Gibban

A blog reader asked us about design #59, the schooner Santana: " When was the rig changed to a staysail schooner ?" Here's a brief chronology: Santana in fact began her life as a staysail schooner, launched in 1935 by the Wilmington Boat Works. In 1942 she was converted to a yawl rig (as seen above) but her main mast was not increased in height and as a result she was sorely under-canvassed. She was configured as a yawl during the time her most famous owner, Humphrey Bogart, owned her. After numerous owners (I count 11), she was on the market for the 12th time when sadly, in 1977 she sank at the dock in San Fransisco. She was purchased by Paul Kaplan, owner of a San Fransisco Bay boatyard, and underwent a complete refit. It was at this time she was converted back into a staysail schooner, after 35 years as a yawl. Kaplan still owns the boat and she is in perfect condition. Interestingly the old mizzen mast now serves as a flagpole at Kaplan's home. Here it is.

Canoeing recently toward Seattle's Salmon Bay in misty conditions, I began to experience an unsettling feeling of déjà vu. Not being able to define what was causing it, I was left with a sense of unease. Had I turned off the car lights before I left? Then quite suddenly it sprang to mind. I was transported to Deception Pass, then moments later to Sun-moon Lake in Taiwan. The se places, while far apart, were being pulled together in my mind by the mist in the air. Salmon Bay Seattle in fog  Our visit to Deception Pass had been to capture images for a magazine article. At Sun-moon Lake I was teaching a class on kayaking technique. Here in Ballard we had come out for fresh air and to see what interesting ships might have docked since our last visit. But despite the very different circumstances I felt  a very visceral connection between the three times and places. Ballard Bridge and Fisherman's Terminal  Yet the mist in the air was quite different in each case. Why should I s...

The owner of Cyane, design #1366, was kind enough to send us this current image of the boat. She's a beauty. Thanks for sending the photo.

Back in February we posted an article about the Sagitta 35. An owner sent us these nice images of Tiny Tin Two, which has been in their family for 36 years. Nice, clean looking boat. Thanks for sending the images.

An owner was kind enough to send us these recent images of Barunita. See the posting of February 10, 1011 by clicking here. Thanks very much for sending these.

I snapped this image of Valencia which I came upon in a shed up in Rockport, Maine a couple of weeks ago. She still looks to be in great shape. We posted an article about her back in April. Here's an article from Yachting magazine from 1959 that we found in the files. Please double click for zoom.