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| Venture
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Venture is Yankee No. 36, and was built at the Stone Boat Yard in San Francisco in 1949. In 1994 she was brought to Seattle where she is on loan to the Center for Wooden Boats, a
maritime heritage museum.
On Lake Union, Winter 2002
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At the Center for Wooden Boats |
Venture's History
I know only fragments of Venture's history, but she's had an interesting life. Her early years in San Francisco are a blank, but according to Bill Van Vlack, who brought Venture to Seattle, a young man grew up on this boat in the 70s. His family had four boats lined up in a marina -- the parents lived on one, as did each of the three children. Venture was a young man's bedroom, and also his transportation (in leu of a car), until he was 17. That's the only time I've heard of anyone living on a Yankee -- since they were designed to be racing boats, they don't have standing headroom.
Bill Van Vlack went to California to buy Yankees in an effort to establish a Northwest Fleet, and he brought both Venture and Doodle to Seattle around 1985. Venture was hurting by that point, and Bill significantly strengthened the boat by replacing a couple of floors, and installing a few ring frames and sisters.
After she was made sound and painted, Venture was sold to a married couple.
They soon traded the boat in on a motor-home, and Venture was owned for nearly a year by an RV dealership located south of Seattle on I-5.
John Watkins rescued Venture next. John had helped start the sailing school at the Center for Wooden Boats (CWB), and he loaned Venture to CWB. The Center rents out smaller boats but needs keelboats for public sails and youth programs. Venture was a good addition to the CWB collection because of her large cockpit and classic design.
Venture was well loved for the 7 years that John owned her. I sailed the boat during that time, and was one of the many people to admire her. There's just something about sailing a Yankee. Maybe it's because there's so little freeboard (and no lifelines), which is unusual in a 30' boat. You can trail your hand in the water, like a dingy. So I feel more connected to the water in a Yankee, and I certainly feel more connected to the boat because of the lovely way they handle.
In July of 2000, when John told me he'd have to sell Venture, I couldn't imagine the boat leaving CWB, so I bought her. But I knew that she'd long had some compromised areas and needed work.
So we hauled out for 6 months and Venture got a new stern, 13 planks, and all new floors under the maststep...
A coat of paint also did wonders -- as John says, "The reason I didn't haul the boat and paint it the last couple years I owned it was that I was afraid if I hauled it, it would start to come apart and I wouldn't be able to get it back together. She was a frail old bundle of sticks back then."
All in all, Venture is a happy boat these days. She is well sailed and well loved by a great many people. She is still on loan to the Center for Wooden Boats, a maritime heritage museum, and the public is welcome to stop by the docks to see her, or arrange to go sailing.
Please email me if you have additional information about Venture, and can help fill in the gaps. This is an oral history more than anything else, and quite a few people have contributed. Thanks are especially due to Bill Van Vlack, Seaton Gras, the Center for Wooden Boats, David White, John Watkins, and Mark Hoefer -- for caring for Venture, and sharing in her history.
- Sarah Howell
July, 2002
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