I believe I found out about the Gandy through a Facebook post from Jeff Nash, who I had known from the Santa Monica Muscle Beach community. He had been gifted the boat from the Simonton family after their father, Dr. Carl Simonton, had passed away.
The boat is a 24 foot 1965 Islander Bahama - one of the first fiberglass boats built, so it was solid as a tank. At one time, it had been used as a race boat and had sailed up and down the California coastline. The hull was still good and the tack was operable - even though most of it was original equipment. It also had a full compliment of sails including a huge genoa, main, storm jib, and spinnaker. But the boat had been sitting dormant for some time and was in need of some serious TLC.
Jeff didn't have the money to pay for slip fees for the boat, so he decided to find a small group that could share the financial burden. I had dreamed of having a boat for years - something that I could sail to Catalina. However, it seemed like that was becoming less possible with the rental cost and the training required. I had sailed small boats competitively as a kid, but this was different.
But this was a chance to have access to a sailboat for a fraction of the cost, and Jeff promised to show me what he knew, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity! My girl Jess was also into the idea, so it was a done deal. And the original four were on board financially within a week -
But this was just the beginning of the continuing adventures of the Gandy Dancer. I should probably let Jeff fill in the rest of this since he was the one to sail the boat down from Oxnard to Marina Del Rey with Chase Simonton. I heard tell they dealt with high winds, shipping lanes, a faulty engine, no radio, and no lights when they arrived after dark in the marina. I can't even imagine what that was like.
When the partners finally got to see the boat, it was as if we were looking at the Millenium Falcon for the first time. No one said it was a piece of junk, but it definitely had seen some action. I, for one, was relieved that it wasn't in pristine condition since I'd be too worried to scratch it.
And once I got on board to take the boat out for a spin, I realized that this was indeed a sweet deal. The Gandy lives on!
