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Pilot Schooner GRACIE S
O.N. 86275
New home port, Seattle, WA.
Also known to flirt with mariners in the San Juan Islands.
Dated 1949 photo by Kenneth G. Ollar©
Original photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S. |
Find a lad whose heart wouldn't be captured by such an advertisement appearing in this day and age. However, that's no imaginary ad. That very sign appears in the window today of the downtown business establishment of E. Edison Kennell, Jr.
And, 20 June, the 97-ft schooner GRACIE S. will shove off from the Seattle Yacht Club with a crew of teenage lads. There will be no timetable. For two weeks they just go where the wind blows.
Only a few years ago the most venturesome lads found their big thrill in running off to sea on a sailing ship. Such storied vessels have all but disappeared from the high seas, yet this thrilling adventure is to be born again, here in Seattle.
Kennell recently purchased GRACIE S, for 50 years a pilot schooner off San Francisco Bay, and refitted her as a sea-going school for lads 14 to 18 years of age.
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| GRACIE S Courtesy of John Kennell© |
It's an adventure that Kennell will thrill in as much as will the boys, for GRACIE S is a perfect replica of the old traders. She is one of the most seaworthy vessels afloat, and though everything aboard her has been kept old fashioned for atmosphere, she has all the modern conveniences––a big Diesel engine, steam heat throughout, showers, an electric galley, and complete radio equipment, consisting of a transmitter and receiver and radio-direction finder, bringing a lad as close to his parents as the nearest telephone.
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Privateer Ted Rogers, age 14,
at the helm of the famous Schooner GRACIE S.
William Donley, aft, the nav instructor.
Strait of Juan de Fuca, 1949.
Photo by Kennell-Ellis©
Original photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S.
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Any boy between the permitted ages, who can swim and has a love for the sea, is eligible to take part in one or more of the five two-week cruises scheduled for this summer. The only cost is sharing the expenses of food, fuel, and the cook's wages.
Monday, 20 June, GRACIE S. will leave for her first cruise––to Princess Louisa Inlet. Every other Monday another two-week trip will be leaving, visiting Barkley Sound and Hot Springs Cove, Butte Inlet, a trip around Vancouver Island and a visit to Knight's Inlet, all in British Columbia waters.
Drills and schooling will occupy the first few days of each cruise. Then the "Privateers" will sail into the ocean, then back to the coast, and the particular destination of that trip. Almost every night the hook will be dropped and the lads will go ashore and beach comb and fish and visit many coastal BC communities.
Above text by Bob Sutton for the Seattle Times, 17 April 1949.
July 1949:
Ed Kennell, Jr. and the privateers on GRACIE S stopped off at the Lopez Yacht Club on their two-week cruise through the islands en route to Princess Louisa Inlet, BC.Orcas Islander Newspaper, 7 July 1949
November 1964:
Fate: Sadly, WANDERER (ex-GRACIE S.) wrecked when she struck a reef off Rangiroa Island, 200 miles northeast of Tahiti in November 1964. She was en route to Panama. All hands were rescued. Her last owners were Omer Darr and Joe Price of Bartlesville, OK.
My dad sailed on the Gracie S as a deck hand with Sterling Hayden in the late 50's. I have a whole slide tray of photos from those trips.
ReplyDeleterandomauto@yahoo.com
My Grandfather, Lew Dodd of Yellow Island, was friends with E. Edison Kennell (aka Ed Kennell). Ed Kennell purchased the Gracie S. from Sterling Hayden (Hollywood Actor) in 1946 and Ed retrofitted the sailing schooner as a "sea-going school for lads". Grandpa sailed during the summers as additional crew aboard the Gracie S. Circumnavigating Vancouver Island, going up to Barkley Sound, Princess Louisa Inlet,and visiting old Coastal Indian Villages virtually untouched by western man. Grandpa had a small miniature painting of the Gracie S. framed by a miniature lifesaving ring that hung beside his bunk on Yellow Island. That miniature painting now lives with my son in Seattle, but the stories live on. Sterling Hayden originally bought the Gracie S. in 1946...then sold her to Ed Kennell for $7000 in 1949...then Sterling repurchased the Gracie S. from Ed Kennell for $20,000 in 1955 and renamed her Wanderer...and Sterling in the middle of a custody battle...planned an escape from San Franscico with his 4 children, basically abducting them in an intensely well thought-out plan. Sailed out beyond the 12 miles USA boundary, hove to and said..."hey kids...we are sailing to Tahiti" and off they went. The autobiographical story can be read today, titled: "Wanderer". The schooner foundered on a reef off Rangiroa Island, 200 miles NE of, Tahiti, November 7, 1964 and sank. Owner at that time was Omar Darr. No souls lost.
ReplyDeleteI just submitted a comment on the Gracie S. article...and I misspelled Omer Darr's name. Could you please correct the spelling of his name. I found his obituary, and the correct spelling is Omer not (Omar). Thank you. Becky K.
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