Restoring China Cloud in Community Spirits
Built by Allen and Sharie Farrell launched 1982 - Scottie Bay, Lasqueiti Island -
42' Junk Rig Sail, a gem on BC's coast
To make a donation, go to our kickstarter here.
To read our story, take your time scrolling down this page and enjoy the images!
To learn more about what we plan to restore on China Cloud, and how we are involving community, go to the very bottom of this page or, download our 2024 Funding Packet by clicking Here.
Enjoy!
-Eden
China Cloud is a home you know, have seen and been ushered aboard, or a dream on the waves with a hold on your heart, or maybe she’s a new vessel that sparks interest- and you’d like to know more. In any case, you're in for a treat. A little bit of story telling, a lot of scrapbooking, and even more gifts to go around. This isn't only about restoring a vessel to its prime. It's about bringing back community to the heart of our coast, the continuation of a legacy.
I love China Cloud for its curves and colours and wooden interior, its varnished surfaces that are easy to clean for a liveabord that loves to make magic in interior spaces and spills herbs and oils often. But I once only knew China Cloud as a dream. I was born in the year 2000, and was never ushered in physical form by the Farrells aboard, though I was born into the same family and grew up on this Salish Sea as a settler. My parents built a vessel called Grace, with me in the womb and whilst I hurt myself in my dads workshop with the ‘kid friendly’ glue gun. Salt spray dappled light and self soothing turned water music was my delight. China Could and Allen’s high pitched voice saying “the noise and the stink!” and Sharie's beloved breaded oysters off the beach, was all a constant and remarkable yet glance over-able story as a kid, with parents that talked too much.
A few seasons after growing into my body and finding senses of self all over the place, I was out of my folk’s, and plopped back aboard onto their now- 1 person boat. Home finding is a hallowing endeavour as a 20 something year old woman with queerness as a new self pursuit and disability as a reckoning wanderer that sticks close. I’ve got to say, straight up- that I wanted nothing to do with living on that tiny 28’ boat that I once loved being snuggled into every summer. I moved on within the dead of winter. Snow on the decks, water tanks to fill, bathrooms no where to be seen, and no place to hang all my clothes was a fucking joke… But - once you want it, being on the water, it becomes some sort of tactile gift that only the sky/sharp wind, and sirenesque spirit can account for.
It took good time to want to be a sailor-or lets not get too ahead of myself-a scallywag learning to live on the sea.
My sweet heart shifted when fall came one year and I realized that the beeswax dripping down the raw wood was of delicious delight (though no longer will I risk such a thing), and pumping water to wash my wee pots was not something to dredge through. And my alpaca red scarf lounging alongside green plush cushions in the cockpit is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, or at least a set up for it... That I missed the rocking when I left it for 4 walls and a garden.
Thus, upon a spring meal of steamed clams in wine with nettles, and days writing and advocating with this sense of wellbeing in mind- a dream took seed, and China Cloud began to sail within mind as I watched from the cliff at Saxe Point with the warmer winds.
I remember picking yarrow on the crescent beach, embodying my queer sirenism wearing long hand died linens, and emerging from some salty pools of kelp a’hoping not be get crashed into barnacle bodies.
Fall slowly turned its way inwards, and somehow, with great graciousness and maybe a little luck, Rafael passed on the vessel to us-me and you that is.
I now live on china cloud and have been making home for 1 year. Last year a whole clan of my friends seemed to have showed up from all my nagging, or all the dreaming, and we painted 66 drawers and the underside of the cabin tops clear white. We then moved onto scraping and painting above the waterline, whilst my dad took initiative in repairing the hull! Oooof was that ever a doozy. My mom helped me print our first batch of linos for our first annual fundraiser and golly gee somehow we raised $2720 plus an arm's full of equipment donations.
Over the first summer with her, we did a few weeks of cruising. Figuring out Allen's very unique rig, making sour cherry almond pie in the restored woodstove, hopping on and off the islands, sleeping in the same bunks they did, reading Sailing Back in Time for the first time cover to cover, eating spaghetti in rainy marine parks... There is something magical about having dreams and somehow following the small pieces that get left that look like them, while reeling in the lessons as you go. I've learned more about myself, my stamina, my friends' and our ability to connect, what I want and how to carve it out slowly, how fucking good it feels STILL to lie on the sand mid day with few humans crawling the beaches. And I want the same for more people, for you, your friends, people that aren't yet your friends.
What I'm getting at, is School of Hjarta (old norse for heart), and China Cloud need to get together. Let me explain... Beyond the story I've shared here today, I used to be a pippy young activist that worked in the Non Profit Sector. I rode my bike all over town making connections and stories happen for young people like me that loved food, gardens, and the in between. With me, I carried little seeds of a dream to dust over my path, to have my own non for profit, and build it with slowness in mind. I then went on to study bodywork, group facilitation, herbalism, and dive deeper into what decolonization might dance like. From there I've been putting pieces of it all together, building a nest for my services, though it hasn't set in like I've wanted. China Cloud was a home I wasn't expecting, and her and I hope to offer something unexpected, an amalgamation of sorts, in return.
This brings us over the line of time into something unknown but certainly waiting. I didn't just sign this contract with China Cloud for me, but to continue the legacy of Allen and Sharie, in my own way. The dream is to host group programs aboard on multi day trips. To host poetry nights in ports, and maybe even artist residencies on the water. The Farrells were not just sailors. Allen was an artist, gymnast, pacifist, woodworker. Sharie was a ballerina, explorer, cook, and kind and level heart. They respected the land and water together with their no engine boat and respectful foraging for most of their food. They looked after the land and vice versa. They welcomed people in, in every way. Strangers alike. They lived guided by love. We would like to do the same- with different ways of accessing community-with a Registered Society (non profit organization) and commerical insurance (yes, it's happening!) behind us. This will allow us to teach and hold space for healing of self, community, land, and world-while finding the threads of interconnectedness in those statements (the honest healing).
Anticipated programs will not just be sailing programs, but spaces for people to learn how to sail, how to respect these waters, how to find parts of themselves in amongst the orchids, to cook with odd and scroungy things like nettles, to learn from modalities like Medical Qi Gong and Biodynamic Cranisosacral, to write and read other people's writing, to connect with their ancestry, to find passion in post activism, to find healing in Truth and Reconciliation, and to have fun and grieve and find new meanings and modes of alternating presence. Whole System Healing, on the water, in a sailboat built for it. On top of ALL of this, we have the responsibility to restore China Cloud, which as one would imagine, with any vessel, is quite the gift and job.
The Gifts
All of our gifts are hand printed, with designs hand carved by me (eden)! They were made around Winter Solstice of 2022, as I tucked in and dreamed about what life might be like with this vessel. Many inspirations came from Dan Rubin's book Salt on the Wind, and Maria Coffey's book Sailing Back in Time. The names of each print are in various regional gaelic languages of my ancestors. Who knows, maybe there will be a story book of them next! Don't forget to jot down which is your favourite, and when you go to the kickstarter, type out the name in the comment section at checkout when you make your donatwhen you go to the kickstarter,ion. You may also request colours! Prints can go on paper, tote bags, and shirts at this time, all listed in our rewards tab. Keep in mind these are hand printed and every relief is unique! We have incorporated images here of prints that were imperfect, so you can see what the product may be like.
Caesg means mermaid, and speaks to the water spirit carved onto the bullworks, that lovingly holds the boat and guides her along. It is the largest print, and works well on t-shirts and totes.
Spladhsáil means splicing and was the first in this series. The name was inspired after talking to a mentor about all the rigging to be done!
Ar Snámh means floating, and is inspired by the tales of China Cloud floating by when there is apparently, no wind.
Losgann means frog, and is about the transformation from girl to water creature, one that can live on land and in watery realms. It is also patterned after a beloved photo of Allen playing the ukelele while underway.
Funding
We have 4 tiers of funding, all listed in the order needed for safety of operating the vessel, and what we plan to do first. Even if we don't hit our first tier, we will still be relieved to have some help in getting started this year. If we fundraise beyond our asking for the 4 tiers, we will start to move onto the bigger projects like restoring the wooden decks! Note that our fundraising goals are outlined in specifics in our Fundraising Packet-we are being as transparent as possible! If we come across shipwrights that are willing to work on restorations free of charge, our numbers will drop significantly. We also hope to apply for BC Heritage Funding this year, which could cover those bigger jobs. If you would like to make a larger donation and require a tax receipt, please hold off on donating and get in touch. Physical donations and labour needed is outlined below! HERE.
Thank you for getting this far, and caring about China Cloud and our world in general!
If you'd like to get in contact you can email edengmurray@gmail.com or lovinchinacloud@gmail.com
Otherwise, check out our kickstarter HERE.
Big love to you and your community!
Acknowledgement & Thank Yous
We are settlers on Coast Salish Territory, and truly aim to continue learning, growing, relating in ways that honour a shared goal of decolonization, and a life time dedication to Truth and Reconciliation. In the future, we plan to donate a percentage of our funding to Indigenous Initiatives on the waterways of Turtle Island, as well as Chinese Culture Heritage organizations, in honour of the inspiration of Allen's Rigging and the vessel's name.
We would like to say thank you to Allen and Sharie (of course), the beaches and trees that made this boat possible. To the Young Boaters Abernethy and Gaudin Schoalrship & BC Maritime Museum as well as the Wooden Boat Festival, Port Townsend for the complementary tickets to boat festivals to connect with our community in the fall of 2023. Thank you to my family who continues to support me through this endeavour! To my community of friends that have put countless volunteer hours into restorations already. To the previous owners that have loved this vessel. And to the folks at Trotac, on the docks, in the community, that have provided information, support, and well wishes.