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Charles Coles' Kitty C, Marscot/O'Day #11, Chapaquoit Island, Massachusetts (updated April 28, 2012)  
   

We have been hunting for this boat for a couple of years and thanks to the persistence of DFI Seth Williams, Porthos, Pacific Dolphin #254, we found her on July 25th, 2011. This is a very interesting early Dolphin, originally purchased as a bare hull, #11, by Dick McCauley (Windsong) and built out at his home following full size paper cutouts of interior components provided by Marscot. Jim was one of two guys from Southport, CT who bought bare hulls at the same time in 1960. The other bare hull, #12, was bought by Phil Zerega, and he built Teal, later to become your webmaster's Marionette. The 3rd guy, Clark DoBois bought a bare hull with an unattached deck,house and cockpit - that boat was to become Peridot.

Windsong was reported lost in a fire in Essex, CT, but as often happens, such boats are resurrected. It seems a Mark Chramaic of Newport found her and rebuilt her. That story, still not fully developed, is covered on Windsong's page. Mark, later in life had another Dolphin hull #66, also named Windsong, and following her story is how we first found out about this boat. Sound confusing, it was/is, but we persevere...

The story will continue to unfold below.

Kitty C is a Newly Found Dolphin, our 185th. Here is Seth's July 25th, 2011 email and pictures. For the record, the earlier email trail is below. Stay tuned.

Good afternoon,

I found the Dolphin that I had written to you about a few years ago. She is currently in Padanaram Harbor, Dartmouth, MA. I am inserting a few photos of the sighting.
Regards,
Seth Williams
Owner Porthos #254

Note the rectangular portlights

Note the cutout in the transom

These are excerpts of the emails Seth and your webmaster traded in early 2010.

February 8, 2010

Hi Seth
Hope things are going well with you and Porthos. When we were last in touch you mentioned there was another older Dolphin in the same yard where you kept your dinghy. Do you have any information on her - ie., her name. What yard is this?

Ron

************************

March 11, 2010

Ron

I did not get her name, the times that I saw her she was wrapped and if I remember correctly seemed to be is fairly good condition. The yard we use is Marshall Marine on Shipyard Lane in Dartmouth, Ma. I will keep an eye out for her this season and will try to ask around the yard. I am sorry that my response was delayed.

Regards,

Seth

*************************

September 13, 2010. Your webmaster spoke with Mark Chramaic (Windsong #66). Before his current Dolphin, which he co-owned with Jim Kyle, he had another Dolphin 24, also named Windsong, that, today, we found out he bought from a 'guy' in Essex, CT!!!! That boat had an outboard in a transom well! Mark he kept her in Newport, RI. Mark is fuzzy on the dates but his wife Leslie recalls that the boat was sold to a Nancy Harley. We are working on this - stay tuned

****************************

September 13, 2010. Nancy Harley checked in with a lot of information about Windsong. Back in the 1970's she crewed for Mark and ended up buying Windsong in 1981/82. She renamed the boat Bella Donna, and when she had to move out to Colorado, reluctantly sold her in 1988 to John and Paula Buehler who renamed her Sloop John B (John's name).

July 27, 2011 - With the help of the harbormasters at Padanaram/Dartmouth, and Falmouth, Massachusetts we were able to identify the owner of Kitty C, Charles Coles, and with the help of Google we were able to track down and talk to Nicole Coles, Charles' wife. A wonderful conversation ensued - the kind that keep's a Dolphin webmaster's enthusiasm for this project going.

We are hoping to hear directly from Charles but the gist of our conversation with Nicole confirmed that Charles purchased Sloop John B some 20 years ago from the Buehler's, and restored it. He altered the transom with a cutout - visible in the picture above - so that the shaft for a 15 hp outboard in the transom well could tip up. Interestingly, Clark du Bois, who was the 3rd Southport guy, and whose boat had a fiberglass deck but no house or cockpit, had put a transom cut out in his Peridot. These 3 guys were friends and they were undertaking a formidable task. Clark tells us about it on Peridot's page. Click here to go there.

Nicole said she had a vague recollection of seeing a nameplate? on the main bulkhead indicating this was hull #11! We'll try for a picture of this.

**************************

August 21, 2011. Charlie Cole checked in by phone. He confirmed Nicole's recap of Kitty' C's story and added that he had a lot of her old paperwork and that, after review, will be in touch - hopefully with some more pictures, particularly of Kitty C's interior.

Stay tuned

 
   
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