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Adrian Diez models this year’s OCR T-shirt.

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isitors to the Town Dock often comment about how helpful folks here in town can be. On Friday afternoon, we asked a favor of a visiting boater.

Adrian Diez was pumping up an inflatible dinghy at the Town Dock about the time the T-shirts for the Oriental Cup Regatta came in. We asked him to model the shirt.

He asked about the race, and whether trimarans were allowed in to it. But his father, Carlos Diez, nixed that idea, noting that the boat was ‘our mode of transportation.’

Carlos’ hesitation was understandable. They do have a long way to go: their destination is Costa Rica, where they live.

Carlos Diez of Alajuela, Costa Rica, where he and his son are bringing the Crowther 33 he just bought in NY.

Carlos says the boat, a Crowther 33, was on Long Island when he bought it in May. He and Adrian flew up to NY, and then spent the better part of a month prepping her for the journey home. They may do the entire trip this summer. Another option is to leave the boat in Florida, wait out the hurricane season and then resume the trip in November.

The Crowther 33 trimaran, “Sarabecca”.

The trimaran, made of double diagonal plywood with epoxy and fiberglass was built in 1976 as a day sailer. By cruising standards, it is spartan. There is, Carlos says, “a Porta-Potti and no sink” down below.

“We’ve got all our stuff in milk crates. We’re camping on the boat.”

Carlos Diez on board Sarabecca, which will likely be renamed when he and his son, Adrian get it to Costa Rica.

Carlos has lived in Minnesota and California, but spent most of his life in Costa Rica. He has sailed there from the West Coast of the US. This however, is his first time sailing on the East Coast and waters with more shoals and trickier entrances. Still, he says they’ve had good stops along the way. In Norfolk they became part of the crew in some races (not on their own ‘mode of transportation’) and enjoyed a stay in Elizabeth City.

“Small towns are just great for sailors,” Carlos said. Oriental, they stopped in because “we kept reading good stuff about it.”

A second dinghy to accompany the one that came with Sarabecca.

They made one acquisition here, buying the inflatible dinghy from the sailboat, “Nin” also at the Town Dock, whose owners are wrapping up 9 years of cruising.

Stopping in Oriental this particular weekend turned out to be a fortuitous for the crew of “Sarabecca”. In Costa Rica, Carlos aka, “Keko” operates a ham radio station. This weekend he’s getting together with Oriental-area ham radio operators who are gathering near Dawson’s Creek for an off-the-grid 24-hour drill of an emergency system.

Adrian Diez.

That’s what had Adrian wondering if he could take “Sarabecca” out while his father was off with the radio operators. Carlos said “no” to that but “yes” to Adrian crewing on another boat in the Oriental Cup. When we left them at the Town Dock, after that shirt modeling session, Adrian was asking OCR organizers about when and where the skippers’ meeting wouid be.

Posted Friday June 27, 2008 by Melinda Penkava

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