Dreams to Destinations

From the model he built in 1995, the 48-foot catamaran is on the ocean……..

Starting with a knack for problem-solving, a degree in electrical engineering, the tools of a slide rule and later autocad and high-powered welder, Russ designed and built 5 houses, a 10×20 ft tent for hunting camp, and Rhumbline.  Like his fix-it father, Russ repaired, re-wired, and re-constructed anything from televisions to his 1960s X-10 Jaguar.   But Rhumbline was THE dream , built totally with his own hands from the 2-foot model to the 48-foot catamaran herself. 

The dream took shape in the mid-1990s,  when Russ engaged Robert Harris,  marine architect from Vancouver, BC.   The tons of aluminum sheet were lifted by a center pulley in his ‘warehouse/barn’ and welded and shaped over hours, days, weeks and months into massive hulls. An article in Colorado Country Life August 2001, featured many of the challenges Russ was confronting. There were annual summer ‘boat parties’ with Ft. Collins Colorado friends and family to mark the progress, but Russ maintained his focus, proudly guiding us through each phase and equipment purchase. Finally, in fall 2003, he moved the 48-foot-all-aluminum catamaran in 3 very large pieces from its ‘hailing port’, on three flatbed trucks, to Omaha Nebraska to be closer to a major waterway – the Missouri River.     

From the first sketches

In the nav station

Planning the journey on waterways to Gulf of Florida

The model to reality

In Omaha

Ready to launch onto the Missouri River

Arrival in Fort Lauderdale

Buffet – either of the boys, Jimmy or Warren, were Russ’ idols.  He was always a man of contrast.  He loved the question, “So what’s up?  What are you doing now? ”  He would smile, “I call myself Noah.  I’m building a catamaran in Omaha.”  There was usually a  long silence, then,  “What??”

During his last years, Rhumbline remained Russ’ main focus.  In 2003, Russ moved the 48-foot all-aluminum catamaran in 3 very large pieces from Ft. Collins, Colorado, in 2003 to Omaha. During the next 6 years, he continued to pull nearly 4 miles of marine-coded wiring, install two 48 HP Yanmar diesel engines and instrument panels, finish the interior, and complete the cherry cabinetry. The stove, the freezer, refrigerator, air conditioner, desalinization, and galley table and seating – still in their boxes – awaited the day for the launch, then sailing the river channels to the Gulf for a ‘sail fitting’ in Florida, and then off to the Caribbean.  The long-term objective: planting his Dad’s ashes in an old church garden we once visited together near Kilkenny, Ireland.