SHIP OF THE ISSUE
The Brig Pilgrim: The Old and the New by Captain Raymond Wallace To those readers who have not read Two Years Before the Richard Henry Dana, son of a wealthy shipowner, chose to Mast (and shame on you), the little brig that was featured in ship as a seaman in the brig bound for California via Cape the great American classic by Richard Henry Dana was Horn. With a talent for writing, Dana created an informaindeedpart ofthe Cape Horn saga ofsailing ships boundfor tive report of severe discipline practiced by a ruthless capthe West Coast of North America and the Orient. The tain and gave us a colorful picture of the anchoring holes Pilgrim, a "snow brig" of some 150 tons, was sent to the and ports of California then under Spanish rule. California coast in 1835 by Massachusetts leather merOne hundred thirty-eight years later, in early 1973, chants to buy cattle hides from the Spanish Dons and Captain Raymond Wallace, a noted maritime artist, histomissions. rian and naval architect, seized upon a unique opportunity Of the many brigs, ships and barks in the trade, the to design and build a reasonably authentic replica of the Pilgrim became a famous "hide drogher" only because brig Pilgrim as described in Dana's work. t isn't every day that two gentlem en walk into my office to order a replica of the hide brig Pilgrim, the ship in Richard Henry Dana's classic book, Two Years Before the Mast. But that's what happened when, in June of 1972, Marion Barich and Paul Johnson of Salinas, California, appeared at my door. They had heard of my experience in converting Danish Baltic schooners into yachts, museum ships and/ or waterfront village icons such as the Prince Louis (ex-Lilliabaelt), the Perseus, the Lene Marie and others. As reputable designers and architects for the theme park and entertainment industry while also enjoying the "stigma" of being ship experts, my small firm in San Pedro, California, was, and is, fairly well known throughout the historic maritime communi ty. My dear and marine-literate wife Barbara and I took off for Denmark with a sea bag full of twenty-dollar bills to purchase a Baltic schooner of similar design to the original bri g Pilgrim. We went directly to the ex-schooner- then motor-sailer-Joa/ at Hadsund, Denmark. A sturdy vessel of oak planks on oak frames, she would indeed be adaptable for the planned conversion. The foal was a double-ender, bur with another three feet oflength, the repositioning of her stern post, and new cant frames aft, she would accommodate a transom or stern gallery. Since Dana had not described the Pilgrim in any informative detail, neither I nor any historians ever knew if her stern gallery was penetrated with windows. Knowing I was going to be the new Pilgrim's captain on her eventual transAtlantic crossing and would be occupying the master's cabin aft, I took a designer's prerogative and specified openable bur sea-tight muntined windows. After thejoalwas finally purchased from her delightful owner, Captain Villadsen, I went to the American embassy in Copen-
I
18
hagen and acquired a certificate of American ownership, thus allowing the US ensign to be flown from her stern . Awaiting the results of my purchasi ng mission was a young protege sailor, artist and drafts man by the name of Steve Johnson whom I sent to Denm ark with his companion, Susan Morris, and the young so n of a client and friend, Scott Morris. The three were to make up a skeleto n crew to live aboard and maintain the foal until I found a shipyard capable of doing the precise and meticulous conversion from my plans. Prior ro my mission to Europe, I had prepared a fairly accurate set of drawings and specifications for a typical snow brig rig that would fit a hull of some 86.6 feet of waterline and 96 feet on deck. With those drawin gs Barbara and I proceeded to call on shipyard owners throughout Denmark only to discover that the value of US funds in Europe had dropped to the point where the Danish shipyards had become cost prohibitive for our budget.
Barbara and I located a suitable shipyard in Portugal. The yard was one of several at the fishing village harbor of Setubal, about 20 miles so utheast ofLisbon. CarlosAdanjo, owner of the small boatyard, appeared to have all of the shipwright capabi liti es necessary for the job ahead. Now it was time to bring th ejoalto Portugal. First, Barbara and I returned to California, where I had to draw the plans, profiles an d sections of the hull from lines taken off whi le the Joa! was hauled out in H adsund. During that pleasant stint at the drawing board I piqued the interest of some sailor frienJs and neighbors to join me on a "gentlemen's yachting cruise" from D enmark to Portugal. After pondering the in vitatio n for about twenty seconds, they agreed to become vo lunteer officers. We all met in Aalborg, Denmark, to begin our delivery cruise aboard the motor-sailer ]oal with our foe' sle crew of five. Flying the burgee of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, the un-yachtlike ship with Captain
The J oal in Denmark, 1973 (All photos courtesy ofRay Wallace}
SEA HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99