August 4, 2025
By Carol Hasse
I found my beloved Nordic Folkboat for sale in Pt. Hudson in 1979. With a loan co-signed by my dad, she became mine. After her first refit by Port Townsend’s finest shipwrights—and much celebration—I named her Lorraine after my mom.
Lorraine and I grew old together sailing the Salish Sea with friends and family. My son, Grayson, “enjoyed” many summer cruises from the age of one through his twenties. We sailed from Princess Louisa to South Sound. It is a kind son who will cruise with his mom on her 25’ wooden boat with a varnished bucket for a head, a wood stove for heat, and a cabin with barely sitting headroom.
In 2023, Grayson helped me sail Lorraine to what I thought would be her last Victoria Classic Boat Festival. I intended to put Lorraine up for sale at Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival the following week. While I ferried back across the Strait, Grayson’s girlfriend Natalie joined him in Victoria to sail home through the San Juan Islands to Port Townsend and the festival. Along the way, they fell in love with cruising Lorraine and with each other, and, hurray, are now Lorraine’s stewards!
August 2024, Grayson and Natalie cruised Lorraine to the San Juan and Gulf Islands and Victoria’s and Port Townsend’s festivals. This year, they completed a seven week haul-out, including rebuilding the rudder with guidance from the Shipwrights Co-Op. Lorraine is glowing in her Point Hudson slip, and my heart is glowing, too.
