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My father had a wood 41 Dickerson which I thought (as a child) was beautiful. Recently I started scanning the internet to find out more about it and maybe find out where it went. Today I asked Dad what year he had it delivered and some more details. I was very excited to hear the story and I wanted to share it with the group.
In 1968-69, dad went to Dickerson and was looking at plans for the 40′ Dickerson. As he pored over plans, he decided he needed a 6′ bunk (plans called for 5′) and also that 3′ was not enough room for a chart table, so he wanted more space there too. He asked them if they could make the boat a foot longer. Dickerson said that would be simple enough so they did. Meanwhile, Dad went home to Virginia and put together the engine and generator himself and later delivered it to Trappe for fitting in the boat. Dad also did all of the wiring and instrumentation as well as some final cosmetic finishing for the interior. He took delivery of this wood hull, ketch-rigged, aft cabin, vessel in 1970; it was Dickerson 41, Hull 1, and her name was Charisma. We have a very nice photo of her with her sail logo–large “D” with the “41” and the “1” inside it.
Dad kept this boat at Gwynn’s Island (VA) and we sailed around the Chesapeake Bay and mouth of the Rappahannock River. He sold her in the late 70’s–probably 1977 or 1978. He said he sold her through a broker and has never looked back or known where or to whom she went.
Dad’s name is L. Jeremy Crews, he designed CRUISAIR marine air conditioning and founded the company, Marine Development Corporation, to manufacture it back in the early 1960’s.
Please, if anyone can piece together where Charisma went, has been, or if she is still “alive”, I would love to know.
Hi Caribou2u,
We have our expert D41 crowd doing some research for you to make the connections. In the mean time, check out the information on S/V “Southern Cross”
I have read several times all the stuff regarding Southern Cross. I suspect that what happened was that Dickerson made Dad’s 41 and delivered it to him. Then they made another wood one, Southern Cross, to use as the plug for the fg mold. I believe the one that username “miss ulla” has in Texas is probably the Charisma. “miss ulla” says that theirs was made in 1977, but, if it’s wood, that’s not possible. Dad SOLD his in 1977…and perhaps that’s where the trail (for the present owner) turned cold. Very exciting!! Thanks for digging around for me.
Further….I actually got a bunch of good photos of Charisma both under sail and motoring with no sails up. The logo/hull number are clearly visible. She started out with the hull white, later colors included burgundy and yellow.
Hi Caribou2u,
It was great to read about your dads boat. It is amazing how people forget things and history gets changed. I have been on this site many times over the years and heard the stories about Southern Cross is the first Dickerson 41 and in a way this was true. It was the first of the new model 41’s with the higher sides and the passage under the cockpit. But there were at least 6 wooden Dickerson 41’s before that. They were all based on the Dickerson 40 but had a clipper bow like the new model 41’s which gave them the extra foot of length. My mom and dad’s boat “Corbina” was D41 #5 as your dad’s was D41 #1 it was built in 1972, and I was there many times during the construction and knew Neville Lewis who eventually had built the new model D41 #1 Southern Cross (I watched it built as well) since Corbina was berthed at the Dickerson yard in Trappe for a number of years before she was moved to Cambridge at the yacht club. Prior to Southern Cross, Neville had a D35 double cabin named the “Venture”. In any case, over the years Corbina under my mom and dad’s capable hands made three trips down and up the intercoastal waterway. But eventually when my dad passed away, we needed to sell Corbina and I haven’t heard a word about her since. I miss the old girl and would love to find out if she is still sailing.
Corbina,
This is very helpful information. I have emailed Miss Ulla directly and also posted a reply on the thread started by PhreeWillie (on which Miss Ulla says he/she owns a wood 41), but I haven’t seen any further correspondence on it. I also emailed Southern Cross directly just to relay the story of Dad’s boat. I do respect that Southern Cross was the wood vessel designed and used for the fiberglass mold and it’s good to know that there are some differences in her design–so she is #1 of that specific design. But also good to know that all the information seems accurate since Dad’s, I believe, was truly the first 41′ ketch that Dickerson produced. In any case, it would be so wonderful to get photos of any of the remaining wood 41’s and to be able to figure out if your parents’ hull or my dad’s hull are still “alive”. I hope Miss Ulla or Phreewillie will see our posts and reply.
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