A pleasure to see Jester featured as Boat of the Month!
While building Marco Polo III (now Teleport), two years from launch, Jester, from whom my NA-29 is a direct descendant, over-wintered at my boat club, Armdale Yacht Club in Halifax. I waited with great expectation for Mike Richey's arrival to take her back to England in the Spring. He, for me, had the status of a hero, a guru, in the junk rig world.
We finally met, together with Colin Erwin in the spring of 1986. (Colin was an anthropologist from England who had attempted to sail the North West Passage in the 1960's in a 19', custom, whaleback boat whose rig was designed by Blondie Hasler. He failed because there was too much pack ice the second year.)
We had lunch with Mike. I hung on every word. He was a modest soft-spoken fellow. Colin and I gave him a hand getting ready. The day he set out he was a bit nervous, normal for a setting-off day. I drove around the North West Arm to get a picture of him leaving, a copy of which is posted here.