236
Russell C. Coile
Owning an Atalanta was a bit like being a member of a
religious organization. There were only 186 of them built and
there was a very tight club. They kept track of all the boats,
when they changed hands and where they were. Since 1959
the club held a black-tie dinner in January every year at the
time of the London Boat Show. When I got back to Bethesda, I
decided with Ellen's help to hold the North American Atalanta
Association dinner on the same night as the one in London.
We sent them a telegram of greetings that was read out loud.
People came from all over America and even Canada for our
dinner. Stewart Brand, who started the Whole Earth Catalog,
came one year, from Sausalito, California, which is famous for
keeping wooden boat traditions going. The dinners continued
until I was posted to Brazil.
Once an Atalanta owner, always an Atalanta owner, but
the years have taken their toll and many owners and even
some boats have gone to that great ocean in the sky. Even
though I don't own a boat anymore, I'm still a member and
the Atalanta Owners Association is going strong with a nice
website online.
Naples, Italy, 1971- 1972
In 1971 I was sent to Naples, Italy to be a scientifi c advisor
for COMASWFORSIXTHFLT, the admiral in charge of, the
Anti-Submarine Forces of the Sixth Fleet. Jennifer was half-
way through her senior year of high school. We considered
having her board with a friend of ours for six months, but
on serious consideration decided it was better not to split the
family up. This meant one of two things; either all of us would
go in December, or I would go on my own fi rst and have the
rest join me in June. We decided the latter course was better.
It was hard being without the family, but there were
compensations. I stayed in a small hotel just outside the
U.S. Navy compound. I ate all my meals in the snack bar
or offi cers club on the base. There was a laundry and a base
exchange for anything I might need. The hotel and my offi ce
on the American Navy base (not far from a NATO base where
I also had privileges) was in the crater of an active volcano