For Greer, Wooden Boats Are Way to Go

Fiberglass, easily molded and fairly maintenance free, has become the accepted material for boat building.

But there are still some sailors who would be very indignant if you suggested they trade in their wooden boats for one of those fancy “Clorox bottles.”

Jay Greer is one of those dedicated traditionalists. His impeccably restored wooden sloop, the Red Witch, looks as if it has just emerged from a piano finishing shop. It is moored on Balboa Island in front of his modest home on the North Bay.

The house looks as if it’s half woodworking shop. Greer owns the largest collection of hand tools, including a rare wooden-soled plane used to build Jack London’s Snark, I’ve ever seen assembled in one place. His collection of clamps, row upon row of them neatly attached to edges of shelving, is staggering in number.

But that’s how it is if you’re going to build or rebuild wooden boats, and that’s Greer’s profession and passion. No wooden boat, with all those lovely curves, was ever made without an army of clamps to hold it together while fastening.

It follows that Greer is a member in good standing of the Wooden Hull Owners Assn., whose members, scattered about Southern California, number no more than 94 and command a fleet of wooden-hulled sailing vessels of about 80.

In a way, this is a membership of love, because to keep wooden boats in shape, sailors have to love them a lot. If they didn’t, the boats would part a seam. Wooden boats won’t tolerate neglect.

The formation of the association was the brainchild of the late Clark Sweet, who saw the need for those who owned wooden sail boats to form an organization for racing and cruising. The first meeting was June 29, 1972, at the Long Beach Yacht Club with an attendance of 40 sailors. Sweet and Ray Wallace were elected as co-commodores. The first race cruise was Oct. 7, 1972, with 42 boats sailing from Newport Beach to Dana Point Yacht Club.

Since then, races and events have been added. They include the mid-March One More Time Regatta at Marina del Rey; the Clark Sweet Annual Cruise to the Catalina Isthmus in early August; a cruise to Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands in August (weather permitting); the Homeward Bound Race from Ship Rock (Catalina) to Los Angeles Harbor; and a pirate treasure cruise to the Isthmus, with barbecue bash, organized by Greer.

In other words, there’s more to owning a wooden boat than scraping and painting.

Sailing Notes

--Magic, the Eagle Syndicate’s 12-meter racing yacht, will be open for public inspection at the Ardell Yacht Basin on Coast Highway, Newport Beach, from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. The “laboratory” yacht, fitted with a new fin keel, will be escorted at noon by a boat parade from the Balboa Yacht club to the Ardell slip.

Magic is being used by the Eagle Syndicate to test design and equipment for its America’s Cup Contender, Eagle. The Eagle Syndicate has challenged for the America’s Cup in 1987 under the Newport Harbor Yacht Club’s burgee. Attending the event will be Eagle skipper Rod Davis and Olympic gold medal sailor Dick Sargent, who is president of the Syndicate.

--Early returns show that California income taxpayers are donating an average of $3.69 toward the preservation of endangered and wild species in the state, according to the Dept. of Fish and Game.

Californians who file an income tax return may donate directly to a fund for endangered species, either by adding the donation to the tax they expect to pay or by subtracting the donation from an expected refund. During 1984, 121,252 taxpayers used their tax returns to contribute $542,638 to endangered state wildlife.