Sailing & Boating Advice

Fred Greenfield first became a captain at the age of  nine.  He took a rusty old hammer, some rusty bent nails, some thrown away boards and constructed his first yacht.  It was about six feet long, three feet wide and shaped like a triangle.  The seams were covered with linoleum (Glued and nailed on)  to keep the water out.  They didn’t, but did slow it down.

Captain Freds’ first ocean was a hole he dug in the back yard of his parents home, filled with water from a garden  hose.  It was barely larger than the boat.  It  did however  allow the boat to “float”.  He and his crew )of one, would fill the ocean, push the boat in and then carefully step into  the  yacht from different sides to avoid  a capsize.  Each “voyage”  lasted about 30 seconds.  (Until the boat filled with water and “ran aground”)

From this humble beginning developed a captain of international repute.  In later years, he has sailed most of the seven seas and caused boats and ships to be built to his designs that have sailed to all parts of the world.  His experiences will prepare you to venture forth on a trip across your backyard pond, or pound your way, rail down to Siam.  Captain Fred has sailed the Pacific, The Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef, Sea of Cortez, Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal, Puget Sound, Inland Lakes, Rivers and Even the Mud Hole. (Over 100,000 miles)  His advice is prudent and useful to anybody gearing up to go floating off to paradise or just going  fishing at a local lake.

• Born, 1938 Seattle,Wa.
• 1956 Graduated Fife High School, Fife Wa.
• 1956 – 1958 Active Duty U.S. Submarine Service,YNT3 SNSS, Decorated 1965 - 1967 Founded Rogers and Greenfield Multi-hull Yachts. Building High Tech Racing Sailboats.
• 1967 – 1982 Founded and operated Progressive Yacht Hardware International. (Later changed name to Progressive Yacht Hardware Inc. PYHI) Producing access openings. patented portlights and windows for sailboats. Built business to over 1 million dollars U.S. in sales per year internationally.
• 1974 Built first production model of a versitile 18 ft 4 inch trailable mini houseboat called the “Camperboat”  This craft was usable in campgrounds and  could achieve speeds over 30mph on water.  A dozen were made and 3 were bought by CBS television and given away on “The Price is Right” program.  Production was halted when the gas crisis hit in 1975.
• 1975 Built the plug for a 21 foot mini cruising sailboat and  put up the capital for the construction of the molds to manufacture the hull deck and interior liner of this very successful model.  The craft set a record for most new boats sold at the Seattle Boat Show when it was introduced.  42 boats were ordered by individuals and dealers.  More than a years production.
• 1975 - 1978 Founded and operated with N.Z. partners PYHI NZ Ltd. Auckland New Zealand to better serve clients in Australasia. (Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan) including Yamaha Corp.
• 1980  Wrote “First Aid for Business”.
• 1982 – 1987 Funded and built, hands on, and owned U.S. Official Tall Ship “Discovery”, a replica of the second armed vessel in the colonial navy of the U.S. “Rattlesnake” Constructed of Douglas Fir planking over steam bent oak frames. Vessel Constructed to Lloyds AAA shipbuilding specifications. Complete with four ¼ scale bronze cannons (Replicas of weapons on Old Ironsides – U.S. Constitution) on wooden trucks and four rail mounted bronze falconettes, All black powder firing weapons capable of firing a projectile over one mile. This vessel represented the U.S. in Tall Ship Parades and activities in American and Mexican waters.
• 1987 - 1995 Retired , sailing the worlds oceans and saving rain forests
• 2004 to Present  With son, restoring a Historic Hotel in North Idaho. Historic Hotel Charbonneau.Com.
• 1992 Co –wrote and directed “Adventures in Paradise” A sailing film shot on location in the Gulf of California on a 60 foot yawl. This humorous guide to sailing in “The Sea of Cortez” is still one of the popular cruising films advising adventurers who are cruising south from the west coast of the U.S. Available, Amazon.com
• 2004 Founded, with son Trevor Greenfield, “Lakedance” (Lakedance.com) a true international independent film festival in Sandpoint Idaho. Helping to support the historic community owned Panida Theater.

Accomplishments:

• Wrote book “First Aid for Business”.
• Produced, Directed, and Acted in nine motion pictures, most about ecology.
• With partner Founded and served as an instructor in an ecology school in Costa Rica.
• With partner Donald Peter Hayes saved from destruction approximately 600+ acres of rainforest on South Pacific coast of Costa Rica . See Hayes name on Nat, Geographic map of Costa Rica

In Retirement:

• Wrote/co-wrote half a dozen screenplays.
• Developed “Steady Grip” a patented device for use with new hi-def digital camcorders.
• Bought, restored and sold several vintage autos. (4 VW vans, a 1936 Oldsmobile 4 door sedan, and 1950 Ford Pickup Truck)
• 2008 Launched sailing and boating advice column on internet to pass on knowledge gained over 50 years of simply messing about with boats.