Frank Pearce

  • Name — Frank Pearce
  • Base — Antigua
  • Occupations — yachtsman, tugboat captain, marine surveyor
  • Responsibility — vice-commodore of the Antigua Yacht Club
  • Restored boats — Summer Wind (after 1995) and Tradition (2008)
  • His own boats — Whirlaway, then the schooner Samadhi

Frank Pearce did not build a Carriacou sloop. But he saved two, wrote about the work of Windward's shipwrights in the press, and was in Saint-Barth for the first West Indies Regatta in 2009.

A sailor from Antigua

He had been sailing for over fifty-five years when he wrote this in 2010. He had crossed the Atlantic five times, the last time single-handed aboard Whirlaway, a 42-foot teak-hulled Holman sloop. He was also a tugboat captain and marine surveyor, and vice-commodore of the Antigua Yacht Club. He wrote regularly for the Caribbean Compass, notably on the Antigua Classic and the West Indies Regatta.

After 1995: Summer Wind, bought from the bottom of the water

Shortly after Hurricane Luis in 1995, the sloop Summer Wind It was struck while at anchor in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, and sank. Frank Pearce bought it while it was still lying on the seabed. Once refloated, he had it restored: the planking, frames, deck, and mast were repaired, and the sloop sailed and raced again. In 1997, he sold it to the photographer Alexis Andrews, which will bring him back to Carriacou.

2008: The Tradition Project

In April 2008, in Windward, he watched Alwyn Enoe to build the sloop that will become Ocean Nomad, today Navasana. A little further on, hoisted onto the black sand, he discovers a large red hull: Tradition. Its owner, Norman Roberts, explained that his father, Urbin "Robbie" Roberts, had built it on that very beach some thirty years earlier and operated it as a sailing cargo ship between Saint-Barthélemy and Carriacou. Norman was converting it into a motor-powered coastal freighter. After a few weeks of hesitation, Frank Pearce bought it, with one fixed idea: to restore its original rigging.

The construction is taking place on Windward beach, with the island's shipwrights: Gordon Patrice, from the Patrice's family ; Fitzroy "Nero" McLaren and Leonard McLaren; Carl and Chris Enoe, Alwyn's sons, who are cutting the mast, boom, and bowsprit; Bernard and Verrol Compton, of the Compton family ; Benny McLaren, who had long sailed on Tradition. The large coachroof disappears, the mast is fashioned from a 60-foot telegraph pole bought in Grenada, the beams are cut from Gordon's white cedar, under the waning moon.

On Sunday, November 2, 2008, Tradition was relaunched in the Carriacou style: blessing of the priest, choir, goat and "oildown" on the fire, rum, and the whole beach to push her on the waves.

2009: From the Antigua Classic to the first West Indies Regatta

Tradition sailed north via Bequia and Deshaies. In April 2009, at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, she won the Concours d'Elegance, even though Frank Pearce hadn't entered her. In May, he sailed her to Saint Barthélemy for the inaugural West Indies Regatta. On June 6, 2009, he sold her to Laurie Gumbs of Anguilla, who intended to use her to train young people in sailing.

What remains to be found

According to information received by the association, Frank Pearce recently passed away. His dates, his travels before Antigua, and other memories of him are still being sought. Any information, photographs, or memorabilia would be greatly appreciated.

Sources

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Contact — Frank Pearce

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