The Wooden Boat in the Woods

Read about the Wooden Boat in the Woods and Other News

Transcript of the sign is below: Fritz and Kent. Sailors meet at the Boat in the Woods.

When our neighbors Charlie and Heather read Kent’s book, they came over excited to talk about it and brought with them another book written by an author with an Albuquerque connection —  Fritz Damler’s Ten Years Behind the Mast.  Furthermore, the very boat that the author had sailed and lived on for ten years, was now on permanent display at the Tinkertown Museum in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque —  a  most unlikely location for a sailboat.

“Let’s go see it, “ I said.  “Is the author there? Can we meet him?”  I tracked down Mr. Damler, now dividing his time between rural Wisconsin, where he builds guitars and writes novels, and a home in the Bahamas, but he said he’d be visiting Albuquerque during the October Balloon Fiesta.

That is how Kent and I spent an enjoyable afternoon by the boat with Fritz. On his next visit in the spring, we hope to arrange a joint book talk and signing.

Tinkertown, a one-of-a-kind museum that has its own amazing story, will soon be closing for the winter. Here is a video of Fritz and his wife Mari Anderson, discussing a book they wrote together, Plunge: Midlife with Snorkel, which Kent is currently enjoying.  Like We Ran Away to Sea, it is written in two voices. 

Here is a transcription of the hand-painted sign next to the boat (shown in the picture above):

In 1981 Fritz Damler heard the call of “universal freedom. ”He quit his job & traded his house for the boat you see here…The winds became his “utilities.” The seas became his “supermarket.” Sailing at approximately 4 miles per hour, he lived on this boat for ten years.  Others joined him at times & sometimes he sailed alone.

He came to know the variety of people on the earth & to truly know himself. “Theodora R” built in England in 1936 has now become an exhibit here at the Tinkertown Museum. This display is dedicated to Mr. Damler’s quest & to yours.

 “Life is short. Follow your heart.”