History

Our Westsail 32 is hull number #565 and was first launched in April 1976. It was bought by Tom Barrett, a Lt. Col. in the United States Air Force assigned to the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. The boat was kept at Newport Beach, CA and sailed by Tom and his family as well as being used as a demonstration boat for the Westsail line. The original name was ‘Wants-N-Tides’ to match the name of a poem published by Tom. Upon retirement in 1980, Tom moved to the Kwajalein Republic of Marshall Islands and brought the boat with him. Tom has graciously provided some photos of the original launch and time spent sailing in Newport and the Kwajalein Atoll.

Launch of Wants-N-Tides

Launch Day April 1976

img219

Brand new teak!

Sailing Newport Beach, CA - July 1976

Sailing in Newport Beach, CA – July 1976

img080

Sailing Newport Beach, CA – July 1976

img086

Sailing Newport Beach, CA – July 1976

In the Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Atoll) 1983.

In the Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Atoll) 1983.

Tom and Lynn's kids

Tom and Lynn’s kids having fun!

In the Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Atoll) 1983.

In the Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Atoll) 1983.

 

In the late 80’s the boat was sold to Steve and Bettye Hill, who completely re-fitted the boat. After four years the boat was reborn in 1993 as ‘Makroro’ (Kwajaleinese for ‘fair winds’), and in 1996 the Hills set out for Australia. Shortly after arriving down under, the boat was sold and the Hills moved back to the States to spend time with their family.

More to come…

4 thoughts on “History”

  2. Tom and Lynn Barrett

    A few more interesting facts.

    Sailing Locations were 1976 – 1978 Newport Beach CA, 1978 – 1980 Gig Harbor Washington State, 1980 – 1989 Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.

    I replaced the main hatch and forepeak hatch while in the Marshall Islands. Both original hatches were saved and are currently stored in our garage. My intention was (is) to make them into coffee tables for each of our children.

    Reply
  3. Mike Bray

    My wife and I knew Tom and Lynn Barrett on Kwajalein Atoll many years ago. I remember the boat. In fact Tom was my boss and my wife worked as his secretary when he was the Aviation Manager for DynCorp. We have great memories from that time. One was that I had told Tom that my wife was Hispanic and he arranged to have the only Mexican food in our fridge waiting for us to arrive to the island – Mexican TV dinners. My wife loved the fact that he would go to the trouble of welcoming us as newlyweds to the island. We remained on the island from 1987 to 1995 before leaving for AUTEC in the Bahamas. Later in life we started our own company “CoSTAR Services Inc” and developed it into a successful government services business. We now find ourselves planning our final home design on 5.7 acres outside Boerne Texas. We have 10 grand kids and intend to spend the next 20 years enjoying watching them all grow up and get started in life. Kwaj and people like the Barrett’s had a large impact on our life, we learned, grew as a married couple and built on our Kwaj experiences back in the “real world”. Our very best to you and the famous boat that Tom and Lynn were so fond of. Safe Passeges.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*