Winner ofthe Mystic Seaport Museum Purchase Award, Griffiths is recognized for the incredible detail of his watercolors and his passionate interest in 19th-century clipper ships and 20th-century steel naval vessels. This painting depicts the US Navy seaplane tender USS Salisbury Sound at anchor in Cam Ranh Bay, Da Nang, South Vietnam, in the mid- J960s. It is a warm, humid day with an isolated rain shower soaking part ofthe coast. On board is a large twin-engined patrol craft, an SP-5B Marlin, used for long-range reconnaissance. The seaplane tender became an important ship for the US Navy during WWII where such a vessel was a floating support base for the long-range patrol planes such as the PBY Catalina and the early Marlin aircraft. ("Near Da Nang," by Jim Griffiths; watercolor; 12'12" x 19")
Michael Harrell's photo-realistic style is perfectly suited to capture the maritime heritage ofApalachicola Bay. The Governor Stone, built in 1877 as a Gulf Coast cargo schooner, sails Florida's waters today, restored by the Apalachicola Maritime Museum. The shallow draft and great press ofsail on vessels ofthis type were ideal for the Gulfs coastal waters, where sandbars restrict vessels ofdeeper draft to narrow channels. The Governor Stone underwent many transformations and served as an oyster buy boat, rum runner, sponge freighter, merchant marine training vessel, yacht club committee boat and pleasure craft before her newest incarnation as a sail trainer and good will ambassador for the maritime museum. ("Governor Stone on Apalachicola Bay, "by Michael j Harrell,· watercolor; 19" x 24112")
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SEA HISTORY 91, WINTER 1999-2000