and racers to gain a following based on the quality of their work alone, rather than from clout gained from an academic pedigree. They were sailors first, designers after.
1he Maritime Museum of San Diego, in conjunction with Mystic Seaport Museum, has produced a vivid coffee table book capturing the legacy of the Kettenburg family, their boats, and what made them so special. The book is 224 pages of well-researched information on the Kettenburgs and their product, carefully prepared by historian Mark Allen. The San Diego-based company started in 1919 and was about as grassroots as one could get, lowering hand-made boats into the swampy waters off Shelter Island on roughly-hewn wheels and ways. They had to wait for high tide to lift their larger creations out of the mud. "Initially, building the Kettenburg boats provided the basis for a family business,'' said Raymond Ashley, director of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. "U ltimately it provided a kind of maritime immortality, a deepening patin a of legend that has followed the boats themselves as they sail across the decades and generations." Ashley pointed out that the Kenenburg PC was the first popular class of ocean sailing boat in Southern Califo rnia that people of ordinary means could aspire to own. Today, there are dozens of them still afloat and regularly racing. The PC Fleet is extremely active (and inexplicably competitive) on a weekly basis in San Diego. Kenenburg became a name people could trust and a boat yo u knew would not fai l SEA HISTORY 128, AUTUMN 2009
yo u. They were known for their integrity and their appreciation of both the people building their boats and the people buying them. A plaque hung in Paul Kettenburg's office heralding two simple words: "People Matter." From high-speed veebottom rumrunners of the 1920s to the Pacific Class (PC) sailboats of the 1930s; from government fishing boats and planerearming contracts during World II to the classic Pacific Cruising C lass (PCC) after the war, the Kettenburg boats left their mark on the world of boating. Paul and George Kettenburg have passed on, but the Kettenburg family fully cooperated to bring this graphic and insightful book to completion, sharing photographs that had never befo re been seen by the public. The photographs alone are spectacular. Combine this with the wellresearched history and lively anecdotes concerning the Kettenburgs and their boats, and yo u have a book that yo u'll be proud ro set out for others to see. No dusty bookshelves for this quality volume.
]OE
MARITIME
BOOKS 1806 Laurel Crest Madison, Wi sconsin 53 705-1065 (608) 238-SAIL FAX (608) 238-7249 Email : tuttlemaritime@charter.net http://tuttlemaritime.com Books about the Sea, Ship & Sailor Catalogue Upon Request
* J .P.URANKER WOODCARVER*
DITLER
San Diego, California Vl NEYA RD
Navigation Through the Ages by Donald Launer (Sheridan House, Dobbs Ferry, NY, 2009, 208pp, illus, ISBN 978-157409-278-3 ; $23.95) The study of maritime history incl udes a host of avenues of study: economics, geography, and culture-the volumes of wo rks and interest in the Age of Exploration and Discovery, for example, demonstrate our fascination with the remarkable feats of mariners who crossed oceans and explored shorelines no one had ever seen before. All this, of course, was only possible if the expeditions could figure out, not only how to get there, but how to get home. The study of navigation at sea is the study of man's motivation to get out there and learn about his world and his universe. Sailors have always taken pride in their self-reliance, and as technology and understanding progressed, from simple star charts to high-tech satellites and electronic tools, they have embraced them all. Unlike driving with your dashboardmounted GPS unit, a prudent mariner also knows the value in learning the
(508) 693 -5871
* WWW.JPUWOODCARVER.COM THE GLENCANNON PRESS
NEW! An Act of Piracy, the story of the SS Mayaguez . .. NEW! Hollywood to Honolulu, the cruise ships of the L.A. Steamship Co .. .. THE TANKERS from A to Z. The Liberty Ships from A to Z . .. The Victory Ships from A to Z .. . SS America . . . more. FREE CATALOG 1-800-711-8985 Online catalog at www.glenca nnon.com
53