HONORING OLIN (13 April 1908-13 September 2008)

L-R: Olin J. Stephens,
brother Roderick Jr &
 father Roderick Stephens Sr.
Photo Sept. 1931
at a parade up Broadway in New York,
 to praise their victory with yacht 
DORADE
on the Trans-Atlantic race to
Plymouth, Eng.

Olin J. Stephens II, America's preeminent yacht designer of the twentieth century was honored with the opening of a special exhibit at Mystic Seaport in 2008. He was a longtime friend and supporter of the Museum. It is housed in the Cruising Club of America's Olin J. Stephens II Reading Room in the Museum's G.W. Blunt White Building. It opened to the public in celebration of Stephens 100th birthday in 2008.
      Widely recognized as the most respected, admired, and accomplished yacht designer of the 20th century, Stephens once said, "I was lucky, I had a goal. As far back as I can remember, I wanted to design fast boats." And this is exactly what he did. He began his career at the age of 19 working as an apprentice for successful 6-meter yacht designer Phillip Rhodes. On 11 November 1929, the 21-year-old Stephens joined forces with well-known yacht broker Drake Sparkman and Sparkman & Stephens, Inc., was formed.

Winning Yawl DORADE

4 July 1931

Newport, RI, just before the start of

the Transatlantic Race to Plymouth, Eng.

Acme Photo original photo

from the archives of

Saltwater People Historical Society©

The naval architecture and yacht design firm's first major design — a yacht named Dorade — won the much-publicized 1931 Trans-Atlantic Race. She then went on to win the 1936 TransPac, finishing first in class and first overall. A new era of yacht design had begun.
      Stephens's name is most often associated with the prestigious America's Cup Race. In 1937, he collaborated with W. Starling Burgess to design the Super-J, Ranger, which was later selected to defend the Cup after only seven races. Sparkman & Stephens went on to design many of the most revered 12-Meters that raced for the Cup, including Columbia, Constellation, Freedom, Intrepid, and Courageous. In 1993, Stephens and his winning designs were honored when he was inducted into America's Cup Hall of Fame.
      When not designing yachts, Olin Stephens and his colleagues spent their time designing all other types of boats — from amphibious assault vehicles and patrol craft for World War II— to timeless vessels such as Mystic Seaport's own schooner yacht Brilliant. He also proceeded to give himself to the sport well beyond his professional activity. Stephens has been a member of the New York Yacht Club since 1930 and also a member of, or consultant to, the International Yacht Racing Union Keelboat Committee since 1963. He headed the committee which developed the International Offshore Rule and was active in the creation and maintenance of the International Measurement System.
      Stephens was honored with numerous awards throughout his career which have recognized his indelible contributions to sailing. On 15 November 2006, Mystic Seaport named him the first recipient of the Museum's prestigious America and the Sea Award — an honor that recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the maritime world. "This award honors and celebrates America's relationship to the sea and the spirit of exploration, adventure, competition, and freedom that inspires us all. Olin embodies everything this award symbolizes," said Douglas Tesson, Museum president and director.
      Stephens designed more than 2,000 boats throughout his career, many of which still grace the water today. After eight decades of brilliant work, he left a lasting impact on the maritime community. His numerous designs, contributions, and commitment to the worlds of yacht racing and cruising are cherished, as was he.
Newsletter from Mystic Seaport. Sept. 2008.

Olin J. Stephens wrote his autobiography, All This and Sailing Too, in 2000.

When the Stephens family sold Dorade, she came to the west coast of the US and kept sailing, very well indeed. 

❖ CROP MOVEMENTS AND A SOCIAL HALL ❖

 

The S.S. ISLANDER

Built in 1904 by J.A. Scribner

at Newhall, Orcas Island, WA.

Fate: sold to Mexico.

From the archives of the 

Saltwater People Historical Society©

Above clips from the Friday Harbor Journal
with dates from 1911.

S.S. ROSALIE
ON 111022
Built in 1893.
Here she stops at West Sound, Orcas Island,
(postmarked 1908)
and Richardson, Lopez Island, undated,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
Click the image to enlarge.
From the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

"In the newly settled San Juan Islands crop movements became a life support system to steamers like the Rosalie and the Islander. Settlers had broken ground on Decatur, Blakely, Stuart, and Waldron Islands, all virtually deserted today but settled enough by 1900 to warrant post offices. Most island crops were grown on the bigger islands: Shaw, Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan, cultivated by homesteaders from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Scotland, and Canada. Others arrived fresh from the worked-out goldfields of California or the riffles of the Fraser River. Captains on vessels loading spars for Falmouth and Brest returned to come ashore and "swallow the anchor." Other island settlers were Civil War veterans [such as Oscar Fowler and Isaiah Jones, the latter the father to San Juan County sheriff Newton Jones] and Midwest farmers beaming at the misty rains.
      In 1900, Island County boasted its population had soared 40 percent during the past decade. Stripped of boosterism, that still meant a population of only 3,000. But the newcomers were prodigal producers.
        Island apples became as popular as today's harvest from Yakima and Wenatchee, soon to begin bearing fruit and deny the islanders' dreams of becoming the "Apple Basket of America." Wagons rattled their way to island docks laden with fruits, dairy products, grains, and beef and lamb.
By the turn of the century, another bounty—along with the lime mined on San Juan Island—was making its way to market on the steamers. Drawn by the closeby migratory routes of salmon, fish traps, reefnetters, and boatsmen were bringing in a rich harvest. One Friday Harbor cannery alone packed 50,000 cases in a single year.
      Vashon Island shipped berries, greenhouse tomatoes, and cucumbers. Steamers stopped to load cases of eggs that were to win national blue ribbons.
      On Whidbey Island, Langley and Coupeville docks creaked with movements of provender for Everett and Seattle, including potatoes grown by Chinese farmers and sacks of wheat harvested by Dutchmen who, until soils became depleted, harvested
record-breaking yields of wheat (117 bushels per acre in 1892.)
      The San Juan Islanders became the first on the Sound and its ancillary waters to become wedded to the steamer. Most were landlubbers, but they relaxed aboard workhorses like the Islander and the Rosalie.
      Islanders had watched some of these being built by their skipper owners on crude ways in a tideland clearing. To the islanders, the steamer was a truck, an ambulance, a school bus, a hearse, and a bearer of mail and visitors. Best of all it was a social hall where, in the warmth of a cabin, coffee could be shared and loneliness melted as the blue-black shores of the islands flowed by."

Jim Faber. Steamer's Wake. Enetai Press, Seattle. 1985.

CANVAS SAILS ARE RED—— VIOLETS ARE BLUE——

February is the month for red and here we have total beauty sneaking past Blakely Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA., as we slip into the first of February.
Thank you sailor for coming this way.

Lots of beautiful Red Canvas through the mist,

but no wind.

It was a gray day until

this sailor came through.

In calm passage past Blakely Island 
closing out 31 January 2021.

Thank you to L.A. Douglas 
for these beautiful shots of a 
bright splash for a misty, gray day in
the San Juan Archipelago, WA.