design, if for no other reason than the numbers of them that have been built.

[blt2ski]

Caleb,

Last I hear/saw from a 50th anniversary article a couple of years back in 48° North - The Sailing Magazine there were 1100 or so T-birds registered thru out the world. There are still two or three reasonably active fleets in the puget sound/salish sea area. You can still buy plans from Clark Craft Boat Plans Kits Boatbuilding Supplies

I also believe the main T-bird home page one can get plans too.

Marty