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One boat, two captains This enthusiastic couple cruises the greatest Great Lake by Karen Larson LL HUSBANDS QUAKE WHEN GREETED changed the day up without get- by their wives with the words, the boat rounded “Dale . encourages ting wet above the A “Sit down. We need to talk.” up while he was at knees,” he says. Six years ago, those dreaded words the helm. “I didn’t his wife. ‘This boat As it capsized, he led to good news for Dale Longtin, know what was simply climbed however. His wife, Cori Breidenbach, happening,” he has two captains,’ he over the side to had received the call from a friend of remembers, “but I says with pride.” the centerboard, theirs telling them he was selling his was impressed by tipped it upright, 1976 Ericson 29, Carina. Cori began all that power.” and stepped back thinking that perhaps it was time in. to sell their Chrysler 22 and revise Summer sailing About the time he’d worked it all their sailing activities. Dale and Cori After that he spent summers aboard out, Cori came into Dale’s life. “He called in an accountant to determine a Sunfish knockoff by Arctic Cat, Inc. courted me aboard that Force Five,” whether they had what it takes to (of snowmobile make a purchase of this nature. They fame). Somewhat did — and they soon became Carina’s later came a Force third owners. Five, an AMF design Now that they have a liveaboard similar to a Laser. lifestyle in mind, Dale and Cori have More than the Arc- begun looking for Carina’s fourth tic Cat, this boat owners. The next family or couple to turned Dale into a have wonderful sailing adventures on sailor. “A Force Five Carina won’t be hard to find. teaches you to sail, Carina is a much-modified, because if you do well-maintained cruiser. Her second anything wrong, owner, Tom Embertson, was primar- you’re in the water,” ily the handyman who gave her her he says. He swam present name, modified her for cruis- frequently in the be- ing, and passed along the results of ginning and turned his accomplishments when he bought righting the boat an Islander 36. Dale and Cori have into an art form. “I been the happy custodians for 5 years, could capsize the maintaining her while enjoying Lake boat and get it back Superior aboard. Dale discovered sailing while spending summers at a family cabin Dale Longtin and Cori in another beautiful cruising area: Breidenbach, above, Lake of the Woods at the border of rarely miss a summer Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. His weekend aboard family owned powerboats, but another Carina, at right, their enterprising fellow brought a sailboat to the area and offered sailboat rides highly modified and to paying customers. As a teenager, well-maintained Dale’s appreciation of sailboats Ericson 29. www.goodoldboat.com 37 “For the past five years they had been she says. “We even sailed it on our talking about living During the time they spent sail- honeymoon.” Cori has a twinkle in her ing on Carina, Cori discovered an eye and an indomitable spirit. After aboard and cruising. untapped facet of her psyche. She having her hand on the tiller a time wanted to singlehand this boat so she or two, she decided she could sail the They were discussing could sail on weekends when Dale’s boat solo. Dale wasn’t sure she was how they’d sell the work took him away from home. With ready, but she wouldn’t be discour- the encouragement of Dale and three aged. Sure enough, the Force Five house, quit their jobs, others, she became an accomplished had a sailing lesson in store for Cori, sailor in her own right and was soon too, and she soon learned that she and make the timing entering a low-key, but long and physi- didn’t have the upper-body strength to play out.” cally challenging race for singlehand- right the boat by herself. That might ers in the Apostles, a 27-mile solo have been the end of sailing for lesser circumnavigation of Madeline Island. women. Not for courageous Cori. This She has competed in this fun contest first solo was merely the beginning. twice. So far, Cori is the only woman Eventually the two were sailing a ever to enter this race. Chrysler 22 on Lake Pepin, a wide spot “I never understood what moti- in the Mississippi River not too far vated women like Ellen MacArthur to from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis enter a singlehanded long-distance and St. Paul, where they were living. race,” Cori says, beaming. “But by the They enjoyed frequent trips to the time I finished my first race, I under- boat, and Dale took it to the Apostle stood. I didn’t want to get off the boat. Islands, where he soon decided that Carina and I had bonded. It was very a larger boat would be better for this empowering.” Dale, who is not driven more extensive cruising ground. The to race but who also singlehands the couple wound up chartering boats, boat when Cori is unavailable for a including Carina, in the Apostles. weekend, encourages his wife. “This boat has two captains,” he Longer cruises says with pride. “One day I realized Once they’d purchased the larger that when I was captain, everything Ericson and began cruising on a corner was done beautifully by the ‘crew.’ But of Lake Superior, there was no looking when Cori was captain, I wasn’t fol- back. Each year they made lon- lowing through. I wasn’t used ger and more ambitious cruises to doing all those things (like on the big lake, one of which included a 44-hour passage to a distant point in Ontario and The Ericson 29 has a usable working their way back via the and roomy interior with a scenic and protected anchorag- large starboard quarter berth. es along the way. Most summers Unfortunately, the galley lacks between launch in mid-May and an oven and permanent range. layup in mid-October, Dale and The V-berth, bottom photos, Cori rarely missed a weekend at the boat. “The best 3 weeks of is finished with wood battens. my life were 2 years ago when Notice the large flat tray with we spent 3 weeks cruising in a flip-down door above the Canada (on Lake Superior’s V-berth. It’s a perfect place for north shore),” Cori says. storing charts. 38 Good Old Boat January/February 2004 An inner forestay (added by the getting out docklines and fenders). previous owner for use in rough When I was captain, they just hap- weather) is stowed along the mast and pened magically. I decided that when fastened to the deck when needed. Cori was captain she had ‘sh*# for crew,’ so I had a hat embroidered with An added partition in the chain locker those words and wore it the next time “Now that they have a allows the load of the inner forestay to I messed up. Now we both wear it at liveaboard lifestyle in pass through the locker to the hull. times.” mind, Dale and Cori outlook about what we needed. I began Wonderful shape looking for something like a Tayana Since Dale and Cori would rather have begun looking with a full keel. But now we’re looking spend time sailing than doing proj- for Carina’s fourth for a boat capable of bluewater cruis- ects on their boat, they’re lucky that ing but lighter than the Tayana-type Carina was in wonderful shape when owners.” boat. Something with a modified fin they bought her. They have recov- keel. We want to be able to go out in ered the cushions and increased the lighter wind.” insulation in the icebox. They bought also rewired and replumbed the boat Sometimes cruising dreams are a new mainsail and had the furling and added alarms to indicate low oil shifted from dream status to reality jib redone by North to add a couple of pressure, high water, low gas, and low by a job change. Not long ago Dale lost ropes in the luff. These ropes take up battery. his job as the lead of a team of field the slack better than foam, they point All of these modifications make a computer installation specialists. In out, since foam is eventually crushed 29-footer more livable, of course. And the ultimate irony, they trained their by spending most of its time in the Carina was more than adequate dur- replacements in the field and were furled position. Dale also enlarged ing the summer of the 3-week cruise then laid off. That led the couple to the battery storage space in order to with all provisions aboard. But now a crossroads. For the past five years accommodate two 27s where a pair of Dale and Cori are contemplating a they had been talking about living 24s had been. liveaboard life on the East Coast. For aboard and cruising. They were dis- But previous owner Tom Embert- this lifestyle, Carina has a few dis- cussing how they’d sell the house, quit son deserves the praise for installing advantages. Primary among them is their jobs, and make the timing play the removable inner forestay, which the lack of an oven and the need for out. They had a mindset of not accu- allows them to hank on a storm jib. a permanently mounted range. Dale mulating more stuff and of divesting This forestay runs through the anchor and Cori cook on a Coleman camp what was not needed.

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