Ron Bowen built J.D. Crow in the spirit of British Columbia’s long tradition of beautiful and seaworthy homebuilt sailboats, with Allen Farrell as premier guru. Ron was a fisherman, logger, and do-it-all based out of Victoria with a dream of building a plank-on-frame Ingrid (he’d previously built a fiberglass Eric Jr.). He was also a bluegrass banjo player and fan of J.D. Crowe.
Ron moved to Cortes Island in 1980, drawn to its blend of community, seclusion, and materials. He built a boat shed which has since housed several more builds and is now a home! With a bevy of “sport-logged” old-growth timber from years fishing the waters of BC and Haida Gwaii, he set to building his dream boat.
With consultation from legends like Tad Roberts and Dale Nordland, Ron created a completely unique Ingrid. Tad designed an extra-large cutter rig to satisfy Ron’s need for (relative) speed (Ron helped found the Shark Spit Full Moon Regatta). The split-cabin design was shaped by the natural bend in 14-foot yellow cedar carlins, and the distinctive pilothouse was made by hand, eye, and batten – no drawings.
Launched in 1986, the Crow was the family boat – Ron now had a wife and two daughters – for 34 years. Not ones to underdo it, Ron & family’s first cruise was to Alaska – leaving with the to-be-installed head on deck and finishing the electrical wiring in Ketchikan!
Fast forward to 2020, a gnarly year for us all. As I found my footing amidst a tumultuous world, I started looking to achieve MY dream: living and breathing clearly aboard a boat and feeding my addiction to being on the water.
I figured it would take several years to find the right “forever” boat – but then the Crow flew into my life. I’d been dreaming of a tiller-steered pilothouse cutter, ideally double-ended and made out of wood. A salty mariner friend knew my predilections and was a Cortesian while the Crow was being built. He’d heard she was for sale and stopped by Ron’s (in his 1947 salmon troller TOMTE) to check her out the following week. Neither of us could contain our excitement as we realized I was for this boat, and this boat was for me.
In October 2020, battling a pandemic-closed border and impending storm season, I imported the Crow to Washington State to live on, learn from, and explore with.
The summer of 2022, my mom, brother, and I spent 8 weeks exploring BC on what we call “The Reverse Curve of Time” – because this time the kids took mom north! The Crow showed off her many talents – cruising in comfort, ripping across the Strait of Georgia at 8 knots, and bringing together a community of diverse, wild, loving sailors. We spent several weeks with Ron and his family, all basking in shared dreams and continued love for this incredible boat.