Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
!!! hahahahahaha ya gotta love bureaucrats!
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New Boat 4 Sled
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!!! hahahahahaha ya gotta love bureaucrats!
At 9:30 this morning, with police escort lights flashing, Driver Mike with MERLIN in tow made the last turn, gently bottomed out on the boatyard hill, and MERLIN was back home in Santa Cruz after a week long trip from Milwaukee.
Mike had been delayed at Donner Pass Ag Station when an inspector, doing his job, found a Zebra Mussel infestation in the keel box and canting mechanism and quarantined the boat. It took Mike 4 hours to find someone who would hot pressure wash the boat....but he seemed in good humor and no worse for wear, given the size and length of his eye catching cargo.
Three of MERLIN's original 1977 record breaking TransPac crew were on hand for her arrival: Designer/builder Bill Lee, "Bosun" Dave Wahle, and Phil "Cosmic Flush" Vandenberg. As MERLIN was backed into the boatyard for unloading by TraveLift, there was a brief moment of serendipity when MERLIN passed close astern of Bill Lee's first ocean racing boat, the shoal draft, centerboard, John Alden designed, 38' FRIDOLF, on which Bill crewed in Southern California in the mid-60's, and later on Monterey Bay.
There's a lot to be done to make MERLIN ocean worthy again. First up is to locate a used TP-52 keel to replace the canting monstrosity. Bill has feelers out from Canada to Mexico. The "leaky" canard (forward daggerboard) trunk has to be cut out, and glassed over. Even though Bill agreed the forward sloping, carbon fiber, cabin top is not in keeping with the original design, I doubt it is going anywhere soon. There are bigger fish to fry. Ditto MERLIN's graphics, a leftover from when she was sold to a Texas restauranteer.
Everyone was smiling this morning to see MERLIN back home. I'm sure there will be more stories to come.
It's scary out there. We are constantly amazed by the innovation and persistence of SSS skippers to convince the PHRF Handicap Committee that their boat is actually slower than perceived, and needs its rating adjusted upwards to be competitive. Especially true when racing in the same class as those pesky WylieCat 30's.
This owner took his state-of-the-art 24 year old design, spent a morning of hard labor "detuning," and recently went "Trick or Treating" for a new rating. The "Trick" is disguising this 30 foot racer as a family cruiser, barely able to stay ahead of the WetSnails, and is boat-for-boat with the Cal-20's and Tuna 22's. The "Treat" will be if Jim Antrim, PHRF Handicapper, "bites" and falls for the "we carry our fuel in jugs on deck," and "I can't hoist a spinnaker because the rubber dinghy is in the way and my sprit hangs up on the anchor."
Good Job, Sir. However, you may have overplayed your hand. The swim fins and dive bag on the pushpit is a good look. As is the outboard. But the seasick pink flamingo and backstay toilet seat is so over the top, even for a cruiser like myself, that we have serious doubts your ploy will work.
Good Luck anyway, and Happy Halloween to All.
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WBChristie
New member
You know what they say Skip, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Wildflower PHRF 1978 = 162
Wildflower PHRF 2008 = 183
Wildflower PCR 2008 = 208
Westsail 32 PCR 2008 =199
Wildflower PHRF 1978 = 162
Wildflower PHRF 2008 = 183
Wildflower PCR 2008 = 208
Westsail 32 PCR 2008 =199
WBChristie
New member
Apologies if perceived "stones were being cast." The Halloween story was in jest. RAGTIME's creative cruising makeover was her Halloween disguise for the South Bay Cruise-In.
Also apologies if I slighted anyone's boat. No intention there either, except tongue-in-cheek. I tell anyone who asks what a competitive boat for SHTP would be, one that could sail at or near handicapped speed potential off the wind and would get there and back reliably, safely and in comfort... a WestSail is high on the List.
I look forward to Randy's documentary on WestSailing the World.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/westsail-the-world-documentary#/
Most boats I've sailed on or against have nicknames: IOR designs usually had "Dog" appended to their boat name, the partial result of their "lead dog" characteristics. Despite significant differences, WILDFLOWER was from the same hull mold as the HawkFarm Class. For years I smiled when approached and asked "is that a 'HogFart'?"
Good Sailing.
Also apologies if I slighted anyone's boat. No intention there either, except tongue-in-cheek. I tell anyone who asks what a competitive boat for SHTP would be, one that could sail at or near handicapped speed potential off the wind and would get there and back reliably, safely and in comfort... a WestSail is high on the List.
I look forward to Randy's documentary on WestSailing the World.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/westsail-the-world-documentary#/
Most boats I've sailed on or against have nicknames: IOR designs usually had "Dog" appended to their boat name, the partial result of their "lead dog" characteristics. Despite significant differences, WILDFLOWER was from the same hull mold as the HawkFarm Class. For years I smiled when approached and asked "is that a 'HogFart'?"
Good Sailing.
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As a boatlore archeologist, I am fascinated by improbable voyages. When a friend recently told me her grandfather helped build Destroyers in Pittsburgh during WWII, I was skeptical. I was unfamiliar with inland rivers and waterways, and the steel companies that lined the rivers' banks at Pittsburgh. If true, how could they get these heavily armed, narrow and deep, 350 foot warships to saltwater?
The Dravo Corporation in Pittsburg was begun in 1891 by brothers Frank and Richard Dravo. The Dravo brothers. were highly skilled in mechanical engineering and metallurgy, similar to the famous Herreshoffs of steam engine and yacht design fame. The Dravo's expanding company helped design and build the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the early 1930's, also sections of the Los Angeles water aqueduct.
With an increase in inland river traffic in the early 20th Century, in 1919 the Dravo shipbuilding yard was built on Neville Island on the Ohio River, close downstream of the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers at Pittsburgh. Downstream of Neville Island, the Ohio River rarely froze and allowed ship movement even in winter.
In 1929, the Dravo Corporation introduced electrical welding of steel plates for mass producing river barges. This welding technique, along with assembly line prefabrication and mass production, ultimately made rivet construction of ships obsolete, and greatly speeded up shipbuilding, of vital importance for the coming world war.
During WW II, the Dravo Corporation, occupied much of Neville Island and became the lead designer and builder for the Landing Ship Tank (LST), 330 feet long and 50 foot beam, a new class of flat bottomed landing craft that could carry many soldiers and more than twenty tanks and trucks, and, with a fold down bow, land them directly onto a beach. It was the Dravo Corp.'s LSTs that made possible the successful Allied invasions in Italy, Normandy, and all the major island campaigns in the Pacific.
During the the World War II years, Dravo Corp in Pittsburgh built 670 LST's, one every three days, an amazing number. The same was happening at the four Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA, where Liberty and Victory ships were being launched at a rate of three/day, 747 ships in total.
In March 1942 Dravo became the first corporation to receive the Army-Navy Award for outstanding war time production. By then, there were close to 16,000 ship building workers on Neville Island, over 3,000 of whom were women.
Alongside the mass produced LST's, Dravo built 29 Destroyer Escorts (DE's). These were smaller (about 300 feet), less expensive and slower (24 knots) than the larger, full size Destroyers (35 knots). But DE's were of great value hunting down German submarines and escorting convoys, and made a significant impact on winning the war in the Atlantic.
No Destroyers were built in Pittsburgh, just DE's.
The DE's were launched sideways into the Ohio, the first being the U.S.S. JENKS on Sept.11, 1943. The DE's were then towed 2,000 miles out the Ohio and down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and Orange, Texas, where their engines and armament were fitted. Without being fully loaded, the Destroyer Escorts drew about 8 feet of water. Previously, the Ohio had been dredged and made navigable by a series of 51 locks and dams, many built by the Dravo Corp., that allowed 9' of draft to be carried for its full length.
The answer to my mystery question is: the war ships built and launched into the freshwater of the Ohio River at Pittsburgh went west, out the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, south on the Mississippi to New Orleans, and ultimately into the salt water Caribbean.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666503.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666502.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666505.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666507.jpg
After WW II ended, American shipbuilding suffered a massive decline, for the war had produced a glut of ships. In addition, foreign competition eventually spelled doom for an industry that had prided itself on winning the naval war and being part of America's industrial backbone.
For Dravo, the transition back to peacetime was as sudden as the gearing-up had been. Neville Island employment numbers dropped from 16,000 to 1,123. The company continued to prosper, however, by focusing on river transport, specializing in barges and tugboats, and by moving into new lines of business.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Dravo's shipbuilding skills translated into steel fabrication of everything from intake and outtake pipes to steel frame construction to nuclear reactor cores. Despite its many successes, Dravo would not remain an independent company; the last division was sold in 1998.
The Dravo Corporation in Pittsburg was begun in 1891 by brothers Frank and Richard Dravo. The Dravo brothers. were highly skilled in mechanical engineering and metallurgy, similar to the famous Herreshoffs of steam engine and yacht design fame. The Dravo's expanding company helped design and build the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the early 1930's, also sections of the Los Angeles water aqueduct.
With an increase in inland river traffic in the early 20th Century, in 1919 the Dravo shipbuilding yard was built on Neville Island on the Ohio River, close downstream of the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers at Pittsburgh. Downstream of Neville Island, the Ohio River rarely froze and allowed ship movement even in winter.
In 1929, the Dravo Corporation introduced electrical welding of steel plates for mass producing river barges. This welding technique, along with assembly line prefabrication and mass production, ultimately made rivet construction of ships obsolete, and greatly speeded up shipbuilding, of vital importance for the coming world war.
During WW II, the Dravo Corporation, occupied much of Neville Island and became the lead designer and builder for the Landing Ship Tank (LST), 330 feet long and 50 foot beam, a new class of flat bottomed landing craft that could carry many soldiers and more than twenty tanks and trucks, and, with a fold down bow, land them directly onto a beach. It was the Dravo Corp.'s LSTs that made possible the successful Allied invasions in Italy, Normandy, and all the major island campaigns in the Pacific.
During the the World War II years, Dravo Corp in Pittsburgh built 670 LST's, one every three days, an amazing number. The same was happening at the four Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA, where Liberty and Victory ships were being launched at a rate of three/day, 747 ships in total.
In March 1942 Dravo became the first corporation to receive the Army-Navy Award for outstanding war time production. By then, there were close to 16,000 ship building workers on Neville Island, over 3,000 of whom were women.
Alongside the mass produced LST's, Dravo built 29 Destroyer Escorts (DE's). These were smaller (about 300 feet), less expensive and slower (24 knots) than the larger, full size Destroyers (35 knots). But DE's were of great value hunting down German submarines and escorting convoys, and made a significant impact on winning the war in the Atlantic.
No Destroyers were built in Pittsburgh, just DE's.
The DE's were launched sideways into the Ohio, the first being the U.S.S. JENKS on Sept.11, 1943. The DE's were then towed 2,000 miles out the Ohio and down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and Orange, Texas, where their engines and armament were fitted. Without being fully loaded, the Destroyer Escorts drew about 8 feet of water. Previously, the Ohio had been dredged and made navigable by a series of 51 locks and dams, many built by the Dravo Corp., that allowed 9' of draft to be carried for its full length.
The answer to my mystery question is: the war ships built and launched into the freshwater of the Ohio River at Pittsburgh went west, out the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, south on the Mississippi to New Orleans, and ultimately into the salt water Caribbean.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666503.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666502.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666505.jpg
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/images/665/0666507.jpg
After WW II ended, American shipbuilding suffered a massive decline, for the war had produced a glut of ships. In addition, foreign competition eventually spelled doom for an industry that had prided itself on winning the naval war and being part of America's industrial backbone.
For Dravo, the transition back to peacetime was as sudden as the gearing-up had been. Neville Island employment numbers dropped from 16,000 to 1,123. The company continued to prosper, however, by focusing on river transport, specializing in barges and tugboats, and by moving into new lines of business.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, Dravo's shipbuilding skills translated into steel fabrication of everything from intake and outtake pipes to steel frame construction to nuclear reactor cores. Despite its many successes, Dravo would not remain an independent company; the last division was sold in 1998.
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Daydreamer
SAILOR
My first thought was, there is a boat that should be named Nightmare !
Then I got really scared and thought NorCal ORC must have come up with some new MERs.
Will they require us to tether in while using the O.A.T.S.? (open air toilet seat)
All in good fun
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
"Next time I'm adding bow thrusters:"
Bob~
I had a friend that was contemplating the Race to Alaska, but decided against it partially because we couldn't figure out the best way to supply human power.
I will suggest leg holes and fins in our next discussion.
Thanks for a great idea.
Howard
Bob~
I had a friend that was contemplating the Race to Alaska, but decided against it partially because we couldn't figure out the best way to supply human power.
I will suggest leg holes and fins in our next discussion.
Thanks for a great idea.
Howard
BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Howard, I think you'd want gaiters on those.
The next R2AK has the mental gears whirling around here. After our last SSS meeting I listened to Gordie Nash talking with a couple guys about developments in rowing apparatus, conditioning, stroke rates, etc. I shouldn't have been surprised that "simple rowing" is at the same technological level as most sports.
There are some folks taking this very seriously. The proposed rowing times for the race to Ketchikan are well under what Team Elsie Piddock accomplished. I just hope all the technology doesn't ruin the spirit of the event.
The next R2AK has the mental gears whirling around here. After our last SSS meeting I listened to Gordie Nash talking with a couple guys about developments in rowing apparatus, conditioning, stroke rates, etc. I shouldn't have been surprised that "simple rowing" is at the same technological level as most sports.
There are some folks taking this very seriously. The proposed rowing times for the race to Ketchikan are well under what Team Elsie Piddock accomplished. I just hope all the technology doesn't ruin the spirit of the event.
As H. Spruit suggests, figuring out the human power for the R2AK is a challenging exercise. For $500, I had the used oars, sliding seats, foot stretchers, oarlocks and spreaders, and was rowing daily at the local gym. But the geometry wasn't proving right for my narrow catamaran. It would have taken two crew, each positioned near the stern of each hull, pulling one sweep (12' oar) apiece, to move WILDFLOWER at 2 knots in calm conditions.
I consulted with Norton Smith, Piper Dunlop, and Russell Brown. All advocated for considering the pedal power solution, as did Gordie. Norton reported he could pedal the Hobie 20 HEXAGRAM 59 in the '15 R2AK at speeds that created enough apparent wind to use the sails and get the boat moving 5 knots. Norton's visual of pedaling while steering and trimming the spinny sheet was compelling, as was his observation that HEXAGRAM 59 was the fastest R2AK boat under manual propulsion.
Norton generously offered me the Hydro-Cycle from HEXAGRAM 59. But the installation involved cutting into WILDFLOWER's cockpit and bridgedeck, and modifying the Hydro-Cycle to extend the shaft.
The 800 mile R2AK could involve manual propulsion for several hundred miles, even on the fastest of sailcraft like the tris and beachcats. In this year's race, the difference between second and third was a final dash using manual power.
Engineering WILDFLOWER's rowing rig had me occasionally sleepless at 3 a.m., as did finding a capable and committed crew who could take the time for this crazy adventure. In the meantime, I'd built a 5 foot bowsprit for a hypothetical Code Zero, rigged trapezes, secured a satphone with data capability, sewed in a 3rd reef in the main, added 55 pounds of masthead flotation using two WM auto-inflate PFD's, and found a used Etchell's jib to replace my current well thrashed headsail.
I suppose if WILDFLOWER was competitive, more beamy, and suited for the often windy upwind segments of the R2AK in the Straits of Georgia and out Johnstone Straits, and if my wallet would have supported the mods, entry fee, and logistics, I would have pressed ahead with the R2AK. I'm not disappointed to say I've backed off from the R2AK, which had my fire lit for some months. I've met fun and interesting people, made improvements to the boat, gotten in shape, and had the right amount of titillation without becoming all consumed.
Good luck to the 2016 R2AK competitors. We'll be watching.
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Philpott
Cal 2-27 Dura Mater
And the spice rack? Might you have had to relocate it? The more I thought about it, and the more often I looked at that Hobie with its rudder completely out of the water in high wind, the more I began to reconsider encouraging you. After all, what if you flipped Wildflower in those conditions? Aaahhhh!!! You might soak the bedding again. Plus, now maybe you will come lay around the Corinthian Yacht Club deck and wave goodbye to the 2016 Transpackers!
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Since entangling in the 70' red topsail schooner SWIFT of IPSWICH's dolphin striker, it seems the color red has been a magnet in my sailing life. That afternoon as a kid, my Sabot, in the grip of an unseen tidal current, snagged her mast in SWIFT's bowsprit as my attention gazed upwards at a buxom figurehead. Fortunately, the actor Cagney appeared from below, and smiling, freed the tip of my mast and sent me on my distracted way.
More red boats followed over the years. RED WITCH, the 1932 Matt Walsh "Common Sense" design and the star of Balboa Island. RED ROOSTER, Dick Carter's famous 40' sloop that took England by storm and won the 1969 Fastnet Race. IMPROBABLE, David Allen's 42', Gary Mull design, downwind speedster, and AMERICAN EAGLE, Ted Turner's 12 meter, a Bill Luders design and build, and stepping stone to America's Cup fame.
And then there was DANCER. I hadn't thought of DANCER in a long time, not until yesterday when I received a couple of photos from long time SSS supporter Rich Baker asking "what boat is this and when?" Rich's photos showed a smallish, dark hulled, sloop sailing along the undeveloped shores of Tiburon in the background, about where next July's SHTP starts off CYC.
A couple of synapses clicked in my memory. "Why, that's DANCER. Look at that reverse sheer and transom." About the time I was sailing my Sabot under SWIFT of IPSWICH's bowsprit, our father had chartered the same DANCER for a family weekend at Catalina. As kids, we had fun sliding down the reverse sloping stern into the clear waters.
DANCER was red then, bright red, and how could that not make an impression on a budding sailor. In 1951, DANCER was young Bill Lapworth's second design, 32 feet LOA, hard chine forward, and a standout in the day when yacht design was more "traditional."
DANCER led to further Lapworth successes, first as a designer of the L-32 Class, then the L-36, the L-50, and Cal line of boats, including the iconic Cal 40.
Olin Stephens, of Sparkman and Stephens, may have remembered DANCER when Stephens put the reverse transom on his 1958 America's Cup winning 12 meter design, COLUMBIA. Likely it was to reduce weight aft. But when asked, Stephen's reply left the yachting press scratching their heads. "It's so rain drops push the boat forward," was Olin Stephens laconic reply to a YACHTING magazine reporter. It was a very different day and age of technology back then, and Olin's explanation seemed to make nonsensical sense.
In 1953, DANCER came north for that summer's PCYA Regatta, and Rich Baker's father snapped the attached black and white photos. There's another photo of DANCER, with the tall ship BALCUTHA in the background. BALCUTHA had not yet been purchased by the San Francisco Maritime Museum (1954), and she is seen aground in the mud, off the Madden and Lewis wharf in Sausalito.
The last photo is again DANCER, all prettied up and 4 SALE in Newport in 2013, 60 years later. Bill Lee sent that photo, and asked, "Do you know what boat this is??"
Pretty DANCER.
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Dazzler
m/v PACIFIC LOON
Skip,
Is the L-32 the same as the Dasher-32? As I recall Hank Easom built a few Dashers in Sausalito. They also had a reverse sheer. As for the first photo of DANCER, I recognize the location in Raccoon Strait. That's Paradise Drive and Elephant Rock in the background.
Interesting to see the changes made to DANCER over time: added for'deck hatches and Dorades; moved winches off the mast and halyards led aft; new pulpit and lifelines; roller furling jib; AND the addition of big windows in the cabin front in place of the ports. Do you know what was the hull construction type? The hard chine suggests plywood, but it could have been strip planked.
Interesting also to see how far aft the mast was. Such a big fore triangle was pretty radical. And look at those sails! I wonder who made that main with those narrow panels? Given the date I suppose those are cotton sails. Could that have been Hood with his pillowcase loom? I don't remember when Hood started making his own cloth.
Nice post.
Tom
Is the L-32 the same as the Dasher-32? As I recall Hank Easom built a few Dashers in Sausalito. They also had a reverse sheer. As for the first photo of DANCER, I recognize the location in Raccoon Strait. That's Paradise Drive and Elephant Rock in the background.
Interesting to see the changes made to DANCER over time: added for'deck hatches and Dorades; moved winches off the mast and halyards led aft; new pulpit and lifelines; roller furling jib; AND the addition of big windows in the cabin front in place of the ports. Do you know what was the hull construction type? The hard chine suggests plywood, but it could have been strip planked.
Interesting also to see how far aft the mast was. Such a big fore triangle was pretty radical. And look at those sails! I wonder who made that main with those narrow panels? Given the date I suppose those are cotton sails. Could that have been Hood with his pillowcase loom? I don't remember when Hood started making his own cloth.
Nice post.
Tom
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pogen
Sailing canoe "Kūʻaupaʻa"
Lone sailor, 1958
Peter Tangvald (aboard yawl Windflower). Supplementary material reads: “Gershon. City Desk. Illus. Lone Sailor. Peter Tangvald, 34, shown seated in Panama native dugout he bought to replace dinghy he carried as lifeboat on board 45-foot yawl Windflower. He is also shown in Sextant only navigational instrument other than wrist watch he has on six thousand mile sea voyage alone in Windflower. He arrived here yesterday after year-and-half voyage from England and is shown at Henry’s Landing, Terminal Island, Los Angeles harbor”.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961
Sleeve Number 12479-007
Peter Tangvald (aboard yawl Windflower). Supplementary material reads: “Gershon. City Desk. Illus. Lone Sailor. Peter Tangvald, 34, shown seated in Panama native dugout he bought to replace dinghy he carried as lifeboat on board 45-foot yawl Windflower. He is also shown in Sextant only navigational instrument other than wrist watch he has on six thousand mile sea voyage alone in Windflower. He arrived here yesterday after year-and-half voyage from England and is shown at Henry’s Landing, Terminal Island, Los Angeles harbor”.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961
Sleeve Number 12479-007
DAZZLER wrote ,
Is the L-32 the same as the Dasher-32? As I recall Hank Easom built a few Dashers in Sausalito. They also had a reverse sheer.
Tom,
I was only aware of the Lapworth 32's in Southern California, all built in the early 1950's There were four: DANCER (Dick Stewart), MADCAP (Dudley Jarrett), VIXEN (Frank Rice), and DASHER (Warren Blinn). They were strip planked, built by Carl Chapman, and all had different sterns. DANCER and DASHER had reverse transoms, MADCAP's was vertical, and VIXEN's was traditional.
I understand Hank Easom built four 32 foot "Dashers", the first in 1959, and the first boats Hank built at his new yard in Sausalito.. One was named BABY GRAND. The fourth Dasher, SERENADE, Hank built for himself.
DANCER was a bit different than the Dashers. Essentially the same hull, the Dashers had their masts further forward. I'm not sure they had chines. It would be interesting to ask Hank what he remembers of these boats and whether his Dashers were the same as the L-32's in Southern CA.
Is the L-32 the same as the Dasher-32? As I recall Hank Easom built a few Dashers in Sausalito. They also had a reverse sheer.
Tom,
I was only aware of the Lapworth 32's in Southern California, all built in the early 1950's There were four: DANCER (Dick Stewart), MADCAP (Dudley Jarrett), VIXEN (Frank Rice), and DASHER (Warren Blinn). They were strip planked, built by Carl Chapman, and all had different sterns. DANCER and DASHER had reverse transoms, MADCAP's was vertical, and VIXEN's was traditional.
I understand Hank Easom built four 32 foot "Dashers", the first in 1959, and the first boats Hank built at his new yard in Sausalito.. One was named BABY GRAND. The fourth Dasher, SERENADE, Hank built for himself.
DANCER was a bit different than the Dashers. Essentially the same hull, the Dashers had their masts further forward. I'm not sure they had chines. It would be interesting to ask Hank what he remembers of these boats and whether his Dashers were the same as the L-32's in Southern CA.
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It's sad to see the end of an historic vessel, especially one so loved as the 77 foot, 1942 tug WILLIAM B, Newport Harbor's most recognizable profile.
WILLIAM B., owned and restored by a childhood friend, burned and sank at her mooring in Newport Harbor a week ago, a total loss. This morning she was refloated and towed out of the Harbor for the last time, to be dismantled in San Pedro. That's a big pump on her fantail in the above photo, keeping her afloat on her outbound voyage.
WILLIAM B was to be the Commodore's Flagship for the 100th Anniversary of Newport Harbor Yacht Club in 2017.
A salute to a fine wooden ship.
The story of WILLIAM B was featured in the Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-1105-tugboat-follow-20151104-story.html
http://www.newportbeachmagazine.com/a-different-kind-of-luxury/
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chautauqua
New member
Skip, Do you recognize the schooner in the background of the photo of the WILLIAM B ?oiiiiiiiiiiiAZ)___########@ (This last bit was typed by my cat FLOW as she came to sit on my warm laptop keyboard ha ha...)