'People keep falling in love with her': 125-year-old sailboat returns to B.C. waters

GABRIOLA ISLAND, B.C. -

Surrounded by the sailboat equivalent of friends, family, and fans, Dorothy is embarking on the journey of a renewed lifetime

“It’s the first day of the reborn Dorothy,” says Angus Matthews, a Maritime Museum of B.C. board member.

The boat is being eased out of dry dock, 125 years after her birth.

“You got to go back before the Wright Brothers flew to appreciate her age,” Matthews smiles. Back to 1897, when her plans reflected like a twinkle in the eye of shipbuilder J. J. Robinson.

“She’s probably overbuilt for her size,” says Tony Grove, a shipwright who’s spend the past decade refurbishing the boat.

The quality of her build is one of the reasons Dorothy has outlived her peers.

“She’s the oldest registered sailboat in Canada capable of sailing,” Matthews says.

She first set sail with W.H. Langley, a prominent lawyer in Victoria, who commissioned the nine-metre sloop for the small fortune of $1,800.

“Dorothy was his pride and joy,” Matthews says.

Together, Langley and Dorothy won Queen Victoria’s birthday regatta in 1900. They also experienced what became the first official sighting of an alleged local sea monster dubbed the Cadborosaurus.

“She’s had a few near-death experiences,” Matthews says.

But Dorothy is a survivor. And this trip from Gabriola Island to Vancouver Island, aboard a BC Ferries vessel, is not the first time she’s been delivered to a new home.

“People keep finding her,” Matthews says. “And falling in love with her.”

She had about a dozen owners over her first century, before making the acquaintance of the Maritime Museum of B.C., and being introduced to “the boat whisperer” in Grove.

“There was a bit of a giddy [feeling],” Grove says about being hired to refurbish Dorothy.

He removed rot and righted wrongs that threatened to sink her. “This is kind of a real privilege to work on something of this age.”

After a decade of restoration in his workshop, Dorothy has been transported to Ladysmith, B.C., where she’ll be re-introduced to the water before sailing south to host the public in Victoria next year.

“She has this wonderful history that she carries with her,” Matthews smiles, adding that Dorothy will eventually be used to inspire young sailors. “To see that sail on to a new generation is a big thrill for us.”

“If she’s looked after,” Grove smiles. “There’s no reason why she can’t be around for another 125 years.”