Quark

Pilot and author of “Sailin South”, built from bare hull, deck, ballast

Sold to Dave Symonds, sailed to New Zealand

Sold to Dave X, sailed to Mexico

Hull/deck joint with 4-layers of glass, 16-in spaced ribs around the boat, all horizontal counters, shelves bonded to hull, entire hull supported no larger than 16-inchs

Volvo 12-hp diesel,

1979/1980 - Sailed to Tahiti and return to Southern California Dave and Vickie Case as described in “Sailin South”

SHE'S A HELL-FOR-STOUT CRUISING BOAT

In response to an inquiry last month, the Farallon 29, designed by Chuck Burns, is indeed a great hell-for-stout little pocket cruising yacht. I built mine, which I christened Quark, from a hull and deck. Then in 1979, my wife Vickie and I circumnavigated the Pacific with her.

But that was just the beginning of Quark's ocean travels. I later sold the boat to Dave Symonds, who sailed her to New Zealand and back. He then sold her to another owner named Dave, who, it's my understanding, sailed her to Tahiti and back.

The last I knew, Quark had well over 50,000 miles beneath her keel. Vickie and I had a chance to visit her a couple of years ago in Sausalito where she was once again for sale. She still looked great. It was a dewy-eyed moment for the both of us as we sat in the salon, and she responded with her gentle rocking motion while making sweet gurgling sounds.

By the way, while I was going through the hells-and-damns of creating Quark, Ray Jason, who writes the Sea Gypsy Chronicles, used to stop by. I think that's one of the reasons that he decided to build Sea Gypsy, his Farallon 29.