ANGELINA

Angelina was launched in July, 1944 in Santa Barbara, CA, at Lindwall Boat Works on Stearns Wharf. We have no reliable information on the origin of the hull design.

Photo at left, under construction 1943 – during the war, a significant fishing fleet was launched to provide protein and, in the case of shark liver, Vitamin A. Photo in Center, launch day July 13, 1944 Photo at Right, with sister ship “Linda” in San Diego circa 1948. Ship in the background is the Star of India. All of the Lindwall boats were constructed using Monel “boat nails/ring nails”. This accounts for the fact that all of them, with the exception of the Linda, which was lost on the Columbia River Bar in Oregon, are still in excellent structural condition. From launch through 1957, Angelina engaged in a variety of fisheries on the Pacific Coast, including albacore, soup fin shark (for liver), swordfish (plank boat), lobster (Mexico), salmon, and Dungeness Crab

In 1957, a group of competitive sailors from the Los Angeles Yacht Club got the idea of doing some long distance cruising, primarily to Mexico and Alaska. At the time, most yachts of modest size were suitable only for coastal cruising – they lacked the fuel and water capacity for extended periods at sea, and were not capable of surviving significant weather. The group was familiar with the “pacific seiner” and hired Art DeFever, then a San Diego-based tuna boat designer, to develop a yacht prototype based on the pacific seiner concept – significant stability, fuel capacity, single engine diesel, comfortable but modest accommodations. The first boats ordered by the group were built at Lindwall Boat Works, including the Galatea, which was commissioned by Bill Hanna of Hanna Barbera. Rather than have a new boat constructed, Willard “Bill” Shepherd, the spearhead, bought Angelina from the Lindwall family and converted her over the years to a trawler yacht. Bill was a Caterpillar dealer who had sold engines to Lindwall Boat Works and was quite familiar with the “brand”. Indeed, he was responsible for the initial DeFever commissions. From 1957 to 2000, Bill cruised Angelina extensively, including one voyage to Hawaii. One of the more remarkable features of Bill’s version was his “helicopter deck”. Bill was quite a character; unfortunately, he passed away earlier this month at the age of 96.

I purchased Angelina in October ’03 and set about a project that turned out to be much larger than I had anticipated. As purchased, Angelina was operable, but in pretty rough shape. I brought her to Basin Marine in Newport Beach, CA and set to work.

The first project was demolition. We removed everything – deckhouse, electronics, engine, shaft, electrical, tanks, bulkheads, etc. The “white” interior frames and planking is the result of a 30 day effort by the “Valdez Twins”.

Although Angelina was launched in July 2005 (at the age of 61), she was not really completed until the Spring of 2008.

In November 2008, we cruised from Newport Beach, CA to La Paz in Baja California and loaded her aboard a Super Servant 3, a ship that also transports yachts from Newport RI to St Thomas, and shipped her to Ft Lauderdale. In the winter and spring of 2009, we brought her up the east coast to Mystic Ct, where she is her current home port.