Jeannette,

Thank you for the sail and your time last week! It was definitely worthwhile from our perspective. I personally was surprised at Voyager’s speed in the given conditions.

As promised, here is the story as I have been told over the years about Voyager and Hurricane Carol. I will preface it with the caveat that over time stories get embellished and facts get distorted by lore.

My grandfather bought Voyager in 1954. At the time, my father was 21 and he had two older sisters that were married. He had a brother 15 years younger (my Uncle Bill whom I believe you know) and a sister a couple years younger than Bill. It was my father and Uncle who sailed Toddywax after my grandfather, William Ashton, passed away in 1974. It is my belief that he likely purchased Voyager to raise his two younger children on. Sailing had always been a part of my grandfather’s interests and my father’s upbringing but WWII likely prevented any large commitments to boats during my father’s early childhood. My father was 21 at the time, at the University of Pennsylvania and going into the Army after graduation.

I have been told that my grandfather took delivery of Voyager in Portland, Maine. My father and grandfather brought the boat to Jamestown about a month before Hurricane Carol. I am not sure how much he used the boat but in those days he lived in Jamestown in the summer so he likely sailed her a bit. As a point of history, Hurricane Carol was an almost un-forecasted storm and it was not until about two days before the storm that some meteorologists thought there might be a significant weather event. On the day of the storm, my grandfather and father went out to Voyager to slack off the halyards and sheets. In those days, the running rigging was made from cotton and you had to slack the rigging when it got wet and began to shrink. While they were on the boat, the dinghy was swamped and sank. At that time they decided to ride out the storm on Voyager at the mooring. At some time during the storm, she broke free from her mooring. The engine was started and they attempted to ride out the storm in Narragansett Bay between Newport and Jamestown. In those days, the Navy base was much larger and there was a number of ships at anchor. The storm had come up so suddenly that the Navy had not been able to put to sea so it was quite congested. At the time, Voyager had a gasoline engine in her aft cabin. The portholes were open and there was concern that the engine room would flood. The decision was made that my father would go into the engine room through the main deck hatch and close the portholes. My father attempted to time the waves but when he opened the hatch a wave broke over the side and flooded the engine room causing the engine to shut down. At that time, an attempt was made to try to ride out the storm under sail and the staysail was raised. That worked for a while until the staysail blew out. At that time, Jamestown was the lee shore and she laid up on her starboard side along Walcott Ave. My father and grandfather, as I have been told, “simply stepped off the side of the boat” and walked onto Walcott Ave. There was a seniors home across the street and “a little old lady stepped out on the porch holding a bottle of brandy” so my father and grandfather spent the remainder of the storm drinking brandy and scotch with her. I do not know how much time transpired between when she broke free and finally ran up on shore.

During this time, my grandmother was in the house with her younger children and one of her older daughters who was visiting. She was none too happy when she saw, from her perspective, Voyager motoring away from her mooring. She was so convinced that her husband and oldest son were not coming back that she was already planning the funeral services. When Voyager finally went ashore the phone lines were still working on the island and my grandfather called to say that they were OK. I have been told that the conversation was rather one sided with my grandmother calling him all kinds of unmentionable names. I have always wondered how they were received once they got home well lubricated from riding out the storm in the seniors home…….

My grandmother passed away in 1992 and I do not ever recall her setting foot on any of the boats that were in the family after my grandfather died. In fact, I am not sure if there are even any pictures of her in old photo albums on any of the boats. She did not particularly like sailing but tolerated it to spend time with her family. When my grandfather bought Toddywax, she had been damaged in a propane explosion. My grandfather rebuilt her and my grandmother had insisted that the galley be moved aft as she was not going to be stuck forward while everyone else was enjoying themselves in the cockpit while she was cooking.

I am not sure why my grandfather did not salvage Voyager after the storm. My best guess is that the damage was so great he decided to take the insurance proceeds and start over. I was reminded by my Uncle Bill Ashton several weeks ago that Pete and my grandfather became acquainted when Voyager sailed into either Nantucket or the Vineyard and my grandfather, father and Bill were on Toddywax. This must have been in the 60’s before my father and mother were married (they were married in 1969). Perhaps my grandfather told Pete directly why he did not salvage her after the storm that you have some knowledge about.

I can tell you that Hurricane Carol did impact my grandfather’s thinking tremendously. When he designed the mooring for Toddywax, he did not take any chances. Her mooring was 100% chain from the mushroom anchors (yes plural, it was designed and built with 6) to the boat. Picking up the mooring was always a process from picking up the pennant line, getting it around the gypsy head, pulling it up to a larger pennant line to finally pulling the chain aboard through the hawse hole and securing it around the Samson post with a shackle. There was definitely no sailing to the mooring on Toddywax! Luckily there was an electric windlass on her……..

On another note, people always ask the origin of the name “Toddywax”. The Schooner Toddywax that you know was actually the third vessel in the family by that name; the first two having been motor yachts owned by previous generations. I have always been told that “Toddywax” was the pet name my great-great grandfather had for his wife. How that became to be I have no idea. I like to think that one of the previous Toddywax’s indirectly led to the first settlement on Elliot Key in the Florida Keys. From a book titled “Pioneering on Elliot Key, 1934-1935” a fly fishing guide friend of mine found this passage. In another passage the Russ mentioned below indicated that he was the Chief Engineer on Toddywax:

Our adventures on Elliott Key really began when the Ashtons wired Russ

in March, 1934, from the yacht Toddywax: COME AT ONCE. WE ARE

GOING ON A SIX MONTHS CRUISE. LEAVE YOUR WIFE AT HOME.

I vehemently and stubbornly insisted that we would remain together or that

I would find a job. Russ agreed to agree, and so we stayed together in Florida.

This likely would have been my grandfather since his father had passed away a year earlier. How he convinced my grandmother to allow this since she had three young children at home (including my father who was born in 1933), I have no idea. Perhaps this is one reason why she did not like boats…….

Regards,

Tom