I recently had the pleasure of meeting a young couple based in Newport Beach California, Abby & Chad. In a soon-to-be-released video series by Skipper DK, they recount their story of almost settling on an Amel Sailboat when an opportunity presented itself in the form of a boat called "Whistlin Rigging", a 1979 Union Polaris based in Southern California once owned by the female adventurer Donna Matson. Her story in brief can be seen here but needless to say Donna was a surfer, a diver, a sailor and an all round Indiana Jones in a time when it was probably frowned upon to be such a rebel.
Anyway, Chad and Abby hadn't heard much about her but have found so much more since sort of inheriting her prized 1979 Union Polaris sailboat that, since her passing had been left unloved for a few years. The estate of Donna Matson has helped this adventure couple along the way but all the hard work and a lot of expense has been shouldered by Chad and Abby's lifeneverlands. They are on track to get Whistlin' Rigging out of the marina again real soon and will set sail on a wanderlust adventure sometime next year.
They both balance boat restoration with full-time jobs, in fact Chad has even built up a thriving marine electronics business and with their Australian Terrier called Kai (The Aussie connection again!) probably don't have huge amounts of spare time. If you have never restored or fixed a boat, this deserves the utmost respect. So we sent them a message on Instagram (As you know, all the kids are doing it these days!), to see if they had any free time for a chat (See the above comment about their work/life/work balance!) and they were kind enough to spend an afternoon showing us around Newport Beach and the pride of their fleet, Whistlin' Rigging.
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