From Takeshi San, s/v Cookie
Hi, Brian
I am very much satisfied with Pelagic Autopilot and one of my friend would like to buy one drive unit with the cover and the connector assemblies (same as my order).
I would appreciate if you could mail me a quotation by return mail.
I have enjoyed sailing in Baja sea of Cortez for two and a half months but unfortunately unable to visit your shop this time.
Takeshi Tanaka, of Yokohama, Japan, bought his Nor’Sea 27, Cookie, in Florida and had it shipped to Japan. At about that time, he became close friends with Good Old Boat contributing editor and fellow Nor’Sea 27 owner Ed Zacko. Japanese officials had refused to register Takeshi’s boat, deeming it unsafe for ocean navigation because they believed the offset companionway Lyle Hess had designed would make the boat prone to flooding after a knockdown. With Hess deceased, Takeshi had nowhere to turn. Enter Ed, who has sailed his own Nor’Sea over much of the world. “I got hold of Dean Wixom (the builder who commissioned Hess to design the Nor’Sea) and Terry Baylor (Dean’s shop foreman, who lofted the boat and made the plug, molds, and the first 181 hulls). We came up with enough data and documentation to convince Japanese authorities that the boat was, in fact, safe for ocean voyaging!” These days Takeshi singlehands Cookie all over the North Pacific.
