A Brief History of Alex Bell
Alex Bell was a life long sailor. Alex’s first boat was ALSANAL. Built in 1959, she made numerous trans-Atlantic passages, was in the charter business in Turkey, and is now chartering in the South Pacific. Alex’s first circumnavigation aboard ALSANAL started in 1961 and ended in 1965.
ALSANAL’s successor, ALSANAL TOO, had an identical rig since the Alex had an extra suit of sails; however, she was 52′ on deck. At the last moment, her plans were altered from steel to ferro-cement, and she was built in Ecuador. Alex made a second circumnavigation aboard ALSANAL TOO that started in 1972 and lasted until 1978, the average age of the crew being in the 70′s.
Along with the voyages, Alex also published two books about his adventures at sea. The books are basically excerpts from the ships log book that have been woven into interesting stories about sailing and his life at sea. His first book was titled Sailing Into Adventure and was the bigger of the two books. His daughter Alice sailed with him on different legs of the trips, when she just a little kid.
Alex Bell was in his seventies and in bad health when he moved to Moscow, Idaho to live with his daughter Alice. He came down to the Valley to several of the LCSA meetings and gave presentations about his sailing adventures. After his passing, the Lewis-Clark Sailing Association decided to name the annual spring regatta in his memory.
