Yankee Spirit Takes Wing in by Allen and Elizabeth Rawl
W
Two new brigantines far the sail training fleet, being built in California, carry on in the spirit oftheir namesakes, Irving and Exy Johnson. With keels laid in February 2000, byJune, several.frames had been erected. (Photo: Allen C. Rawl)
The vesse/,s have been aptly named the Exy Johnson and the Irving Johnson in honor of the ]ohnsons' lifelong commitment to character-building sail training aboard their Yankees.
hen mas ter mariner Irving Johnson crossed the bar in 199 1, it culminated a life of exploration, documentation and adventure that few can march. Through much of this rime his wife Exy was by his side, faithfully recording each challenge, mishap and achievement on their va rious Yankee journeys. Together, this for midable pair created quire a sea history, which is being commemorated in the naming of two new sail training vessels, the Irving Johnson and the Exy Johnson. After his celebra ted voyage of 1929 aboard the German fo urmasred bark Peking, Irving Johnson served as mate aboard the German pilot schooner Wander Bird in 193 1; Wander Bird was then sailed as an ocean cruise boar by Warwick Tompkins. Aboard her Johnson nor only learned the qualities of a No rth Sea pilot boar bur it was also where he met his future wife, Exy, who had signed on as crew. Less than a year later they were married . Following an arduous search for a suitable North Sea schooner and afte r months of interesting negotiations, which are recounted by Exy and Irving Johnson in the book Westward Bound in the Schooner Yankee, they purchased the schooner Texel, fo rmerly Loodschooner 4, in 1933. She was reregistered as an Ameri can ship in London and renamed Yankee of G loucester, M assachusetts. Loodschooner 4 was a Dutch-built No rth Sea pilot schooner of 1897 and served faithfully in that capacity fo r thirty yea rs. Soundly built of seasoned oak, the best hardwood available to the D utch at that time, she meas ured 92' overall, with a beam of 2 1' and a draft of 11 '. Loodschooner 4 had been worked hard but was faithfu lly maintained and completely reconditioned every four to five years. She was a smart sailer, a required characteristic when competing with German, French, and English boats fo r pilot service in the North Sea and English C hannel. Eventually she was replaced, as all No rth Sea pilot sailers were, by pilot steam ers, and was sold at auction to an English yachtsman who renamed her Texel. T he new owner sailed her to Ipswich, England, where she was once more appreciated for her obvious qualities and, again , was very well maintained. T he Johnsons sailed Yankee to Germany for refitting to suit their needs and eventually sailed her to Gloucester, her new h ome port. After they m ustered a crew of adventurers, yo ung and old, shi p and crew departed G loucesteron 5 November 1933, ou tward bound, to sail aro und the wo rld. She made three successful circumnavigations, taking eighteen months each time, completing th e las t in 194 1. As th e U nited States entered Wo rld War II, this first Yankee was sold, and Captain Irving Johnso n joined the US Navy, serving in the South Pacifi c until the war's end. Two years after the end of the wa r, the Johnso ns so ught our and purchased a German-built N orth Sea pilot schooner named Duhnen. T his vessel was built of steel and measured 96' overall, with a beam of 2 1'6" and a draft of a little more th an 11' . She was reconditio ned and renam ed Yankee, and her rig was co nverted to one of a brigantine class that set over seven thousand square feet of canvas. Ergo, the evolution of Yankee as a brigantine. The J ohnsons were to travel the wo rld seven times; three in the schooner Yankee and fo ur in the brigantine Yankee. While mariti me historians will forever be indebted to Irving
SEA HISTORY 95, WINTER 2000- 01