In the Spotlight: Louie Fallon

Anyone who has been a part of the San Pedro sailing scene for the last 20 years or so almost certainly knows Louie Fallon, the amiable, always smiling owner of the 1965 Robb 35 sloop Walkabout, built by Cheoy Lee.

Most of us who know Louie regard him as a highly knowledgeable, competent mariner with many years of coastal sailing experience under his belt. However, like many of us who are transplants to the South Bay area, his earlier years were spent inland, at least an hour from the beaches, marinas and ocean mist. Louie was raised in West Covina, so his early visits to the coast were limited to weekend trips with his family, which did not include sailing adventures, much less on a family-owned boat.

Today, Louie works as a web infrastructure manager, steeped in the minutiae of the high-tech world, all the more reason to own a stress-releasing, ocean-going sailboat capable of handling any kind of weather short of a hurricane – and maybe even that. Louie and his wife Sally live close to the marina, so no matter how stressful his workday may be at times, he is literally only a few minutes away from his sanctuary, Walkabout.

Like most of us coastal cruisers, Louie started out learning to sail on smaller boats, most memorably a Cal 20, on which he enjoyed many years of racing and local cruising. In 2011, he finally moved up to his classic sloop with the intention of sailing her locally along the Southern California coast and out to the Channel Islands.

After acquiring Walkabout, he spent a few years cruising the coast but is now taking time out from his sailing adventures to rebuild and reinforce the teak decks and interior woodwork before venturing out of Los Angeles Harbor for more coastal cruising.

Louie’s demanding work schedule has pulled him away from boat maintenance and yielded a somewhat challenging set of tasks, from repairing or replacing old decking to reinstalling various pieces of deck hardware and so on. Long stretches of time vacillating from cold, wet winters to hot, dry summers can wreak havoc on wood, which requires constant attention and maintenance.

On a recent visit to his boat, Louie and I discussed ideas for some of the major repairs needed before we can buddy boat over to Catalina Island, he on Walkabout and I on my Cal 30 sloop Saltaire. Louie ran his hands over some of the gobs of teak forming much of the cabin interior and rear deck area, knowing well the immediate maintenance challenges facing him, plus regular upkeep farther down the line. The diesel engine has not been started for a while, so it will probably require at least some minimal attention, along with a new starter battery, to get it back in running order.

But none of this fazes Louie. As we walked around the rear and forward decks on his boat recently, we both pointed out areas for repair and possible strategies for improving everything from the layout of rope rigging to beefing up the steering system to ensure safe handling in coastal and offshore conditions.

Louie examined the peeling paint on his manual anchor windlass, a classic Simpson Lawrence Seatiger 555, arguably the best manual windlass ever made. To lighten up the mood, I jokingly pointed out, “Paint doesn’t pull up anchors. Gears do.”

“That’s right,” Louie laughed. “And all the gears inside are in perfect condition. All I need to do is change the gear oil. I can scrape, sand and paint this windlass in little time,” he said with a long look at the bronze and aluminum beast bolted to the foredeck.

Aside from maintenance, Louie has been studying charts of the North Pacific, mulling over the idea of a sail first to Ensenada and down the Baja coast, and then perhaps a crossing later to Hawaii. He has even entertained the idea of a full Pacific crossing to Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. He intends to complete the refit of Walkabout within the foreseeable future and equip her with the latest in electronic communication and navigation equipment, including VHF and SSB radios, EPIRB, AIS, a depth sounder and  chartplotter.

A few white clouds that had been hovering over the marina gradually cleared, revealing a pure blue sky. Louie picked up a bronze deck cleat, studied the light green patina and set it down carefully in a box of parts. Musing over the long task ahead, Louie, always positive and optimistic, declared with a big smile, “It will get done!”