M/V Paspatoo

 

In WWII, the Army Contracted ship builders around the country to built 170 65-foot, diesel-powered, passenger cargo boats that doubled as harbor tugs, known as tug-transports, or T-boats. Four were built at Blanchard boat yard in Seattle, WA. This vessel was T-boat 32. Paspatoo was originally commissioned by the U.S. Army and constructed by the Blanchard Boatyard on Lake Union, Seattle in 1942.
Designed by famed naval architect Ralph Winslow. Following a military career, the vessel was sold into civilian life. Where many of these types of vessels were de-commissioned for relatively obscure demise, this is the example of a passion for restoration and updating without equal. Paspatoo underwent a complete restoration and yacht conversion from 1986 to 1999 and complete systems upgrades, with redundancy, from 2003 to 2017.
Retrofit interior designed by Eden & Eden Architects, San Francisco, CA.

Tugboat Ángela Comes 1930

 

Tugboat "Ángela Comes" Built in 1930 for the Trasmediterránea Company. This tug was built in the shipyards of the Unión Naval de Levante, in Valencia, being construction number 16 of the aforementioned shipyards. It was acquired by Compañía Trasmediterránea but after a short time it became the property of Compañía Valenciana de Remolcadores S.A. She had an important role in the refloating work of Captain Segarra, after he ran aground on the bottom of Los Cochinos (Cádiz), in April 1945.  

Watercolor showing Ángela Comes assisting the steamboat Captain Segarra in Cádiz

M5 Sail Yacht by Vosper Thornycroft

 

M5 (ex Mirabella V) is a sloop-rigged super yacht launched in 2003. At an estimated cost of over USD 50 million, she is the largest single-masted yacht ever built.

The 77.6-metre sailing yacht M5 (formerly Mirabella V) has emerged after her extensive refit at NCA Refit (2019) part of The Italian Sea Group. Having been originally built for Joseph Vittoria, the former CEO of the Avis Rent-A-Car company, and was first launched in 2004 and became a record-breaking sailing yacht.
Designed by Ron Holland and built by VT Shipbuilding, she was the largest composite yacht in the world with an 89-metre rig. Her 151-tonne lifting keel varied the draught from 4 to 10 metres.

The current owner (who acquired M5 in 2012) wanted to change the transom shape and extend the aft deck to carry a Carbon Cub seaplane. The works to achieve this began with Pendennis who saw to her new stern, major engineering upgrades, new Carbo-Link rigging and a refreshed interior by RWD in 2014.

Having noticed some problems with the newly-altered yacht – particularly in the way the raised keel box generated a lot of noise in the owner’s suite – the NCA Refit yard together with Rob Doyle Design were chosen to take on the next phase of the refit. The team cut the keel in half to move the ram housing forward, then oversaw the yacht’s exterior colour change.

The now three-tone metallic grey also sports a new composite hardtop to replace the soft bimini on the flybridge, recaulked teak decking to match the silver paintwork, new interior flooring, carpeting and fabrics, new finishes in the bathrooms, and a marble bar in the main saloon.

“M5 has been a challenging project from both an engineering and logistical perspective, but the results speak for themselves,” says Giovanni Costantino, chairman and CEO of The Italian Sea Group. “The refit market is important in its own right, but the experience and know-how we gain from these complex projects can be transferred to our new-builds, and vice-versa.”

Majorcan Llaut

 

The llaüt is the traditional boat of the Balearic Islands for trawling, although the appearance of motor boats and the concentration of bathers on the beaches have caused its decline in professional use. For this reason, today it represents a work of craftsmanship reserved for amateurs and its presence in the Mallorcan fleet is almost a testimony. Its consistency and stability in the water make it a perfect boat for all kinds of activities, such as recreational sailing or sport fishing, and weather resistant. The title of Skipper of pleasure boats (PER) is required to sail. The first builders of llaüts were known as "mestres d'aixa" and they used native woods for their production. Today most boats are built with new materials, such as fiberglass, the price of which is much lower, and with very high quality finishes, like any luxury yacht. At present, the number of maesters has considerably decreased and their devotion is concentrated above all on the restoration of old specimens. In any case, there are still training courses to prevent the profession from falling into oblivion.

The original Catalan boats officially arrived in the Islands with Jaume I. Very soon the local adze masters adapted the original models to their needs. The boats from Ses Islas, with some of their own details, matched the qualities of the Catalan boats without ceasing to be very similar in hulls and equipment. Except for the difficulty of giving general details in craft-built boats, made to measure for the buyer by adze masters who finished them with their own details, the Balearic boats were less plain than the Catalan ones at bottom (live work). The Catalans had to rest on the beach on the keel and the schools. While the Majorcan and Menorcan boats could dock at a dock. On the Balearic boats the mast was raised a little further forward than on the Catalan boats.

1936 Custom Bezanson Cruise

 

Joan M Henderson is a 44' custom cruiser built in 1936 by Walter Bezanson in the West Basin of San Pedro, California for John Henderson.  Built of port orford cedar with steam bent oak ribs, bronze fastened and powered by twin GM 471's.  The decks, flying bridge, pilot house, trunk cabin and transom are all of teak.  During World War II she served in the US Coast Guard for surveillance of west coastal waters.  In 1951 she was sold to the Shoemaker family, owned first by Hazel Mae Shoemaker and then Clarence Edward & Roma Shoemaker.  A frequent visitor to Catalina Island.  Now moored at Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, CA in a covered slip. Actually for sale at 49.000,00 $

The Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, CA