The volunteer crew of Polaris, our 1906 gaff sloop (see Sail with Us for more about Polaris) was busy this past weekend getting Polaris ready for the 2010 sailing season. Polaris, along with Pegaus, our 1962 Spaulding 33, take guests out for sails on San Francisco Bay. A total of eight crew rotations will be training and preparing in the next weeks for the upcoming sailing season.

Ivan Davies, Jonah Ward, Jane Davies

Ivan Davies built Auroral in the 1950′s in an old stable in San Francisco. Two other Spaulding 33′s were being built in that stable at the same time, including our Pegasus, built by Michael Schnapp.

Jonah Ward, a staff member of the Spaulding Boatworks, completed the restoration of Auroral. An enthusiastic crowd of over 200 were on hand this past Saturday to celebrate her relaunch.

Ivan told us that Auroral’s original color was white but, given time, he’d get used to her new, bright red hull.

The Spaulding Center’s boats Polaris and Pegasus both competed in yesterday’s Master Mariners Regatta of classic wooden boats on San Francisco Bay. Another Spaulding-designed boat, Chrysopyle, a privately-owned 46′ sloop, also participated in the race. It was a cold and foggy day on the Bay, but Spaulding Center staff, volunteers and friends who served as crew reported they had a great time.

The regatta originated in 1867 in a Fourth of July race among the large coastal schooners, sailing scows and other working boats of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Polaris is a 34 foot gaff-rigged pumpkinseed sloop, built on San Francisco Bay in 1906.

Polaris heading towards starting line off San Francisco waterfront

Pegasus is a Myron Spaulding-designed Spaulding 33, built in San Francisco by Michael Schnapp in 1962.

Pegasus on starboard tack

Pegasus in 2009 Master Mariners Regatta

Chrysopyle was orignally a yawl, designed and built at the Spaulding Boatworks in 1961.

Spaulding-designed sloop Chrysopyle

Competitors after the race at Encinal Yacht Club

Pegasus, our Spaulding 33, will be at the Strictly Sail Show at Jack London Square in Oakland from Wednesday April 15 to Sunday April 19. We’ll be in slip #73 in the Inner Center Basin between Kincaids and Il Pescatore restaurants.

Our volunteers will be representing the center, distributing brochures, selling t-shirts and caps and inviting the public to come to the center for a tour. Contact me if you want to be part of the show. We have free passes for our volunteers.

Web site: Strictly Sail Pacific

Andrea, andrea [at] spauldingcenter [dot] org

Volunteers on Pegasus

Despite looming clouds and a smattering of rain over Sausalito last Saturday, a group of Spaulding Center volunteers took our recently donated Spaulding 33, Pegasus, for a sail across San Francisco Bay. The occasion was the Master Mariners Benevolent Association’s (MMBA) annual spring potluck dinner at the Richmond Yacht Club.

Pegasus at the dock

The crew consisted of Martin (skipper), Steve, Kevin, Max, George and myself. The sail was a great opportunity to meet other Spaulding Center volunteers and get the chance to sail a boat designed by Myron Spaulding.

Myron designed the Spaulding 33 to be easy for homebuilders, and all realizations of his design were built by amateur builders in garages and under backyard tarpaulins. The design calls for a hard chined hull, as you can see in the photos, and uses cut frames and marine plywood, which considerably lessens the skill and tools needed to produce a home-built sailboat. Despite these concessions, the Spaulding 33 has proven to be exceptionally seaworthy and easy to sail, and—not surprisingly for a Myron Spaulding design—competitive on the racing scene, as well. This particular example of a Spaulding 33, Pegasus, was built by Michael Schnapp in San Francisco in 1962 and enjoyed for years by the Schnapp family, who graciously donated Pegasus to the Spaulding Center for others to enjoy.

I recently joined the MMBA, which has a great tradition dating back to 1867 of wooden boat ownership, racing and cruising on the bay and beyond. (Web site: www.mastermariners.org) The MMBA’s annual Master Mariners Regatta of classic wooden yachts each May is one of the highlights of any year’s racing on San Francisco Bay.

The dinner and socializing were expectedly convivial, and I had the chance to greet acquaintances and make a few new friends, as well. The informal events turned to announcements about upcoming events that confirmed expectations for a busy year of Master Mariners activities, which were then followed by an interesting slide show and talk by Mike and Sue Proudfoot, who steered their double-ended 38 foot ketch Farida through Norway, Sweden and Estonia.

We might look a little like wet cats in the photos, but I believe we all had a great time sailing Pegasus and hanging out with like-minded wooden boat and sailing fans on the bay and in Richmond.