New to sailing, a young couple is making the adventure happen one step at a time.
Issue 146: Sept/Oct 2022
In November 2020, Nathan and Kirra Davison-Lamb were aboard their newly acquired Cape Dory 31, La Senda, moored off Southern California’s Santa Catalina Island. With the hills of Avalon behind them, Kirra in a white dress and Nathan in dress blue jeans and a white collared shirt, the young couple stood on the foredeck, exchanged vows, and eloped.
“Our families totally thought we were crazy,” Nathan says. “But the truth is we’re just happy to be together and get to travel on the ocean.”
Kirra at the helm of La Senda, a 1983 Cape Dory 31.
The crazy thing wasn’t eloping, it was sailing. As recently as 2018, Kirra and Nathan were boatless with zero sailing experience and no concept of a life of living on the water. Three years and three boats later, the Aussie- Californians have learned to sail, tackled a gnarly list of DIY boat projects, and twice sailed the West Coast between Ventura and San Diego.
The Davison-Lamb’s story is a testament to the integrity of a good old boat and a journey that shows the doors that can open, the skills we learn, and the meaning we make when we embark on new adventures.
Nathan grew up around Ventura, California. By age 9, he was exploring the Pacific Ocean with Junior Lifeguards and surfing. Kirra, who’s named for a famed Gold Coast surf spot, spent time in South Lake Tahoe and Australia with a dad who believed that even school days could be surf days.
In November 2018, Nathan and Kirra, then 22 and 21, were in Central California with two surfboards, an ’88 Volkswagen, and a loose plan to explore van life—a lifestyle of living in a home on wheels—traveling the coast, and surfing.
“We tried it out for two nights and hated it,” Nathan says. “It felt like all we were doing was looking for parking spots.”
That week, they spotted a Craigslist ad for a 1968 Schock Santana 27.
“We didn’t know anything about sailboats, but the whole thing looked intriguing,” Nathan says. “We went to the marina, crawled around inside the boat, and thought, yeah, we could probably live in here.”
Nathan chills in the hammock, on the water at last.
They snapped up the Santana for $5K, moved aboard in Oxnard’s Channel Islands Harbor, and soon were tinkering with the boat—but not really sailing.
“The Santana was clean and well maintained, but it wasn’t glamorous,” Kirra says. “On nights with Santa Ana winds, we slept in the Volkswagen, learned how to sacrifice and make the best of things.”
After six months of using the boat as a crash pad, they met Ted Wright, a New Zealander who was staff commodore at Anacapa Yacht Club. Ted took Kirra and Nathan under his wing, put them on a Tartan 34, and gave them a crash course in sailing.
“Day one, he tossed a spinnaker on the dock and told us to stuff the bag,” Nathan says. “He put Kirra on the helm and told her to back up the boat.”
“I hadn’t even backed up our Santana,” Kirra adds, laughing. Luckily, she says, they were in a wide basin. Ted was a hands-off teacher who believed that hands-on was the best way to learn how to sail and handle boats.
“He basically stood in the corner and had us do everything,” Nathan says, “even sailing downwind, doing jibe after jibe until we got it right.”
Nathan and Kirra soon found the confidence to sail beyond the harbor. That year, they took the Santana 20 miles offshore to Santa Cruz Island and Anacapa Island. They spent rolly nights on the hook in the islands’ wild and rugged coves, snorkeling and surfing from the boat, and beginning to dream of living the cruising life.
The stars aligned in Avalon Cove at Santa Catalina Island when Nathan and
Kirra decided to elope on board La Senda.
Going Bigger
This new dream, though, was going to require something more substantial than the 27-foot Santana. In February 2020, Nathan and Kirra sold the Santana, moved in with family, and began doing their homework to find a bigger boat that could take them farther.
“We were researching design, watching a lot of Project Atticus, and reading Nigel Calder’s Marine Diesel Engines,” Kirra says. “It felt like a glimmer of hope that we might someday have a boat capable of cruising.”
After two months searching, they scooped up a 1977 Cal 34-III in Morro Bay. But the honeymoon was short.
“Our first night aboard, we woke up to dry throats and a rotten smell,” Kirra says. “Was it bilge cleaner? Motor oil? Cat litter?” In the morning, they pumped 30 gallons of inky black water from the bilge. Over the next three months, they rolled up their sleeves and breathed life back into the Cal.
But there was a snag. The boat needed new chainplates, which required removing the mast, and the yard they were in had a long waiting list for any work.
“Do we wait months?” Nathan says. “Do we motor 150 miles south and haul out in Ventura? Do we trust this old boat with rotten chainplates to get us there?” Sail it or sell it? They went back and forth before the decision became clear. “We were super bummed,” Nathan says, “but, it wasn’t meant to be.”
Or was it? One week after selling the Cal 34 they found a fresh listing for a Cape Dory 31 in San Diego.
“We hadn’t been on a Cape Dory before, but we were digging the idea of a full keel and a good comfort ratio,” Kirra says. “Plus, the boat was an Alberg design.”
Kirra and Nathan got a crash course in good old boat ownership and maintenance when they tackled the list of projects on La Senda, the bottom being one of the top to-do items.
Hopeful, they hopped in the car and shlepped three hours south to San Diego. On sea trial, the Cape Dory punched through the waves, and its self-tacking jib made upwind work a breeze.
“We were head over heels,” Kirra says. “We started cleaning the boat before we even had our offer accepted.”
La Senda (Spanish: the path) is a 1983 Cape Dory 31. Designed by Carl Alberg, only 89 were built. With an aft head to port and a U-shaped galley to starboard, the 31 has a practical cruising interior.
“The boat wasn’t huge, but the lines were pretty, and the teak was amazing,” Kirra says. “That first night aboard, we couldn’t believe the boat was ours.”
The plan was to quickly get La Senda into shape, then sail north from San Diego back home to Ventura. But when the San Diego marina where they were staying required a survey to obtain a slip, the surveyor’s report came back with a long list of issues, including three seized seacocks, 10 layers of bottom paint that should come off, and a variety of other necessary upgrades.
“The to-do list was long, and we didn’t want to get overwhelmed,” Kirra says. “So, we told the surveyor to point out the ‘do-now’ stuff and hold on the rest.”
Nathan removed the through hulls and installed new Groco components with 5200. Kirra disassembled and serviced the Spartan seacocks. Then, they spent two days sanding, fairing, priming, and rolling on Interlux antifouling paint.
After splashing, they lived aboard while continuing to tackle projects. They replaced or rebedded deck hardware, replaced the running rigging, and removed a seized wind vane and a rotted hard dodger. They added new exhaust hose, a water pump, and a Rocna 33 anchor.
Cape Dorys are infamous for their chainplate assemblies— essentially bronze pad-eyes bolted through the deck with mild steel backing plates.
“Fortunately, La Senda’s previous owner had replaced the chainplates and added access panels that run from the galley to the V-berth,” Nathan says. “Every chainplate and stanchion bolt was visible and easy to inspect. Everything was solid.”
After six months of boat work, La Senda was ready to go home. In January 2021, Kirra and Nathan cast off the lines and set out on a weeklong, 125-nautical-mile upwind journey from San Diego to Ventura. Conditions were good and spirits were high.
The foredeck in mid-repair, left, and after completion, right, coated with new KiwiGrip non-skid.
“The trip gave us a small taste of cruising life,” Kirra says. “Our favorite moments were mornings at first light, making our way to the ocean, and feeling the sun warm the Earth. In those small moments the world seemed so quiet and utterly peaceful. But damn, was it chilly!”
Halfway home they stopped at Santa Catalina Island where, amid pandemic closures, Avalon Cove was nearly empty.
“We had a great weather window. For three days the stars aligned in Avalon,” Nathan says. “When we eloped on the deck of La Senda, a neighbor floated past and snapped our photo. It was a really beautiful moment.”
After the trip, Nathan and Kirra found a slip for La Senda in Ventura Harbor where they could live and continue to work on the boat. Over the next eight months, they installed a new intermediate stay, Dyneema lifelines, waterlock muffler, stuffing box, and cutlass bearing. They repaired soft spots and stress cracks on deck, rolling on new grey KiwiGrip.
“Sometimes it’s hard to see past the obstacles you encounter with boat work,” Kirra says. “The decks took two months, but we set achievable goals and celebrated small victories along the way, even when they weren’t in the master plan.”
“And, we stayed motivated and positive by getting out on the water as often as we could to enjoy the boat,” Nathan says. One of best parts of the process was being with neighbors.
“The cruising community was incredible,” Nathan says. “For instance, when we pulled our prop shaft and removed the transmission coupling, our buddy Fred — a solo sailor on a Baba 30 — was there to answer questions, share knowledge, and lend tools. He even gave us his old sails. It was insanely generous.”
Ghosting along under the fog offshore, Kirra and Nathan get their sea legs on their new boat.
The Adventure Continues
In early October 2021, La Senda was in sailing condition and pulling at her dock lines. Waving goodbye to Ventura, Nathan and Kirra began a slow trip south to San Diego.
“At departure, we definitely felt some jitters,” Kirra says. “But no boat is perfect, right? The best boat is the boat you’ve got.”
They spent three weeks cruising, running downwind, and enjoying extended stops on Santa Cruz Island, a week of snorkeling on Catalina Island, and scoring some waves in Oceanside. On the journey’s last leg, a 35-mile sail from Oceanside to San Diego, they faced a test when darkness and fog enveloped them. But with Nathan at the helm and Kirra navigating, they worked together and safely transited the inlets, rock piles, and bridges of Mission Bay—their new home for the winter season.
If fixing up an old boat and cruising was the goal, Kirra and Nathan certainly made it. But, for them, the goal was never really the point.
“For us, this journey has been about being taught perseverance and patience,” Nathan says. “We dove in headfirst on this adventure. Some moments have been amazing, others we’ve figured out the hard way. But we’ve pushed through, enjoyed it, and made it happen.”
Kirra agrees. “With boats, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you should be doing or accomplishing more. But then, you miss what’s happening right now,” she says. “So we’re enjoying what’s in front of us and making the best of things. Getting a boat shipshape is definitely hard work, but when you get to do it with your best friend and you both become badass sailors, engineers, and mechanics, well, that’s pretty cool.”
David Blake Fischer sails Delilah, a 1972 Cape Dory 25, out of Pasadena, California. His writing has appeared in McSweeney’s, the MOTH, and Cruising World. Follow his sailing adventures on Instagram @sailingdelilah.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
