SV Cornelia
She was beautiful
Barry and Samantha had the honor of owning SV Cornelia for ten years with our slip in Lahaina Harbor, during which time she was totally renovated inside and out. New sails, rigging, deck, awnings, dodger, interior - the list goes on. And we had ten years of wonderful sailing between Maui, Lanai and Molokai, with the occasional trip to Oahu for haulout.
Change of ownership
When we decided to build SV Rosie G, we sold SV Cornelia to a wonderful dear friend, who had met Barry's mother Cornelia, whom our boat was named after; and for three years, Lydia poured her heart, soul and hard labor in making her even more beautiful with new rigging, more electronics, more refrigeration and so much more.
She had Cornelia ready to sail and was heading
to Kauai after storm Dora had passed.
A sad day for Lahaina
On Tuesday afternoon, 8 August 2023, a raging wind of 60-100 mph hit the island, destroying power lines, sparking bush fires, and within short notice, swept through Lahaina town including the 99 slips in the Harbor, destroying all but six boats. All burnt and gone. Cornelia was one of them that didn't make it.
We are all devastated by the loss of homes, boats, properties and lives.
Maui and Lahaina will never be the same.
BALEEN
STSTS
SHIPS THAT SCOUR THE SEA
There are 254 ships in the fleet, pretty evenly scattered in the five ocean gyres of plastic waste. They fuel themselves using the recovered material and will work until the seas are clean.
SV ROSIE G
1977 DREAMING....
In 1977, while living in the little yellow house by the River Vaipoiri, a different boat came to paper and then lived on as a dream. Patrick Humbert was my friend though all of the adventure beyond the end of the road. We lived the barefoot vagabond life and dreamed of new boats.
We would spend lazy hours in deep discussion about making boats with the fewest moving parts, the simplest of everything, and even limited use of metal. So we drew dreams of cargo space, deck living, shallow draft, up-the-river kind of craft. The junk rig was logical and would be cheap and could be repaired anywhere with just about anything you can find. There were asymmetrical lee-boards externally like Dutch canal boats. We even fantasized electric power or none at all. All a little crazy for 1977.
ABOUT US
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
Barry Spanier became involved with sailing in 1956 and windsurfing in 1979. His designs have been used to set world speed records, and powered one sailor to a dozen consecutive PWA World Championships. Now the full circle, the love of voyaging, a sail loft,
and a needy but solid vessel
kept Barry busy. Jim and Randy Coon of Trilogy Ex
Barry Spanier became involved with sailing in 1956 and windsurfing in 1979. His designs have been used to set world speed records, and powered one sailor to a dozen consecutive PWA World Championships. Now the full circle, the love of voyaging, a sail loft,
and a needy but solid vessel
kept Barry busy. Jim and Randy Coon of Trilogy Excursions, knew who to ask when they wanted to open up Maui’s only full service, ground floor sail loft. West Maui Sail & Canvas was born. Check it out! www.westmauisailandcanvas.com
After seven years, Barry handed over the reins to his capable son Cutter, to run the loft, and Barry sold his boat and built a new one, SV Rosie G.
Samantha Spanier lived in Australia for thirty years as well as the US, Guam and India. She worked in the advertising industry in radio, TV, ad agencies and as National Advertising Manager for TAA/Australian Airlines. She was editor and publisher of Barry Spanier's successful ocean adventure book, Dear Mom, The Bare Chronicles. She and Rosie G, her Red Cloud Kelpie, joined Barry in Maui 2005.
BALEEN
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
I’ve been thinking about how to get the oceans clean of plastic for a long time. However, on December 9th, 2018, I found myself on Cornelia in the harbor. It was a nice afternoon with a good breeze through the cabin, and I felt directed to gather some drawing tools, a scale ruler, a blank sheet and an eraser. Previously I had sent a sketc
I’ve been thinking about how to get the oceans clean of plastic for a long time. However, on December 9th, 2018, I found myself on Cornelia in the harbor. It was a nice afternoon with a good breeze through the cabin, and I felt directed to gather some drawing tools, a scale ruler, a blank sheet and an eraser. Previously I had sent a sketch to a friend and he immediately wanted a real drawing.
It just went down, like a fluid thought. Not just the drawing but a flood of ideas about where this can go. All the research into gasification, the possibility of the idea being self-sustaining until the sea is clean, filled the moment. At one point it was so emotional I was sobbing and asking, ‘Why me?”
I made a long career out of ideas, but only because they were actually realized. Ideas are free. It takes calories to make them reality. I now more than ever believe there are so many calories waiting for us in the ocean, we will be stunned. All that remains is to find the skills in the community (ship design, gasification engineering, plastic-to-oil technology, raw guts) and STSTS will abound.
It’s now just a matter of time.
Barry
Commercial Sail Associates (CSA) was formed to encourage shipment of product by sailing vessels, saving on fossil fuels.
"Sailing ships are powered by an energy source free of direct cost, political control, and pollution, and available in unlimited supply. Escalating oil prices will continue, and costly “efficiency” improvements on existing cargo delivery systems will never result in stabilized costs for us, the users of the service, as long as ships burn oil." Barry Spanier
SAIL BOATS
BARRY & SAMANTHA SPANIER
SAIL BOATS
SV Cornelia is a 1974 Westsail 42. Bought in 2009 and named after Barry's 102 year old mother, Cornelia Spanier, Barry has completed 4 haulouts, rig replacement, installed a new bowsprit and stern pulpit, engine overhaul, complete interior renovations and electrical rewiring, deck resurfacing, rail replacement, new dodger and awning;
SV Cornelia is a 1974 Westsail 42. Bought in 2009 and named after Barry's 102 year old mother, Cornelia Spanier, Barry has completed 4 haulouts, rig replacement, installed a new bowsprit and stern pulpit, engine overhaul, complete interior renovations and electrical rewiring, deck resurfacing, rail replacement, new dodger and awning; new mainsail tracks and mainsail cover. We sold her in 2020 to make way for Rosie G.
SV Rosie G is a Red Dog Yachts scowbow junk rig, built at Berkeley Marine Center. It launched 28 February 2022. .
Unique in its design, the sail is very light Hydranet material with 100% carbon battens and head spar and aluminum boom.
The scow bow provides a soft ride, dry decks, long straight waterlines, massive volume and high stability. Have a look at www.reddogyachts.com for pictures and more information.