Last week, my husband David and I visited Santa Barbara to celebrate our anniversary. As “visiting yachtsmen,” we stopped in at Santa Barbara Yacht Club and while there, we spotted an old friend — the classic yacht “Ranger.”
Long Beach mariner Lesley Scheller reminded me that her uncle Jack Morehart owned Ranger and donated it to the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. The museum takes great care of the yacht, and those that recall its many years in Alamitos Bay are thankful to the organization.
Built in 1917, the yacht was made to the specifications of James Jump, a founding member of the Catalina Island Tuna Club and Catalina Island Yacht Club. Jump and then his son, Robert, owned the boat until about 1940. Under the Jumps’ watch, celebrities Humphrey Bogart, Zane Grey, John Wayne and Errol Flynn fished on board.
Ranger, a 1917 yacht with a deep history in Long Beach, is currently owned by the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
Ranger, a 1917 yacht with a deep history in Long Beach, is currently owned by the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
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Ranger, a 1917 yacht with a deep history in Long Beach, is currently owned by the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
Wilfred Horton and generations of his family were the next trustees of Ranger — for more than three decades. Long Beach Yacht Club’s 1967 commodore, Don G. Horton, acquired 42-foot Ranger in 1959 from his father and joined LBYC that same year. In his commodore year, Ranger was the flagship and greeted the Queen Mary as it entered Long Beach. The Horton family adventures could fill a book.
From 1984 to 1987, Jack Morehart owned Ranger, fished from the yacht and restored it. Ranger was Morehart’s favorite place to take a nap, according to family members.
“She was designed to fish Hemingway, ‘Old Man and the Sea’ style,” Morehart’s daughter, Marcia, told me in a phone call back in 2021, during which she shared stories of how her father continued the old-style fishing techniques on board. Marcia Morehart, an artist, painted a series of paintings marking milestones in the boat’s history.
The boat’s wooden mast and boom accommodate a stabilizing sail that helps when in the midst of fighting a fish. The original anchor winch and its 1917 kerosene running lights are still on board, proving that each owner felt the responsibility to maintain the yacht’s history.
With more than 100 years of history, a flagship title at three yacht clubs and one museum, this is one lucky boat.
Turkey Day
Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s Annual Turkey Day Regatta — a California classic since 1957 — served 250 hungry sailors a full blown feast after racing on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The wind on Saturday ranged from very light to nonexistent so only a few races were completed. The sailors were back on shore early Saturday and could smell the dozens of turkeys that were in a huge smoker in the boat yard. The chef was Maurice “Mo” Stewart, the owner of the Brother’s Keeper BBQ pop-up. Stewart was named the best barbecue in the region by James Beard award-winning pitmaster Kevin Bludso at the recent Smoking Out the Hub competition.
The principal race officers on the ocean courses were Gordon Palmer and newly elected LBYC Port Capt. Wendy Corzine, the latter of whom will serve as commodore in the club’s 101st year of existence.
There were more than 80 volunteers on and off the water that made this event happen. Staff commodores and others carved turkeys, served and decorated the tables.
Racing Sunday saw a consistent light breeze, allowing the race committee to run multiple races for the 11 classes on a windward, leeward course in the ocean. Five classes contested as many as seven races in Alamitos Bay. In lieu of formal trophies, winners were presented with Thanksgiving food items. Tradition has it that young sailors win turkeys that seem bigger than them. This year did not disappoint.
Boats inspected
City staffers have been working with authorized liveaboards for the past 18 months to acquire seaworthiness inspections and marine surveys for their vessels, according to Marine Bureau Director Todd Leland. Marine Bureau staff have partnered with the Coast Guard Auxiliary for those liveaboards that do not have a marine survey to establish a no-cost inspection pathway.
Jan Stenstrom, an 87-year-old volunteer with the USCG Auxiliary. (Photo by Jo Murray, Grunion Gazette/SCNG)
One key volunteer has been the linchpin in the program’s success.
Jan Stenstrom, an 87-year-old volunteer with the USCG Auxiliary, has been leading the boat inspection process. He teamed with Marine Bureau staff almost seamlessly.
I met up with Stenstrom on Saturday as he was inspecting a liveaboard boat from Shoreline Marina. He was not only knowledgeable, but personable as well. The inspection was an interactive discussion with the boat owner — who made casual suggestions on keeping boats and boaters safe.
SCYA hires
Mary Crandall Plasencia has joined the Southern California Yachting Association as its service administrator, according to an email sent by SCYA Commodore Lee Coller.
Plasencia has years of experience with local yacht clubs and learned to sail in Long Beach.
Her father taught her to sail their Cal-25 out of Alamitos Bay. For the past seven years, she has lived aboard a sailboat with her husband, Pablo, who is the staff commodore of Anacapa Yacht Club.
They sail from their watery home on Catalina Island into Long Beach a couple of times each month to visit Shoreline Yacht Club, as well as to provision and to visit family in the area.