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West Coasting It

Growing up on the Maine coast, it would be easy to assume the place is the holy land of traditional and classic boats. It’s easy to forget that there are boatbuilding traditions on waterfronts everywhere, even along the metropolitan shores of California.

Thanks as much to his affiliation with the publishing world as to his appetite for the art and science of wooden boats, Mr. Bray’s adventures took him to the West Coast numerous times throughout the 1980s and 90s, on assignment for WoodenBoat Magazine and as Ben Mendlowitz’s collaborator on the Calendar of Wooden Boats.

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park was a hub of ship preservation and restoration, which of course drew his attention and echoed his own earlier experiences as shipyard supervisor at Mystic Seaport. When Maynard visited there in 1983 to attend a symposium on historical vessel preservation, shipwright and historian Harry Dring was at the end of a long and similar tenure. Dring had directed the restoration of the National Maritime Museum’s historic fleet and was scheduled to speak on the subject.

During that same trip, Maynard caught sight of the late great German pilot schooner Wander Bird, which survived a 1930s trip around Cape Horn, only to sink in a collision with a container ship on the Elbe River in 2013. (She rebounded: after being restored, she went on to serve as a floating museum near Hamburg, Germany.)

A year later, Mendlowitz and Bray sailed aboard the Herreshoff ketch Quiet Tune out of Newport Beach with owner Dan Carter (she was built by Hodgdon Brothers in Boothbay, Maine, but was berthed in California at the time). While there, the pair saw many examples of fine craftmanship and living history, owing partly to the presence of expert restorationist Wayne Ettel and his crew, who were kept in constant motion by classic boat owners in the area.

Another two years went by and Maynard returned, this time to LA and nearby harbors, where he visited the successful DIY design and kit-boat company Glen-L Marine. They’re still around today in 2023; their in-house designs, patterns and pieces have helped many amateur boatbuilders realize their dreams on a modest budget. He crossed paths with Wayne Ettel once again, who’d moved his center of operations north from Newport Beach and converted the old Navy tug, Fleets Point, into a floating workshop at San Pedro (Ettel would go on to help establish the Maritime Preservation Trust, an LA-based nonprofit which builds community and reinvigorates local history by teaching seamanship and boatbuilding).

In successive trips, Bray and Mendlowitz traversed similar ground, catching up on new developments in the southern California wooden boat scene, and catching sight of many noteworthy vessels.

PMM thanks Maynard Bray, Dave Ruberti, and Shameem Highstreet for their generous contributions of time in describing these photographs.

The 204' steam schooner Wapama sits high and dry for a restoration which never happened. However, her lines were taken, drawings were made, and thorough documentation was written while she was on the ways. This massive vessel was built in 1915 by the St. Helens Shipbuilding Company in St. Helens, Oregon for the lumber trade.
The scow schooner Alma (foreground) & the steam schooner Wapama are seen here at dockside at Sausalito.
Harry Dring aboard the schooner Wapama at the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Museum. Dring supervised the care and preservation of the State of California's fleet of historic ships, including C. A. Thayer and Wapama.
The 85' schooner Wander Bird was built by Gustav Junge in Hamburg, Germany, in 1883 as Elbe No. 5. Her career included a couple of major restorations, several decades as a pilot schooner, private ownership, a trip around Cape Horn, and sinking on a German river. At the time of the photo, she was privately owned by Harold Sommer, who had recently carried out a landmark restoration.
The 68’ topsail ketch Argus lies at the dock in Newport Beach, California. She was built at the turn of the 20th century and initially carried cargo around the Baltic and Scandinavia. Later, private owners brought her to Newport Beach, where she was enlisted as a training vessel for the Sea Scouts. After 35 years of these adventures, she was condemned by the Coast Guard when dry rot was found in her bow. Plans were made, then abandoned, to restore her in the 2000s.
The 67’ Sparkman & Stephens yawl Chubasco lies tied up at the dock in Newport Beach in 1984. Chubasco is a rock star emeritus of the California racing scene. Over many years, Wayne Ettel and his crew have kept her in tiptop shape.
Friends of Dan Carter (Carter in center, at tiller) enjoy a light-air sail aboard his Herreshoff keel ketch Quiet Tune out of Newport Beach in February of 1984.
The 62' 6" 12 meter sloop Newsboy (ex Heritage) was designed by Charles Morgan and built in 1970 by Morgan Yachts, Clearwater, Florida. Seen here on her mooring in Newport Beach. She was created as a candidate to defend the America’s Cup, but wasn’t selected.
Photographer Maynard Bray (left) stands with Glen L. naval architect and draftsman Ken Hankinson, who did much of the designing for Glen L. Marine in Los Angeles. Glen L still sells plans, kit boats, and patterns to amateur boatbuilders today in 2023.
California boatbuilder Wayne Ettel built this floating workshop aboard the ex-Navy tug Fleets Point.
The ex-Navy tug Fleets Point, which California boatbuilder Wayne Ettel converted to a floating workshop in San Pedro.
A builder at Sierra Boat Company on Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe, installs new battens that will back up the seams of the topside planking on this runabout.
Anne (at left) and Maynard Bray went for a lively sail aboard the sailing replica Nuovo Mundo, owned by SF National Maritime Park, thanks to Douglas Brooks (right) who had charge of the boat. One of Ben Mendlowitz’s photos of her under sail made the cover of the 1990 Calendar of Wooden Boats.
The Fife-designed and built schooner Astor is shown here at Newport Beach, California, in 1991. She was built in Scotland and delivered to Australia for a Sydney physician named McCormick in 1922-23. Her first-class origins are plain to see in the elegant teak deck and impeccable woodwork on the skylights; this was typical of Fife yachts. The 1994 Calendar of Wooden Boats featured Astor, a photo Ben Mendlowitz took during this trip while Astor was underway.
An overview shot of 48’ 9” Yawl Pacifica, while she is dockside in San Diego, California, 1991. She was designed by Sparkman & Stephens, and built in 1947 by Henry B. Nevins at City Island, New York. She was then and is still owned by Doug Jones, a skilled shipwright, though Jones now (2023) keeps her in Port Townsend, Washington, where he’s based.
The 81’ Motor yacht Portola was designed by D.M. Callis and built by Harbor Boat Building in Los Angeles, California, in 1929. She’s shown here at anchor in Catalina in 1996. The 1998 Calendar of Wooden Boats featured this handsome vessel.
The 61’ Schooner Dauntless was designed by John G. Alden and built by Dauntless Shipyard in Essex, Connecticut, in 1930. Here she’s shown sailing off of San Diego in 1996. She too was featured in the 1998 CWB.
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