British Ship Balclutha Nearly Goes on Rocks -- December 3, 2018

San Francisco Call, 16-June-1900

William A Coulter did many maritime drawings for the San Francisco Call. Square rigger Balclutha is preserved at the San Francisco Maritime Museum at the Hyde Street Pier. Right now she is in a drydock receiving maintenance. 

Owned in San Francisco.

The British ship Balclutha, which arrived in this port from Newcastle, N. S. W., last Sunday, is now a San Francisco-owned ship. The well-known house of J. J. Moore & Co. are now the managing owners and the vessel will run between here and the colonies in the lumber and general merchandise trade. Captain Hatfield of the Balclutha is an old-timer in San Francisco. He Is part owner of the Lancing and his son-in-law is master of that well-known ship. On his reappearance on the coast last Monday Captain Hatfield had to signalize his return. Owing to the fog and absence of all signals the Balclutha was almost on top of the Farallon rocks before Captain Hatfield knew where he was. The lead, however, told the old navigator that he was close to land and by the time the seals and sea fowl gave a warning the Balclutha was on the other tack and the danger was past.

I took the photo of Balclutha on 19-October-2010.

The Balclutha Was Short of Men -- September 27, 2015

San Francisco Call, 07-July-1900.

William A Coulter did many maritime drawings for the newspaper.   Balclutha is preserved at the San Francisco Maritime Museum at the Hyde Street Pier. 

NEWS FROM THE OCEAN AND THE WATER FRONT

Lively Times Over Stealing Sailors From the Ship Blackbraes.

The Balclutha Was Short of Men and the Blackbraes Loaned Her Some.
Runners Stole Them and the Fun Began.

There was trouble on the Hawaiian ship Baiclutha and the British ship Blackbraes a couple of days ago. One vessel loaned some men to the other to bend sails, and while they were at work they were stolen by the boarding masters. The mate of the vessel that lost the men made the round of the boarding houses and took his men aboard in spite of all resistance.  Then the boarding masters tried to rescue the sailors and there was a free fight in which many a skull was cracked and the runners got the worst of it.

The Blackbraes arrived here on May 24 after a passage that lasted nearly a year.  Not a man aboard has less than $300 coming to him and In consequence there were no desertions.

The Balclutha. will go to the Sound to load lumber fur Australia and was short of men. Captain Hatfield wanted his sails bent and being short-handed asked for the loan of a few men from the Blackbraes.

As soon as the men were at work on the Balclutha the runners appeared on board with several bottles of water front rye.  As soon as the whiskey got to work the men were ready for anything and willingly deserted when a run ashore was proposed.

When the mate of the Blackbraes heard that his men had been stolen he at once went ashore armed with a pistol. He made the round of the hoarding houses and inside of an hour had all of his sailors aboard the ship again. The next morning the boarding masters made a combined raid on the Blackbraes. but the mate and second mate, aided by the boatswain and carpenter, met them with belaying pins, and inside of three minutes the whole invading force was driven over the side, some of them much the worse for wear. Yesterday the Blackbraes went to Port Costa and there will be more trouble when she comes down. To-day the Balclutha will go to sea.

I took the photo of Balclutha on 19-October-2010.

Ferry Eureka at the Hyde Street Pier -- November 9, 2013

In 1890, the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad built the ferry Ukiah to haul passengers and freight cars from Tiburon to San Francisco.  After the SF&NP merged into the Northwestern Pacific, Ukiah's terminal became Sausalito.  Ukiah was damaged by overuse during World War I, so the government paid for it to be rebuilt.  The resulting boat, renamed Eureka, was almost entirely new, except for the walking beam engine.  Eureka was designed to carry automobiles on her main deck.  She served the NWP until 1941, when it abandoned ferry service.  During WWII, Eureka carried troops.  After the war, she carried Southern Pacific passengers from Oakland to San Francisco until a crank pin snapped in 1957.  She became a jewel of the collection at the Hyde Street Pier.   

I took this photo of Northwestern Pacific ferry Eureka at the Hyde Street Pier in October, 2001.

Today we took a drive to Half Moon Bay and had lunch.  We bought a book at Bay Books.  Traffic was heavy heading back north.  

Jonathan Winters, RIP -- April 12, 2013

I was sad to learn that Jonathan Winters had died.  He always made me laugh, except when he didn't want to.   

In his honor, I thought I would post a photo of the square rigger Balclutha.  On 12-May-1959, he was arrested by Harbor Police at Pier 43, where Balclutha was moored.  The ticket seller didn't know who he was and was disturbed by his comments.  Winters, who had been troubled by spending too much time on the road, wound up spending two weeks in a psychiatric hospital.  He denied stories that he had climbed the ship's rigging. 

I took the photo of Balclutha on 19-October-2010.

Scow Schooner Alma -- July 25, 2012

We went to the Giants game today.  We parked at Colma BART and took a train to the Embarcadero.  We took an N train to Red's Java House.  We walked to the stadium and found our seats in the far left field edge of the Club Level.  Tim Lincecum got into trouble early and the game dragged along.  I was distracted when the scow schooner Alma, from the Hyde Street Pier, sailed into McCovey Cove.  The Giants made a comeback in the 8th, but lost 6-3.  We took an L train back to the Embarcadero, and caught a BART train. 

Wapama to be Scrapped -- May 19, 2011

I was sad to read a Chronicle article by Carl Nolte (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/19/BABT1JGTES.DTL) which says that the steam schooner Wapama, which is the only survivor of its type, is beyond saving and will probably be scrapped later this year. Wapama was my favorite ship at the pier, after ferry Eureka. She had flying bridges, a mysterious engine room, passenger cabins, and a grand stairway, like an ocean liner. In 1980, she was put on a barge and sent to the Oakland Estuary. I remember seeing her from a Fremont BART train. Later she moved to the Bay Model in Marin. I kept hoping she would be restored and returned. Lately, she has been hidden in Richmond. There is no money or will to restore Wapama. The Park Service hopes to salvage her engine and perhaps some representative pieces.

I took the photo from the hurricane deck of the Eureka on 19-October-2010.

Interviewed on TV -- November 17, 2010

Back on October 19, Ken Bastida of KPIX, Channel 5 interviewed me about ferryboats for his Good Question feature. It aired last night but I didn't hear about it till I got to work this morning.

A coworker came by my desk while I was on a conference call and said "I saw you on TV last night."

There are some nice vintage movies and some nice shots taken around the Eureka that day at the Hyde Street Pier. I took this photo in the pilothouse.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/11/16/good-question-when-did-ferries-first-cross-san-francisco-bay/

I had a lot of fun.

Hark the Herald #2 -- December 13, 2009

I like railroad heralds, and the Northwestern Pacific's is one of the best. I took this at the Hyde Street Pier in October, 2001. It is on the side of ferryboat Eureka.