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The following is an
article that appeared in the
Door County Magazine and sheds light on the
history of Dorsal Sails and owner, Charlie Klein.
"My family lived on the East Coast for the first year of my life. My mother says it must have make a big impression on me," said Klein with a smile. The nearest body of water, Lake Winnebago, became the Appleton native's second home.
While attending the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Klein found employment at a "sail loft," a job that gave birth to his wanderlust. "I took out a loan to buy a 40-year-old, 25-foot wooden sailboat
at about the same time," he reminisced. Restoration of the Childish Dreamer would require three years of labor, but the effort resulted in "a boat the looked like new," Klein said with pride.
Klein met his future wife, Susan, in college. A native of Lincoln, WI, she joked: "I grew up on a dairy farm; how I ended up with a sailor I'll never know!"
Following their marriage in 1978, the couple departed Wisconsin in a 1964
Ford pickup truck (their sailboat was
 shipped separately). Heading east, their adventure would eventually take them thousands of miles from the Midwest.
"We took a chance that we would find work," remembered Klein, "and we did.
Susan taught and I found a job within a sail loft. There isn't a formal sail-making school in the United States; it's a matter of apprenticing on the job. Sail-making is very secretive. The formula for
building the shape into a sail is very important and sail-makers keep their cards close to their chest," he related.
"A very subtle shaping is built into the sail that creates a good sail or a bad sail. The
inherent bias stretch of the fabric was used to build shape into the early sails. Today's materials have very little stretch; they are almost
plastic-like," explained Klein.
Sailing south following a two-year stay in Virginia, Klein set his sights on the Florida Keys. "We had $700 when we set sail in early December - a little later in the season than we planned. It was really cold; I had icicles in my beard," laughed Klein. "We made the trip
"for the stories we could tell later," added Susan, quoting a Jimmy Buffet song. Their adventure on the high seas would cover 13,500 miles of water and last 20 years.
The couple took up residence on the
Childish Dreamer, later moving to a 36-foot "sharpie" schooner,
Wavedancer, that Klein designed and built while he and Susan lived in Charleston, South Carolina.
" We worked when we needed money," Klein recalled. "Living on Martha's Vineyard off an on for three years,
Susan was a relief innkeeper and I did custom cabinetry. That was one of our longer stays," said Klein. The birth of their son, Tristan, in 1985, would change little in their lifestyle.
"We home-schooled our son and he did very well," said Klein. "He had some great experiences."
During his tenure at sea, Klein worked as a shipbuilder as well as a custom woodworker.
"I'm from a big family and grew up in a house that was 'always being built.' Building things is something tat comes naturally," he related. Although he worked on the homes of
Diane Sawyer, James Taylor and the owners of Levi Strauss and Co., Klein laments, "I never met any of them."
As their son neared high school age, the couple made a decision that would bring them home to Wisconsin.
"We had been away from home for a long time," explained Susan. "We wanted Tristan to have the stability of attending high school in a community setting. Door County had everything we were looking for - good schools, housing, jobs, and Windsurfing."
Settling into life in Wisconsin, Klein had a plan.
 "My objective was to work for Palmer Johnson Yachts, but they were laying off. So I worked for Great Northern Construction. When PJ was hiring for their next project, I signed on to do cabinetmaking and ended up as an AutoCad draftsman and interior designer for a yacht. At the same time, I was doing sail repair on an old sewing machine I bought when I got married. It still works," Klein said with a smile. "I've made over 60 sails on that machine."
When the possibility of bankruptcy loomed over Palmer Johnson, Klein considered
job offers from across the county, but "decided to stay and make it work. I love it here" it's our home now," he said. "And it did work!"
In a rental space near the Michigan street Bridge, Klein works in a traditional loft space. Ironically, the
space is located in the former Palmer Johnson lofting room where designs for custom yachts were once laid out on the floor. The walls, floor ands ceiling are finished with blue-prints of yachts drawn on wood sheets; his desk is covered with custom designs and graphics.
"It's gone from an engineering loft to a sail loft. There's definitely a connection there," said Klein.
"I am very busy these days. 'Dorsal Sails' does marine upholstery, interior and exterior canvas work, custom sails, and design work. It's turned out well. We're here to stay."
As the sun begins its decline in the sky, Charlie Klein's gaze follows the fading rays. His sails may not be red, but Klein is definitely sailing into the Door County sunset under full sail. |
