Project Darwin: The Journey to Healdsburg

When you know you know.

That's how we felt when we finally found the perfect boat for creating 'Darwin - The Walking Sailboat. After many months of searching, we found "Mistral". She's a 29' 1970 Ericson sailboat that was in great shape. In fact she was in such great shape that she actually was sailable! Her first sailing adventure was to bring her from Redwood City up to Berkeley Marina where she would dock until we were ready to bring her up to Healdsburg.

Happy new boat owner!

Chad, Eric and Tom ready to sail!

Off they go!

Fast forward a few months and a few fun days out on the Mistral in the Bay and it was time to bring her up to Healdsburg to begin Project Darwin. This would be no small feat to drive a 29' sailboat down the freeway to Healdsburg.

Thanks to the amazing crew at KKMI in Pt. Richmond, we were able to get the boat hoisted out of the water, the mast stepped down (taking the tall mast off the boat), and the boat pressure washed and put on the trailer. With our wide load permit in hand, we took off down the road to the forest. Big thanks to Tom, Marie and Steve who all helped get the boat to its workshop!