Issue 83: March/April 2012
Brian Cleverly was born in Sydney, Australia, on October 17, 1936, and died on November 6, 2011, two days after his 75th birthday.
Brian is known to many of our longtime subscribers as the author of several articles starting early in our history and the author of many letters to the editor. His articles were on subjects as diverse as blisters on the bottom of a boat he was repairing professionally in 1999, a creative ventilation system in 2006, and non-skid in 2007.
In addition to his technical letters to the editor, he sent cool photos of himself crossing the Equator or the Arctic Circle while holding a copy of Good Old Boat.
Eventually, he stopped repairing other people’s boats and retired to work exclusively on restoring Magrathea, his Fuji 32, for a solo voyage. He was planning to report on and help pick up the litter accumulating in the Pacific Ocean.
An Australian, Brian had an interest in bringing products from Down Under to this country. He served as a U.S. representative for the Reef-Rite furler, now being sold by Alfred Poor (apoor@verizon.net). In this role, Brian was one of our earliest and most dedicated advertisers.
Most important, however, was Brian’s role as friend of this magazine from the get-go. During our first year of publication, he contacted us with a question about how much it would cost to buy a 10-year subscription. We couldn’t contemplate such a thing and dismissed it as a joke. He wasn’t joking. Since then, many have subscribed at the 10-year rate that Brian Cleverly established for them (and prodded us into creating).
Brian worked on his Fuji for five years. Jerry and I visited Brian and his wife, Rose, in Sacramento two years ago and spent most of a day touring his boat and hearing about the many refit projects. He certainly thought outside the box. He launched Magrathea last September and sent a gleeful letter with photos.
I had planned to do an article on Brian’s restoration of Magrathea in April when we would be in California for the Strictly Sail Pacific sailboat show in Oakland.
Once the boat was in the water and the mast was stepped, Brian was working on the rigging. I heard from Rose that he fell from the mast top and was airlifted to a hospital but doctors were optimistic. A week later, I heard from Randy Miller, a friend of his whose comments are below, that Brian had succumbed to his injuries.
The injustice of this event angers us; the incalculable waste breaks our hearts. We learned that he was on just one halyard (there being only one available at the time) with no safety. A compression fitting on the shackle apparently let go. Jerry tells me he has done likewise. Others admit they have done the same. Not often. Not willingly. Sometimes events conspire to make a sailor take this calculated risk. Perhaps you have taken “just a short trip” up the mast without a safety line too.
Brian Cleverly’s life meant many things to many people. He touched many people in many ways. He made the world (particularly the universe occupied by sailors) a better place. Perhaps one of his legacies will be to offer this one final warning to fellow sailors to be careful in everything you do and don’t go up the mast on just one halyard. We don’t want to lose any more readers and very good friends to calculated risks.
A friend and mentor — Randy Miller
Following his death, I moved Brian’s boat to a marina closer to San Francisco Bay. As I motored along, I felt Brian’s spirit in every turn of the wheel and adjustment to the throttle. I gazed forward at the beautifully refinished bowsprit and imagined him standing there beaming with the pride of having turned a dilapidated abandoned boat into a gem. People on boats I passed did a double take at his wonderfully restored sailboat.
I met Brian eight years ago in a small Sacramento boatyard that rented space to boaters who work on their own boats. I was working on a 1969 Bristol 24; Brian’s shop was just across the way. He was constantly at work on a variety of boats as a business.
As I got to know him, I was amazed at Brian’s knowledge of boats. I’m not talking about someone who knows how to do some refinishing or hull painting, I’m talking about a true nautical engineer. I tapped his knowledge every time I could and always walked away amazed by how one person could know so much and have the hands-on experience to match. He was unhappy with the Fuji’s cockpit drainage system, for example, so he covered a PVC pipe with cellophane and fiberglassed over it, making fiberglass tubing for additional drains.
His quality level was finer than any marine repair facility I have ever seen. I will miss talking with Brian about sailboats. I truly appreciate the unmatched knowledge I received from knowing him.
Brian, here’s to you: a fine sturdy sailor who added a wealth of knowledge and experience to the sailing community. I’ll take a moment to think about you every time I raise the sails so your spirit will live on.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
