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The name of this steel pilothouse sloop is “Mudfog Cove.” Actually, we weren’t initially sure if that was the name or the hailing port. It’s the name.



Jeff Gold is from Mt. Desert Island, Maine. He purchased the vessel a year ago – finding it in an internet search and going down to get her in St. Maarten. He wanted a stout steel cruiser, having experienced a sinking at sea aboard his previous boat, a wooden Alden 33.



Jeff says he saw the name on a roadside sign back in Maine. He isn’t sure there really is a place called Mudfog Cove – but he thought it fit the character of the boat.

“Mudfog Cove” was built in France in 1990. She is 40’, and with her drop keel raised draws just 4’ of water.

When we found Mudfog Cove at the Town Dock Jeff was being assisted by Oriental resident (and master of all things mechanical) Ken Brandon. The mast the wind generator was mounted on was bent and needed straightening. Jeff says he got a bit too close to shore on the Pungo Alligator Canal and the mast hit a low lying tree branch.



The previous owner of this vessel adorned her with a mural at her aft that is quite difficult not to notice. A mermaid-like figure appears to be emanating from a magic lantern held by a genie. The mermaid is more than amply endowed, so much so that it may offer additional reserve buoyancy in a following sea.



The word ATTAYA (the sloop’s previous name) is written in the center of this mural – it means “a Senegalese tea cermony.”

About that sinking at sea. In April 2000 Jeff was heading back to Maine from Costa Rica on his Alden 33 Traveler. An older boat with a wooden hull, she began taking on water and over the course of several hours the bilge pumps couldn’t keep up with the leak(s). She sank in moderate conditions – Jeff boarded his life raft and found his way to shore in just two days. While Jeff fondly remembers the handsome lines of the old Alden, the experience left him with little desire for another old wooden boat.

Jeff’s plan is to take “Mudfog Cove” to Costa Rica – but just for a while. He must be back in Maine come June.

Posted Sunday February 16, 2003 by Keith

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