The boat owned by Neil Young is the 101’ Baltic topsail schooner “W.N. Ragland.” I am a retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineer and was onboard her in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the late 1970’s. My brothers and I brought my father’s old freighter from the Turks and Caicos Islands to Florida. We docked the freighter close to Ragland. This is when my brother took us onboard to see how beautiful the boat was.
There was a wonderful project going on to bring the boat back to life. I had already seen many pictures of the process that documented how much work was being done. The most impressive thing I remember about the boat was the wood and woodwork that was done. The Ragland started out having an old, tired hull and it was completely rebuilt using raw timber shipped from other countries — primarily mahogany and teak. The interior turned out to be absolutely beautiful. The main deck hatch had prism glass, so the sun entered the main salon with the colors of the rainbow. My brother worked on the boat project, and this is how I was able to experience this and see everyone enjoying life. This project was a beautiful thing from start to finish.
