WHEN and IF By Steve Morrell
SOUTHWINDS News & Views for Southern Sailors
O
ur April cover was graced with a photo by Priscilla Parker of a beautiful Alden schooner during the Conch Republic Cup from Key West to Cuba. I had heard of the boat before and wondered how it got its unusual name, WHEN and IF. The boat hails out of Key West where it has been, in recent years, in charter service for day sails, sunset sails, private charter, photo shoots and other opportunities, including trips to Cuba. But its checkered past going back to 1939 is what is quite interesting about this beautiful schooner, which has had many lives. In 1939, when General George S. Patton was a colonel in the U.S. Army, he commissioned F. F. Pendleton of Wiscasset, ME, to build the boat following the design of John Alden. At the time, Patton reportedly had said something to the effect that, “When the war is over, and if I live through it, Bea and I are going to sail her around the world.” Hence, the name WHEN and IF. Patton did live through the war, but a few months after it ended, he died from injuries suffered in an auto accident in Germany. The boat stayed in the Patton family until 1972 when Patton’s nephew donated the boat to a school in Massachusetts, where it was used in sail training. In 1990,
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the boat broke away from its mooring and was blown into the rocks in a storm. It was damaged, but structurally the hull was still sound, although the boat was determined to be a complete loss by the insurance company. It was then purchased by a private party and rebuilt over a three-year period. It was launched once again in 1994. The boat was raced and cruised along the American coast and the Caribbean until 2012, when it was purchased by Doug Hazlitt, who had the boat rebuilt again to its original condition. After a two-year refit, WHEN and IF was launched once more, ending up in Key West where it currently lies. In Key West, the boat’s earnings from charter are part of a plan to garner enough money to eventually take her on a circumnavigation, fulfilling the original goal that Patton had intended for her.
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