My first memories of sailing were with my parents, working on wooden boats that they owned and sailing on the bay.  Later we moved to Sausalito and lived aboard a John Alden cutter. I remember really loving working with wood and learning to have pride in your work. For me it’s more than processing material, it’s about knowing where the material comes from.  It’s about understanding the different natures of different woods. I’ve had the great satisfaction of building a 12-foot wooden boat and seeing her come together, the thrill when you can see her sweet, sheer line, and then the great pleasure of launching her in the sea, her natural environment, the place she was intended to be. It’s an amazing feeling sailing a boat that you’ve built with your own hands.
 
With wooden boats, the wood comes full circle from being alive in the forest to being alive on the water with another hundred years or more of life ahead of her.   I have a particular love for Clover, built along the lines of Bristol Channel cutters. To serve veterans, I wanted a boat that was strong and seaworthy and had a gaff rig.  She’s built as a yacht so that she’s got dry and warm accommodation below and can take a sea and go further afield than smaller boats.
 
There’s something quite remarkable about being in a wooden environment at sea. It feels like an extension of yourself in a way; like it’s your second skin, keeping you safe on the water. A wooden boat is the closest thing humans can build to an animal; it has wings, and it flies over the water. It swims, and when you get it up to speed its rigging hums away like playing the strings of an instrument. 
 
It seems like no coincidence that I’ve chosen this path in life to sail with veterans aboard wooden boats. When I look back at my family my great grandfather was in the British Army in WWI, and my grandfather was in the Irish Defense Force. My father was a master mariner in the British Merchant Navy.  I served in the US Navy as an aviator; and my oldest son serves in the Marines today.  I feel lucky to have learned from my family and to have been able to follow my passion, and I hope to be able to pass this on to others.

Veterans of a uniformed service are an often overlooked demographic in our society, but most Americans can claim to have one in their families. There is a silent crisis affecting  Veterans, causing on average fifteen of them each day to take their own lives.  This loss of hope and faith is silently killing our national treasure, those who have served to protect all of us. 

Hope is the key product at WBFV.  I am reminded of Scott Callahan's words in his book Adrift; 76 Days at Sea in a Raft;  "Substantive and functional hope is not just passive wishful thinking but is something one creates through shunning denial and embracing reality, then taking small achievable steps, no matter how difficult, that can build towards the longer and larger goal”.  I believe the sea offers human beings the opportunity to experience calm, become educated in the marine world around us, learn to master wind and water, experience the simple pleasure of bringing boats back to life, and do so in community and fellowship.  Here we lift up Veterans, and give them an opportunity to be educators at sea.

We at WBFV believe that wooden boats in particular admirably support this mission.  They have a soul all their own, which is metaphorical in many ways to the human soul.  A wooden boat is a creation; it is formed and shaped and lovingly cared for by human hands; it requires sacrifice to maintain in healthy condition, and demands a destination to have purpose.  So too does each one of us.  

Hi folks, 

We have had a BUSY year so far, and while we build the newsletter we wanted to put out the highlights:

• Greg and Nan hosted a wonderful get-together and fundraiser at their home, it was a really special event.  Frank did an amazing job with the planning and then he wrote up a really valuable "how-to" guide that we can use for future events.  
• Frank and James began developing the sailing program for RASCAL, SUNDA and OCEAN QUEEN V, and have built a great plan to sail all three boats this season
• We welcomed Jody Watt, a seasoned boat restoration project manager, to oversee the next phases of CLOVER's restoration.  He's completed schematics and parts lists for the electrical and plumbing systems, and roughed out a design for the pilothouse.  Jody is a huge addition to making the next phases of Clover's restoration occur efficiently.
• We hired Brion Toss Rigging to build the rigging to the original sail plan.  Ian Weedman came out and began his work, and he expects to be finished by the end of summer.
• Rascal's sailing outing with veterans from two new groups have been really successfully: Swords to Plowshares and the Women Veterans Alliance.  We look forward to introducing more veterans to sailing from these and more groups!
• Sunda raced with an all veteran crew on the Master Mariners Race on Memorial Day weekend.  It was a beautiful day and the crew gave a good account of themselves.
• WBFV welcomed new project manage Jody Watt to the team of Advisors and staff.  Jody brings over 30 years of experience to the Clover restoration Project, and we are excited with what he has achieved so far.
• Clover is scheduled to haul out at Svendsen's Bay Marine on August 9th, to receive her new engine, have her topsides re-caulked, and the remaining floors, lodging knees and rotted frames replaced.  After this haul-out Clover will get a new electrical system.  Clover also has a brand new 12 ft skiff donated which will serve as her tender.
• Ocean Queen V is also scheduled to haul out at Svendsen's Bay Marine on August 9th, to repair leaks and replace her standing rigging as well as service her engine and upgrade her bilge pumping and electrical systems.  We are excited to get her back in service as quickly as possible.
  
• In May WBFV received a very warm welcome at Westpoint Harbor, the home port for Ocean Queen V.  Over 100 were in attendance to hear from our board members James, Frank, and Jen.
• The American Classic Boat Society - Tahoe Chapter, wonderful sponsors that they are, teamed up with us to co-host a potluck dinner at the Pt. San Pablo Yacht Club in June 11th in Richmond, and a Veteran's Rally in Stockton Marina.  We are really grateful for their efforts to bring wooden boats of a different size and caliber to veterans.
• WBFV was well represented at a very special event at the St. Francis Yacht Club, sponsored by our long time supporters the Order of St. John. 
• WBFV also received wonderful support from Saltchuk/Foss, Matson, the Bohnell Family, the Stern Family, MMBF, and the Overwatch Alliance.

Finally, we want to extend a warm welcome to Charlie Hart - our newest Board Member.  Charlie is well known to all in the Bay Area sailing and non-profit communities, and you can find out all about him on our website and a separate blog post.

Our upcoming events:

August 20th - All women veterans crew racing in the Sausalito Yacht Club women's only race

September - Farallons sail and ROLEX (hopefully) 

October - Fleet Week

Veterans Day - Celebration and Open House aboard Clover.

​To be truly great, you have to be ruthlessly consistent giving yourself over to the monotony of the same thing over and over, beautifully. It’s the discipline of attrition, and it’s why wooden boats and their restorations are such masterpieces of human endeavor.

Such is the case for restoring Ocean Queen V, the beautiful 55' Philip Rhodes yawl that WBFV is chartering.  Since receiving the boat in April of this year, WBFV has been patiently attending to her needs.  Having found a persistent and large leak from her rudder tube, and a rotted section in her mainmast, she is completing a three month refit.  

Having ensured she swims, and that her rig is sound, WBFV will now turn toward her running rigging, sails, engine, and electrical systems.  Look for Ocean Queen V back on the water soon!

As many of you know, Wooden Boats for Veterans has been getting vets out on SF Bay for over seven years, and with additional vessel donation(s) and Covid winding down we will be expanding this capability through the rest of 2022. But what about actually racing
wooden boats with veterans?

Our organization is more focused on providing the fundamental experience of sailing and the camaraderie that can help support our vets, most of whom have no prior sailing experience. Racing offers the opportunity for even more tightly coupled crew capability, a higher bar for preparation, and also safety. In short, racing pushes all of the basics that we normally practice to another level. So, how do we get there with an all vet crew ready that doesn’t have much racing experience?

Enter Alex Salogub, an Air Force veteran with two decades racing experience on SF Bay. He donated his time to instruct members of WBFV team and provide a deeper understanding of all the tweaks that are done to the sails for speed, how to balance the pressure on the tiller with the mainsheet (for speed and safety), how to visually read wind shifts and current changes, and how to tune the rig for speed. In the corporate world we’d call this a ‘train the trainer’ approach, so that his knowledge can then be shared with a broader group of vets that find this type of higher intensity activity to be a positive emotional experience.

So how did the race go?

Moderate conditions of 15-20 knots and light 1’-3’ chop made for a good opportunity to
showcase some of the newly honed skills. Sunda was the first in her starting group to cross the line and she maintained good standing among the fleet of vintage wooden sailboats on the course that day. Eventually, she passed a few boats that had started earlier and ultimately spent the last few legs of the race in a see-sawing, back and forth battle with a single boat.

At this stage of WBFV growth, it was a win to have the crew and boat ready to compete and provide several other competitors a run for their money. It’s also a win that we can provide the opportunity for our vets who really get the sailing bug, a way to take their new skills to the next level. It is a stretch goal for our organization to continue building on this and ultimately have THREE or more classic wooden sailboats compete in the Master Mariner’s cup in 2024. But to get there we need your help.

Any folks with racing and sailing experience who want to help vets train on the water? Passing down some of your knowledge to vets who can really benefit physically and emotionally from the opportunity may be one of the most rewarding experiences you can have on the water. Contact us to get involved or to just get more info on our sailing program.

Wooden Boats for Veterans is proud to announce it has added Ocean Queen V to its fleet. Built in 1951 at the venerable Abeking & Rasmussen yard, she is a Philip Rhodes 55' yawl with a storied racing career.  Through the sponsorship of the Demere family, and through the generosity of Westpoint Harbor and the Driscoll Family Foundation (a supporting organization of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation), WBFV will sail her for veterans and other groups in the south bay area. She arrived on Saturday March 26th and will host an Open House on April 30th at 2-4 pm.  Keep a lookout for our upcoming schedule this year.
 
Since 2015 Wooden Boats for Veterans has given sail training to over 500 veterans, future veterans and their families on the water to provide physical, mental and emotional therapy for their injuries brought about by operational service. We provide three programs; sailing training, experiential sailing, and wooden boat preservation. Learning to sail and saving wooden boats are outlets for coping with PTSD, and traumatic injuries. At WBFV, teamwork, community and camaraderie is rediscovered through our educational programs in sailing, racing, voyaging, restoring and preserving.
 

Rob Jarman, Editor for Offshore Gaffer's Association, had an amazing chat with Mr. Brian Turner in Poole - who at 92 still remembers sailing in Clover with her owner Eric Thompson.  We will shortly post the video he recorded in the conversation... lots of good quality info about Clover and Eric and Hamble and the yards and wartime and post-war activities - he's 92 but has a memory full of fascinating facts!
a few nuggets:
- Eric offered Clover to the Admiralty even before the declaration of war in 1939, but on condition that his skipper Fred Matthews was retained as the sole full time skipper during her use by the Admiralty.
- she was assigned to Coastal Command and based in Falmouth, and used as an inspection vessel for the expert assessment of convoy ships coming across the Atlantic as soon as they entered 'safe' water in the Western Approaches. Many of those convoy ships were damaged and the assessor decided where they should be taken for first safest landing so the cargoes could be salvaged. They took off valuable documents and money. Clover was adapted for this work by:

1. Removal of all standing and running rigging, mast and spars. A 'stump' mast was installed with a derrick crane attached, for lifting heavy objects aboard, such as a ship's safe.
2. A wide thick fender was installed all around the hull, almost to the waterline. This was removed at the end of the war and the hull was completely unscathed
3. All the interior arrangements, joinery, equipment etc was kept untouched from the original as fitted by Lukes.
4. All her passages were made under motor, using the original National oil engine.
5. She was not used for any heavy work, salvage, detection, diving etc - she was a 'floating office' as Brian called it. She never saw any action.

She seems to have covered a wide area of sea around Britain, from the SW to the NE and through the English Channel. She was used all year round.
In 1945, Eric took her back and had all the rigging and original mast and sails re-fitted - Brian did not know which yard did the job - could have been in Hamble or IoW or Poole. Clover was kept on the Hamble mostly and looked after by Moody's yard, even though Eric sailed her also from Poole.
Brian joined as crew to support Eric and Fred when they started cruising again, from 1945. He was recommended by Luke's yard, as he had been working on the Hamble all during the war servicing and fueling the motor patrol launches and landing craft operated by the Solent Patrol - incredibly, whilst still at school... he was contracted by the local RN people to work for them, to free up the Navy for other work.
Brian was aboard Clover when the above photo was taken - definitely in the Solent, in 1947. Brian had several more photos from that shoot.
Eric liked to cruise down the Atlantic seaboard of France and to N Spain - they were the first cruising yacht after 1945 to sail down there, even though the waters will still mined!! to Arcachon and Santander, etc. Frank was the man who knew how to sail and handle a large yacht, Eric liked to work the helm... the 3rd hand worked on the sail handling and equipment, all made very easy by the mechanical gear that Eric had had fitted. Clover was a very kindly yacht to sail.
from about 1947 or '48, Brian joined the Merchant Navy as AB and travelled to Africa, Australia, NZ, Med etc for the next 40 years... Eric used to correspond with Brian's mother and tell her of his cruising plans, so that Brian could join the cruises sometimes. I asked whether any of that correspondence might survive and Brian said no, sadly... Eric did not keep a ship's log, which is quite surprising...

​Watch this space for the full video.

Clover's Original Sail Plan vs. Current Dimensions

True to our vision for her restoration, Clover is returning to a gaff-rig.  In the 1970's she was converted to a Marconi masthead rig; 14 feet of Douglas fir was added to her mast, and 3 feet was taken off her boom.  

Her original sail plan as shown in a 1938 issue of Britain's Yachting magazine looked like this: 

Her resultant plan today, given that we have shortened the mast and retained the boom as altered in the 1970's, would look like this:

A number of issues present themselves.  First, the resultant sail area is 100 s.f. less in the mainsail.  This has the combined effect of driving the lateral Center of Effort farther forward and slowing the boat down, giving her a large amount of weather helm; how much is difficult to project.  The boat has a 50 ton displacement, which requires the sail area to drive her.  On the other hand, she has a long full keel to counteract a large amount of lead in the Center of Lateral Effort, and may do just fine with a reduced sail area.

Also of interest is the difference in the staysail stay, which results in a loose footed staysail with an offset between the tack and the forward end of the staysail boom.  Clover's samson post came later in her life, which accounts for the shift in the position of the staysail.

What to do? It will be interesting as we look into this further to decide whether to take the current dimensions of the boat or to make further adjustments to get her closer to her original configuration.

2021 At a Glance 
44 Veterans Introduced to the Sport of Sailing during a year of COVID restrictions
 
1,420 volunteer hours
 
1 Trip offshore to the Farallon Islands
 
4 Sailboats Added to the WBFV Family
 
1 Sailboat added to WBFV via Vessel Donation
 
I Veteran scholarship awarded for Sail Training
 
1 Veteran Recommended for acceptance into IYRS School of Boatbuilding

Here are the many accomplishments this wonderful foundation was able to complete this year on its journey toward a national sailing and restoration organization for veterans:

​Finish Deck for D-Day Event
Mast Re-shaped and Repaired
Basic Electrical begun - schematics and AC/DC design
Cockpit Improvement Phase begun
Boat moved to Richmond to facilitate stepping the mast
Cockpit Phase completed
Schematics and Parts List
Carl Moyer Grant Application Submitted
Stepping the Mast; Beginning the engine re-power; rigging the boat
Mast stepped in Richmond and boat moved for re-power.
8/21 Board Appreciation Get-together aboard CLOVER
Metrics and Scorecard Established
Drafted Business Plan and Funding Plan
2020 Tax Filing
2022 Budget Planning
Present 2022 Financial Plan
Created Cmte Charters
Complete Board Skills Matrix
Report ofSkills Gap Analysis
Added 4 Members on Cmtes
Created Outreach and partnership overview plan
6/6 - D-Day Event
Latitude 38 Article
8/26 - Chamber Event in Fairfield
10/3-10 Fleet Week
10/13 St. Francis YC Speaking Event
10/23 - Gold Star Family Event
11/13 - Veterans Day Event
$2500 milestone in Giving Tuesday
6/19 - Bay Sail (Rascal)
7/21 - Farallones (Rascal)
8/8 - Bay Sail (RASCAL & SUNDA) with STP
8/28-9 Receive SUNDA and bring her to her new berth
9/11 - RASCAL & SUNDA sail
9/25 - SUNDA sail
10/9 - Navy Fleet Week (RASCAL)
10/16 - Jessica Cup (St. Francis YC) - Cancelled
11/12 - SUNDA sail
11/13- Annual Fundraiser

Here are the Goals for 2022:

1. Grow “VetsBoats” Sailing Program
   1. Establish bi-weekly San Francisco Bay Area Sailing program with SUNDA, RASCAL, PEGASUS and SEA VALOR
2. Add the following Veteran Service Sailing Organizations
   1. Liberty Launch in Havre de Grace FL
   2. West Coast Seafaring Society in Loch Lomond CA
   3. Classic yacht Restoration Guild in Earleville MD
   4. American Odysseus Sailing Foundation, Aledo TX          
3. Sail Training Scholarship Program: Fund 2-5 Veterans for ASA 103 Certification                              
4. Vocational Program: Fund 2-5 Veterans to attend IYRS or NWSB       
5.  CLOVER Project: Re-power and re-rig the vessel for Sea Trials and Maiden sail
6.  Development
   1. Establish a Separate Capital Campaign to finish CLOVER Project
   2. Continue Membership and Sponsorship Programs
   3. Host 3 Live events                                                           

​We envision a bright and impactful future for Wooden Boats For Veterans. Our location in the Bay Area can grow with additional boats that can be donated and refurbished by veterans. These boats and their crews of veterans can be deployed for more missions of service and workforce development. The quality of life for more veterans in the bay area and Delta can be a reality. This can lead to additional WBFV chapters in other areas of California with bays, rivers, and lakes.
 
WBFV will continue to build impact and deliver valuable service in the following ways:

• Expanding website and social media presence to reach veterans and supporters.
• Establishing nationwide sailing opportunities to veterans
• Increasing scholarships through advocacy with businesses to build partnerships
• Promote greater awareness to ensure veterans get access to Veteran’s Administration services and benefits

 
 
Thank you for your support of our mission to give back to the veterans and future veterans who have sacrificed to defend our nation.