Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine February 2016

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Eight Bells
Mercedes Kornfeld reports: Tim Comstock, a well-known long-time Caribbean sailor,
died of cancer on Christmas Eve, 2015.
We were first based out of Antigua, but later, doing a major refit at the Bequia Slip,
we fell in love with Bequia, where we bought property and built a house. In 1987 we
bought Encore, a 57-foot classic motor yacht, which was kept in Virginia and did
the New England season as well as the inland waterways of the US and Canada in
the summer. After September 11th, Tim decided to work on other people’s larger
yachts and he captained motor yachts up to 130 feet. After five years of that it was
time to move on; we then managed a bone-fishing lodge on Grand Bahama for
seven years.
I often joked that when I met Tim, I was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour, but I
would not have traded these years for anything. Tim was never happy just doing the
same thing day in and day out. He was always planning the next adventure. He
may not always have made sensible or safe choices, but it always led to an exciting
and adventurous life.
He recently decided to get another motor yacht, and we cruised Cuba, Mexico
and Belize, and last year the Bahamas, before plans were cut short because of his
illness. He was a natural athlete, a great golfer and swam like a fish — many of
you might remember him always diving to set the anchor on Good Hope. He
loved his dogs, sailing, sports cars and anything chocolate, but most of all, we
loved each other.
Tim is gone now, but he has touched so many lives in the Caribbean that he will
never be forgotten. He will always be in my heart.
FEBRUARY 2016 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 6
Tim, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, USA had a law degree from Saint Mary’s
University and a degree in Education from Harvard, but he chose adventure over
everything. He practiced law in Virginia and hated it, choosing instead to teach
school in Colorado. He ran a summer program for school kids on his boat in Europe
for several years.
In 1980 he bought the 60-foot, 1937 classic sloop Good Hope and sailed to
Antigua, where he started chartering. He was always full of fun, loved dancing and
showing people a good time.
We met in Antigua briefly, when I was working on the charter yacht New Freedom.
Later, I joined Good Hope at Young Island, St. Vincent. It was not love at first sight,
but Tim was so spontaneous, funny, full of life and crazy in a good way, you could
not help but fall in love with him. He lit up a room when he entered and his kind and
generous way endeared him to so many people.
SSCA Commodore Requirements Revised
With a change in live-aboard requirements, becoming a Seven Seas Cruising
Association Commodore is closer than you think!
Have you been an SSCA member for at least one year? Have you actively
cruised aboard your boat for a minimum of 12 months in an 18-month period at
some time in the past? (Previously, this was 12 consecutive months, but a recent
vote amended the bylaws.) Have you cruised for a minimum of 2,000 bluewater
nautical miles with unlimited stops and ended up at least 1,000 nautical miles
from your starting point? Or have you cruised 1,500 miles on an offshore passage
with no more than one stop, or have you made a 1,000 nautical miles nonstop
ocean passage?
If you can answer “yes” to the above, then you qualify to begin the process of
becoming an SSCA Commodore. If you exemplify the SSCA Traditions and meet
the Commodore requirements, then SSCA wants you as a voting member of
our organization.
An application form and tips for finding sponsors can be found online at www.ssca.org.
Join the Schooner Roseway Voyage
Yihua Jiang reports: Looking for a unique and inspiring adventure that also supports
a great cause? Please join us aboard the National Historic Landmark Schooner
Roseway as we voyage from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands to Charleston, South Carolina
and onward to Boston, Massachusetts. After 90 years of service, Roseway is one of
only three original Grand Banks schooners in operation today and she is a joy to sail.
She is a Coast Guard certified vessel, registered as a US National Historic Landmark
and operates in Boston and the US Virgin Islands.
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