Countywide : All Decked Out for the Boat Festival

It may be 65 years old, but the Kelpie, with its finely polished wooden hull and mast that rises 81 feet, is known as about the fastest schooner on the West Coast.

The Kelpie of Dana Point is one of eight classic wooden sailing vessels that will participate in the first Dana Point Harbor Wooden Boat Festival, a three-day event that starts today and continues through Sunday.

Visitors will not only have a chance to tour the boats from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the festival, but can sail on them during afternoon racing events.

“We decided this would be a good opportunity to get people out on the boats,” said Ed Fitzgerald, festival chairman and owner of Dana Island Yachts. “It’s an extremely rare occasion when the public can get on one of these vessels to participate in a race.”

All the vessels racing in the festival are certified to carry passengers by the U.S. Coast Guard.

As with the other vessels in the festival, the Kelpie has a long and colorful history, according to its skipper, Kevin Mullen.

Built in 1928 in South Bristol, Me., the Kelpie was designed by three apprentices of the famous naval architect John Alden, Mullen said. In its early years, the schooner was named Hopeful, reflecting the ambitions of its designers to match Alden’s talents.

Later the boat was named the Kelpie after a fabled Scottish sea nymph that was known to drag those who touched it to a watery death, according to Mullen.

During World War II, the Kelpie was commandeered by the Navy and spent several years searching the Atlantic Ocean for German submarines.

After the war, the vessel traveled through the Panama Canal to the West Coast and spent time with owners in San Diego and Newport Beach. About 10 years ago, the boat was bought by local attorneys James E. Dobrott Jr. and Coby N. Keller.

Since then, the vessel has undergone a total renovation, including new oak frames and Douglas fir floor timbers, Mullen said.

“It was old and tired then, but it was always sailing,” Mullen said. “It’s a young, new thing now. It should last another 100 years.”

Other vessels that will be part of the festival are: Bagheera, Tempest and Sea Witch, all of Dana Point; Curlew and Spike Africa of Newport Beach; Orion of San Diego, and the Pilgrim of Newport.

Visitors to the harbor will be charged $5 to tour the wooden schooners, yawls, sloops and ketches that will participate in the event. For $20, visitors can tour the boats and later board one for the race event, which will begin at 4 p.m. all three days. The race will end just before sunset about 6 p.m. and all boats will return to Dana Wharf docks by about 6:30 p.m.

The tour and sailing package for children under 12 is $12.50. All tickets for the boat show and sailing event can be bought at Dana Wharf Sportfishing. For more information, call (714) 496-5794.