I was surprised and pleased to see Wind Drifter's cruise to the USVI mentioned in the voyages section of your Flicka Website. I came back to Florida but Wind Drifter stayed and is still in St. Thomas as I sold her to the dockmaster of La Vida Marina. I miss her and still fondly remember our many cruises together. I have attached a photo of her taken an Puerto Plata, DR
Photo Credit: Rod Bradley ©:
When I first published the Flicka Website in April 1998, I was just hoping to meet sailors who had voyaged in this legendary pocket cruiser. I had no idea after three and a half years the web counter would exceed 185,000 visits. During the three and a half years, I have met and made friends via the Internet with many sailors and voyagers from all over the world. It has been a wonderful experience to share distance horizons, exchange information and help others masters these wonderful little craft. It is with sadness I relinquish command as the Flicka WebCaptain.
Tom Davison, Editor of "Flicka Friends" has accepted the command. I will lend my support as a technical editor. Tom has been very supportive of the Flicka Website. The format has changed but the content remains the same. The Website under Tom's guidance has a strong future. The new WebCaptain will need your help. This site is only as good as the material and photos Flicka owners provide. I ask that as you sail this summer and fall, take photos and send them to Tom Davison. Keep a log of your day sails and cruises and share the experience with others. The Flicka is probably one of the finest pocket cruisers ever built but its following can only remain strong if owners contribute to publications, such as "Flicka Friends", the Flicka Website and sailing magazines.
As many of you know, we sold our beloved Nor'star Flicka, African Moon and purchased a Canadian built Bristol Channel Cutter named IDUNA. It is time for us "to go" in a few years. We are not as young as we were in 1989 when we purchased African Moon and started the rebuilding process and kindling the dream. During the five years of rebuilding, she taught us much and we gave her new life and a new future. After we launched African Moon in 1994, she taught us respect for wind and sea, we learned her spirit under sail and she kept us warm, dry and safe over several thousand sea miles.
..... "All day and into the evening African Moon sailed at ~2 1/2 knots under OTTO, our windvane steering system. She was gently heeled at 10 degrees, moving with an easy motion on a flat bay, with only the wind dimpling the water. Lunch came and went, the wine was sipped and she was a happy ship. We moved toward our destination and were lifted toward the Patapsco River and our marina in Rock Creek. The western sky became crimson as we sailed on a gentle NE wind. Day became night - we sailed through that magic time called twilight. The water and air were quiet, a chill slowly moved into the autumn air - it was magic. Into the night we sailed - a tack here, a tack there, always moving toward home but hoping it would never end. We tacked to sail away from the Craighill Channel to avoid a ship and a barge as we sailed into the Patapsco River and eventually past the White Rocks in Rock Creek. For us it was beautiful - a never ending memory of the joy of sharing the cockpit of a "little ship" making her passage home after nine wonderful days on the Chesapeake." - from the log of African Moon.
Fair Winds, Following Seas and Thank You.
Rod Bruckdorfer