Ceilidh is #174, 1976 Alberg 37 Mark II design manufactured by Whitby Boatworks in Whitby, Ontario, Canada or at one time Ajax, Ontario. There were about 260 of this model produced at the Whitby works from plans prepared by Carl Alberg; a world famous yacht designer.
I do not know the early history of the boat but it was purchased by Ron Wilson sometime in the 80's. Apparently it was his intention to sail her to the Caribbean which he did. In fact the information from the original A37 club indicates that he took her as far as South America.
In the late 90's he made the homeward trip and went aground off of Florida. The rudder was badly damaged and an entirely new rudder and fittings were installed. Apparently he decided that the new rudder should be 4" shorter than the keel in order to prevent a similar occurence again.
By 2000 he had returned to Sarnia, Ontario where he passed and the boat was sold to someone from Chatham, Ontario who spent money upgrading the speed/depth instruments and autohelm with the idea of also going south with the boat. The boat was then moored in Erieau, ON. They also bought two huge ST46 self-tailing winches to replace the original winches. The boat was moored in Barneys Boatyard in Erieau for a few years but the owner lost interest in going south with the boat and she was sold again. The new owner never used her and decided to trade her in on a new boat from Anchor Yachts.
The purchaser was Anchor Yachts in Toronto. They purchased the boat unseen as a trade-in and decided to have Barney's sandblast the bottom and apply 5 coats of epoxy barrier coat. Then they applied 2 coats of VC17. About a year after I purchased the boat I went to Barney's and asked about the history and whether the work had actually been done. "Yes" they replied and Anchor Yachts apparently spent $5,000.00 having it done. So when I purchased the boat she looked exactly as appears in the lead picture to this blog. The bottom was perfect and other than replacing thru-hulls and updating the VC17 I never touched it again. After Barney's had finished her she was shipped to Anchor Yachts in Port Credit and that is where I first became aware of her.
Because the boat had been in the Caribbean for over 10 years and was sailed back she did not have a cradle. That's why I had to buy a brand new cradle from Marine Cradle Shop. I decided to buy a mobile vs. static cradle. The difference is in the gauge and size of the steel and does cost more. It is a 7 pad cradle.
