The Revenue Cutter Californian Nears her by Steve Christman, Director, Nautical Heritage Museum of Dana Point
Jay Hazell of Bequia , master shipwright , has built boats fo r 53 years. His traditional skills shape the vessel for active voyaging to reach tradirional values of seafaring.
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Memorial Day, May 28, will see the launch at Spanish Landing, San Diego, of the Californ ian-a " 12 inches to the foot " recreation of an 1849 Revenue Marine Cutter. The Na utical Heritage Museum of Dana Point is building the Californian to restore to our shores the grace, beauty and indom itab le spirit of the single Revenue Marine Cutter that maintained law and order along the Californian coast during the frenzy of the Gold Rush . And the proud cutter sa iling tradition will be revived as young cadets board th e Californ ian to learn her story. .. and to sa il her! The citizen-supported ship has been desi gnated to represent the State of California at the 1984 Olympics, leading the Jul y 4 " Topsail -84" parade, and she will also represent Cali fornia at Opsail -86 in New York Harbor honoring the IOOth birthday of the Statue of Libe rty. Much research was done by Melbourne Smith (see SH30, " Master Builder") , naval architect and builde r of the Californian , and members of the Museum to determ ine what kind of vessel would be most app ropriate for sa il-training. All effo rts seemed to lead us to the same conclu sion: the Revenue Marine Cutters were to small sailing vessels, what the Ameri can clippers were to large ships- the ultimate in the evolution of sa il prior to the adve nt of steam . From th e beginning of th e United States Revenue Service in 1790 when Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton commissioned ten small cutters at $1,000 each, the Revenue Cutters played a vi tal role in our nation's earl y maritime hi story. Fast
enough to catch privateers smuggling goods into th e new country, these earl y Revenue Cutters began collecting import duties th at helped e nab le our struggling young nation to repay its Revolutionary War debt. After the War of 1812 came the fastest , gra ndest evolutio n of the cutter class , and the Lawrence, exempl ary of this latter-day Revenue Cutter, was chosen as a model for the
Californian. Last Fall , at ceremonies held at the US Coast Guard base on Terminal Island , Rear Admiral Alfred P. Manning, Commander of the E leventh Distri ct, presented us with a West Coast lumber schooner's wheel , a symbol of the pride we al1feel in representing the Revenue Marine Service, predecessor of today 's Coast Guard. Four young sai lors accepted the wheel on behalfofthe Californian , representing some of the groups which will sail as cadets once our sh ip is at sea- Yacht Club Juniors, NROTC Midshipmen, Sea Mariners , Sea Explorers, and Navy League Sea Cadets. The California Assembly and Senate voted unanimously last spring to designate the Californian the State's Official Tallship Ambassador. We recogni ze th at in accepting this offic ial status, we have also assumed a significant res po nsibility-to m ai nt a in a level of quality and profess ionalism in th e ship a nd he r operation that will reflect well on the State of California. Even more exciting th an the Californians ro le as goodwill ambassador for the State of California and the US Coast Guard , however will be her role as a unique sailtraining vessel for the yo uth of California.
SEA HISTORY, SUMMER 1984