Have you ever noticed that when you have a goal with a time line, life always throws you a few curve balls? Well, we're getting pretty accustomed to this. Take this week for instance. We had both just made the decision to cut back hours at our paying jobs, so that we could put more time into Yofy's project list. We want to go cruising! By Monday of this week, we were off to an enthusiastic start. I completed some smaller jobs and Manny was moving ahead on a big wiring project, when he twisted and sprained his ankle. Progress has ground to a halt and he has been horizontal ever since. Sometimes, you just have to let go and accept the inevitable.

Ten years ago, when we arrived in Eilat, we expected to buy a boat and move aboard within the first few months. However, the curve balls were coming fast and furious in those days and we had to adapt to life on land for the first years. Our boat search led us all over Israel, Greece and Turkey. We surfed the net endlessly and in the end found Yofy right here in Eilat. As my mother used to say, when you can't find what you are looking for in all the logical places, maybe you should try the illogical ones. One thing is for sure, buying Yofy was the quickest decision I've ever made.

Yofy is a Fortune 30 designed and built in British Columbia, Canada. It's a funny coincidence that two Canadians had to come half way around the globe to find their next (Canadian built) boat. We'd always admired the Westsail and while a little smaller the Fortune 30 has many similar qualities.

In the early seventies Bob Fortune a weatherman and film maker who lived in British Columbia, Canada set out to design the perfect cruising boat. Along the way, he sought the help of boat designer Stan Huntingford and builder Forbes Cooper. They designed the boat with a cruising couple or a young family in mind. Bob Fortune had a few criteria. The boat had to be "beautiful with graceful lines, provide maximum comfort to the crew when at sea, be capable of single handling by a wife or ten year old lad, tack effortlessly to windward, and finally to be safe and sea kindly". Some list eh? Yet we can attest to their success on each point.

There were maybe 40 Fortune 30's built in the 70's and early 80's. Each hull and deck was made of hand laid, molded fiberglass. Some were sold as hull and deck kits while other Fortune 30's were completed by the builders. Yofy was built in 1978. Her interior is teak and BC cedar throughout. Over the years the molds passed several hands until Bob Fortune sold them outright. When we last heard news from him, he no longer knew what had happened to the molds. It is a sad end to a saga that began with idealism and a great love of the sea.

The Fortune 30's specifications are as follows:
LOA 33'6"
LWL 23'
Beam 10'7"
Draft 4'
Displacement 10,000 lbs
Sail Area 471 sq ft

In the modern wide world of boating, the Fortune 30 tends be an obscure little vessel. In fact it took us many years to learn the history. We turned to the internet as we began our quest and along the way we heard from many Fortune owners. One BC couple, Don & Jean Danbert, turned out to be a wealth of information. We still keep in touch and one day we're going to tell you a little about them.

A year ago, Don and Jean wrote to tell us that Bob Fortune passed away at the age of 81 years. He and his wife Ruth had retired to Hornby Island several years previous where they enjoyed retirement. Don explained that Bob had had a couple of strokes and was then confined to a wheel chair. He passed away very peacefully in hospital, with all his family present.

On board Yofy we have a copy of Bob Fortune's study plans sent to us by the Danberts. It has been a good source of information. At the back of the booklet, Bob Fortune signs off with "May you sail in the winds of peace". As we get ready to set off cruising, we have adopted Bob's signature phrase. We think it sums up our world view and that it especially applies to this corner of the planet.





Bob Fortune 1925 - 2006