Lord Nelson Owners Association

An old name, a new meaning.                                                         by Sally Seymour

Back home, among the LNVT documents, there are three newsletters from the LNOA (Lord Nelson Owners' Association) formed in the early nineties. These letters talk about tugs and sailboats. But apparently, the idea didn't take hold and the publication died. Coincidentally, I think this was around the time that Tom Blackwood started assembling a list of owners of LNVTs. It's interesting to see how the lists grew.  Imagine how the efforts and enthusiasm grew as more and more people joined the search to locate boats and collect names.

Some of us have talked about the idea of expanding our group of tuggers to include Lord Nelson sailboat owners. We seem to have a lot in common. We are an active cohesive group of enthusiasts. They would benefit from the organization. I think we should make it happen. The first step might be to compile a list of sailboat owners. Put out the call to our group and those known sailboat owners. We need someone to take this on. I'm not sure I should add it to my projects, but I'd love to see it happen.

This idea surfaced today as we saw a Lord Nelson 41 in Rockland, Me. They waved madly; we waved back and headed over. We knew we had hit the jackpot when were were close enough to read the name of their boat: Lady Nelson.

Lady Nelson was built in 1987 for Loren and Lani Hart. It is hull #54 of the 41s.

We went aboard and talked for an hour and agreed it would be great to create a Lord Nelson family. They were eager to learn about Lord Nelson boats. I showed them the meaning of the HIN. They know of another 41, "Le Garage", for sale by the owner, an 80 year old man who keeps it in Pemaquid. It's a start. 

Owners Betty Minson and husband Bob Catlow are live-aboards. They are the third owners.

Bob and Betty want to join our association. How could I refuse? Possible? I'll pay their first dues.