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Ownership history
Interlude’s construction was commissioned in 1985 by a prosperous lawyer in northern Florida with design features to accommodate his wife and two teen-age sons. This dictated various aspects of the accommodations including the generous use of mahogany inside and out, the spacious aft deck, the dedicated dining space, and the sleeping arrangements in the aft and fore cabins.
Colvin’s design was customized by John Paul White, Boatbuilder, of Pensacola, Florida. The hull was completed in 1985 under the supervision of Harry P Koelzer of Island Star Marine in Gulfport Mississippi. The construction was completed in 1986 by John Paul White in Pensacola, Florida. The hull number was recorded as ISM00118C585.
Interlude was registered as a US documented vessel with official number of 686253.
The ownership records show a transaction in 1990 at which time the boat was conveyed from Ann Bearden (formerly Ann Orsbaw) as trustee for the Southworth Children’s Trust, to Randall L Patterson.
In 1994, Interlude was sold to James R. Stonecypher, a retired airline pilot and aircraft mechanic, who owned the boat for 20 years. During this period it was lightly used, and kept in a marina in Panama City, Florida
Monica Sheridan and Rob McLean purchased the boat in March, 2014 and took possession on April 3. In April and May 2014 they sailed the boat north to Cobourg Ontario, arriving on May 26. The boat was then deleted from US documentation and registered with Transport Canada as “Interlude X”, with Official Number 838891. Since 2014, Rob and Monica have enjoyed many adventures on cruises in the Great Lake, Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean.
Rob is a highly experienced offshore cruising instructor certified by both Sail Canada and American Sailing. He has 40,000+ plus cruising miles, 20,000 of these offshore. Over 10,000 of these miles were accumulated sailing on Interlude. For details of Rob’s credentials, see his sailing / instructor resume at https://robmclean.ca/sailingresume.html
2. Construction Details
The following are excerpts from an article by John Paul White published in Southern Boating in December 1988.
“The design chosen was Thomas Colvin’s 50’ Pipistrelle, a larger sister to his famous Gazelle. These boats are shoal keel developments of the traditional V-bottomed sharpie and are of moderately light displacement. They are easily driven under both power and sail and are well-suited for short handed cruising.
The lines show a single-chine clipper bow hull, with a long shallow keel and a raking curved counter stern. There is a raised afterdeck, a flush mid-ship steering station over the full width of the engine room, and a traditional trunk cabin forward with water-ways and bulwarks.
Under the supervision of Ray Merrill at Island Star Marine in Gulfport, Mississippi, the hull was sandblasted to white metal subsequent to plating, flame sprayed with aluminum on the exterior and multiply coated with Devoe epoxy anticorrosive paint inside and out. All frames, longitudinals and inside corners were covered with epoxy to eliminate moisture pockets. Thereafter and on delivery of the hull/deck to Pensacola, Florida, two additional coats of Devoe epoxy were applied to the hull followed by finish coats on the inside. All bronze fittings are set in neoprene with sleeved bolts and bedded with 5200 sealant. Every hole drilled in the boat was drilled through a paper cup to collect shavings and the hole immediately vaccuumed, acid-treated and primed with Devoe Bar-Rust to eliminate rust specks.
An absolute minimum of epoxy fairing was applied to the hull and then only in areas of continuous welding, to prevent future spalling of fairing putty under hard use. Instead, more than 30 mandays were spent applying and sanding 12 coats of high build primer and acrylic glazing before the polyurethane paint job.
In consultation with the designer, a special construction process replaced the after cabin steel top with a laminated wooden structure covered with 1/4” teak planks set in West System Epoxy. This avoided the rust problems associated with wooden decks laid over steel and in addition, saved almost 600 pounds in the after section of the boat.
Traditional scuttle hatches, skylights, cap rails, and monkey rails with turned styles were built of Honduras mahogany and covered with ten coats of ultraviolet-filtered varnish.
The interior woods are cypress for hull, ceiling and bulkheads, Honduras mahogany for joinery and ash for floorings, all varnished.
The rig was given special attention to bring to the traditional advantages of the gaff rig evolutionary advances of the last 100 years development in materials and hardware.
Custom aluminum spars were built by Johnson Sails in St. Petersburg, all with internal halyards, reefing lines, outhauls, and topping lifts. Harken 3” Big Boat blocks, several custom made for this boat, were used throughout. Lewmar line stoppers and winches add sail control and shaping. Powerful 6-1 Harken vangs help handle the long booms.
Sails were built by Shurr of Pensacola, Florida, a racing sailmaker who happened to also have experience with the gaff rig. They incorporate moderate roach supported by battens and shelf feet for draft control.
Many other details of this boat, as varied as her hand-carved nautical scenes by Otto Preske and Barry Simpson of Gatlinburg Tennessee, to her powerful electrical system designed and installed by Kevin Carney of DC Engineering Inc., were worked out among the owner, the designer, and several specialists in an effort to construct a steel boat which all could be proud of.”
3. Projects completed since acquisition in April, 2014
2014
- Installed Wallas Nordic Dt stovetop unit
- Installed square sail
- Replaced most running rigging with Spunflex
- Replaced alternator regulator
2015
- Repaired Robertson auto-pilot (replaced 2 capacitors in control unit)
- Replaced batteries and install new battery boxes
- Repaired Bimini side
- Installed additional reading lights in aft cabin
- Installed smoke detectors in forward cabin, salon, aft cabin
- Replaced hose for manual bilge pump in engine room
- Installed Vesper AIS system
- Installed Standard Horizon VHF with DSC and AIS
2016
- Installed Bitstorm wifi unit
- Installed Mikrotik router
- Acquired whistles for PFDs
- Installed automatic bilge pump in galley bilge
- Installed area light on starboard side of main salon
- Installed book case, settee end support and fiddle
- Acquired hand bearing compass
- Installed stanchions and lifelines on aft deck
- Installed AC sump pump
- Acquired and installed remote mike for VHF: CHP31B
- Replaced hydraulic hose for rudder cylinder
- Installed map light over nav table
- Installed CO detectors in head and aft cabin
- Sails inspected and repaired by Andy Soper of Kingston Sail Loft
- Acquired remote mike for VHF
2017
- Replaced glass and gaskets in portlights
- Prepare comprehensive inventory and checklists
- Boat diagram showing location of through-hulls, fire extinguishers, etc.
- Refinished belaying pins
- Refinished forward pin rail on foremast
- Installed drip tray under engine
2018
- Installed lazyjacks on mainsail
- Constructed webbing jacklines
- Constructed webbing cradle for dinghy when mounted on davits
- Turned new belaying pins for square sail and lazyjacks
- Constructed hard bimini
- Installed solar power system
- Constructed enhanced cockpit seating
- Installed Airmar smart triducer
- Bilge touchups
- Installed 12’ stainless safety rails on cabintop
- New mooring lines from online rope store (Trenton)
- New 3/4” anchor rode from online rope store (Trenton)
- Teak deck box on aft deck
- Acquired and installed feathering prop
- Acquired and installed Electromaxx high output 100 amp alternator
2019
- Treated bottom and updated bottom paint, 2 coats Interlux Bottomkote ACT, first blue as reveal coat, second black
- Cleaned bilges, touchup with POR 15 as required, followed by Petit White
- Updated flare inventory
- Updated boat documentation
- Acquired broadband radar
- Acquired Actisense n2K-USB device
- Acquired and installed liferaft
- Fire extinguishers inspected and tagged
- Acquired additional mobile gusher pump
- Replaced top on engine room seachest with 1” PVC
- New tampons for engine bilge
- Renewed mast boot tape
- Hull touchups with POR 15
- Installed new tool box
- Replaced port and starboard nav lights with LED bulbs
- Built support chocks for when dinghy on aft deck
- Installed new sump pump in freezer bilge
- Installed Raspberry-pi based autopilot system controlling Octopus hydraulic pump
2022/2023
- Replaced condenser unit and control unit in fridge
- Replaced prop shaft and cutless bearingRebuilt fuel injector pump on engine
- Rebuilt hydraulic cylinder and hydraulic steering pump
- Engine fully serviced
- Replaced fuel filter system for engine and generator with Racor filters
- Installed additional bilge pumps in galley and salon bilges
- Serviced Wallas cooktop
- Selectively replaced running rigging with new Spunflex
- Replaced solar control unit on starboard solar bank
- Minor sail repairs and adjustments to main sail
- New sail cover for square sail
- Hull touchups and new bottom paint
2024
- Hull touchups
- Helm pump rebuilt
- Replaced 2 solar panels
Planned for 2025 prior to launch
- Hull and deck touchups and new bottom paint
- Additional exterior woodwork touchups as required
- Refinish exterior mahogany railings with Cetol
- Reinstall helm pump
- Service Wallas stovetop unit
- Replace 2 additional solar panels