August 14, 2016. This boat was formerly Jim and Alma Benson's Thistle in Monteque, California. On a followup with Jim we received the following email

I no longer have Thistle. She was given to a friend of my son's, Blain, who lives in Redding, CA. Blain restored her and the last I heard she was at Whiskey Town Lake west of Redding.

 I had her on a trailer and parked in the lee of a barn on my son's place here in the Shasta Valley. In February of 2015 a storm blew the roof off of the barn and it fell on top of Thistle. Blain had the interest and skill to restore her so I gave her to him. We were offered to sail her on the lake if we wished. I have never taken him up on the offer.

Her new name is Calm Horizons'". I do not have an address or contact number for Blain. I will try to remember to get it from James (son) if you need it.

Jim

We are standing by for more info about Calm Horizons.

Back in June your webmaster saw a Craigslist ad for a Dolphin 24 named Calm Horizons in Redding, California but the ad had been pulled down.

Stay Tuned

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This is the history we had on #275 up until this point

March 15, 2010. Dolphin Field Investigator, "JC", has reported a heretofore unknown Pacific Dolphin near Yreka, CA. Reportedly, the boat has been out of the water for 15 years and is on a trailer at 'Benson's' place. He keeps up the varnish and maintenance. We are working on getting more information.

Under our rules this boat qualifies as a 'found' Dolphin, our 153rd, and pending finding out her real name, will be known as "Yreka"

Webmaster Note: While "Yreka' must forever be part of this website's Thistle history we can report that Thistle has never been in Yreka. See below.

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Dec 1, 2010 - "Benson" has checked in. We received the following email from Jim Benson, the first, and only owner of Thistle, Pacific Dolphin # 275. (minor edits)

I have just recently discovered the Dolphin web site. 

Alma, my wife, & I, own a Pacific Dolphin. Her hull number is 275 - the one listed as being Benson's" dolphin in Yreka, CA under Dolphins Found

We ordered the boat on January 9, 1977 from Edward C. Landwehr, Pacific Dolphin salesman, in Oakland, CA. We had seen a Dolphin at the Berkeley Marina. We took delivery of the boat on April 7, 1977 at Oceanside, CA. Romain M. & Kathy Corbin owned Pacific Dolphin at the time and had recently moved their facilities from Anaheim to Oceanside.

We named our boat Thistle. We have always kept her at our home in Montague, CA on her trailer  - except for a couple of summers when we kept her at Howard Prairie Lake east of Ashland, OR.

 Enjoyed the website. Thank you.

 Jim Benson

We hope to get some pictures and more info on Thistle. Stay tuned.

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December 12, 2010. Jim sent in a copy of the brochure ad price list (July 1, 1976) he got when he bought Thistle, and corrected her home port - Montague, CA. We are working on how Yreka got into the database.

The price list and brochure are the same as the ones we have listed in out History Section under Pacific Dolphin. Thistle's pictures are in the closet but coming soon.

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December 14, 2010. Jim has provided the following email (edited) which addresses the 'Yreka" connection to his boat. Driven by the long standing need to learn how to correct/rename the database links your webmaster proudly announces YREKA!!! the technical solution, like gold, has been found. The database link for Thistle is now her hull #, 275.

Ron,

 Thistle is not now and never has been in Yreka . Talking with Alma, I do not remember ever even pulling her through Yreka. If we go north to sail, we get on I-5 on the northeast corner of Yreka; if we go south we go to Grenada to get on the freeway missing Yreka altogether.

 Unfortunately we have not been sailing in quite a long time (all sorts of reasons why). We used to sail often at Howard Prairie Lake east of Ashland , OR and Whiskey Town Lake west of Redding, CA. Our favorite is to sail on San Francisco Bay using the Berkeley Marina as a "home base".

We have also enjoyed extended sails in and about the San Juan Islands.

 Best wishes.

 JIm

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