BAGHEERA’s Lineage
To the Editor of Woodenboat:
With one small exception, I thoroughly enjoyed Todd Schwede’s article “Saving BAGHEERA” (WB No. 308) describing the extensive rebuild of the 72' Alden schooner in 1985–86. The boat was in my family from 1960 to 1975, and during that time I also spent a couple of years trying to save BAGHEERA, albeit as a youngster learning on the job rather than as a professional of Mr. Schwede’s caliber. In my mature years, I used to sail past her on Casco Bay and wonder at how many people, including myself, have put so much of themselves into keeping that boat alive. She is truly something special.
My one exception to the enjoyment of the article, which is not a criticism, is that my family’s ownership is omitted in her pedigree, which includes the following: “She…was owned by the Weir [sic] family from 1948 through 1973.” This is not accurate.
Dale Weirs bought the boat in 1948, but sold her in 1956 to R.S. Brown. Mr. Brown, in turn, sold her to my father, Carter Bacon, in 1960. My father turned the boat over to me in 1972, allowing me to spend two-and-a-half years working on her as I sailed her from the Great Lakes to the Galapagos Islands and back to Florida with numerous friends and family members as crew. In 1975, after our trip, my father sold the boat.