The Boat

The year is 1966. Somewhere in the state of California a factory worker extinguishes his cigarette, claps his chilly hands together before jamming them in his pockets, and strides contentedly up the driveway of his modest suburban house with a bed of roses in the front lawn. That man’s name has been lost to time, but the boat he helped build that day was The Legendary Cal 20, of which almost 2000 were made.

Short for “California 20” and boasting 20 feet of overall length in addition to construction in California, this boat would go on to achieve renown as such. Having been sailed on salt, fresh, and brackish waters it has been tested in the realities of multiple salinities and proven itself. Noted for its positive buoyancy both during the day as well as at night, the Cal 20 is regarded and holds it’s place in the plethora of sailboat designs. Features of this genuine boat included a backstay, ballast, bow, berths, bilge, bulwarks, and the occasional bulkhead. Rigging was comprised of a boom and battens among other components.

Much like that unnamed factory worker back in California in 1966, the history of the Cal 20 in which we are particularly interested has been consigned to the past. Pulled from beneath the coniferous branches of a cedar tree where she had been resting, the Cal 20 now know as “The Slug” needed the care and medical attentions that her new owners have since lavished on her. Upon acquisition she comprised a deck with the stiffness of half-cooked lasagna noodles, a bilge indistinguishable from a diorama of the everglades, and

a tiller held together with electrical tape and ants. However with a new deck core, a new crew, an ancient homemade trailer, and a new lease on life, The Slug is now prepared to compete in the Race to Alaska 2026.

She will use the power of the wind to achieve locomotion and travel to the absolute maximum of her level of course completion without a single portage or degaussing stop.

She will do this without a motor.

She will do this without prejudice.

She will do this without the benefit of hindsight.

Sometimes it’s easier to know the future than the past.

Team Pelagic Banana Slug

R2AK 2026