Rozinante, the horse, was Don Quixote’s mule, whom he imagined a steed. Rozinante, the canoe yawl, was Francis Herreschoff’s idealized vision of the perfect, spartant, and beautiful cruiser, as described in his book, “The Compleat Cruiser” in the 1956. Like Quixote, the sailorman notes that his life and adventures aboard are about 7/8′s imagination.
View more for a short pictorial of the refit of our Herreschoff Rozinante canoe yawl, now owned by a friend.
- The Rozinante Homeport
- Pictures of LFH’s Designs #96 and #98.
- Cheoy Lee built some glass Rozinantes.
By the way, the little first mate to port is Quixote’s squire Sancho Pancha.
Found Money
A friend of mine who brokers boats found a trailer he wanted in Houston. But, it had a boat on it he didn’t want. The trailer, sure – it was nice – but all I saw was that little double-ender, recalling an old article in Woodenboat about a yacht called Red Head.
That’s all it took; next thing I knew she was here in Tulsa. The owner had been an old fella in Fort Worth who owned not only this old Rozinante, but also a 37′ Herreschoff Meadowlark auxiliary schooner, which I was lucky enough to sail one day.
Frozen Snot?
Poor LFH; our boat is a glass hull, supposedly built by Kenner in Louisiana in 1970 and sold as a you-finish kit. The hull is in perfect, blister-free condition, with the deck a full one-inch teak over plywood – no rot we could find. The rig is aluminum with old-fashioned bronze fittings, with a (currently frozen) furling boom and roller-furling jib.
Further to LFH’s dismay, the sides has a pretty nice (but scratched) black Awlgrip paint job, and new black sunbrella covers all around. Everything was pretty cruddy-looking, but it was all there.
The interior and equipment were bare minimum, just running lights and bilge pump, a v-birth and a weird 5′ transverse birth underneath the companionway. LFH wouldn’t have even been able to enjoy his lentil stew. Our plan was to refit to a shiny, classy lake cruiser, so off we go.