Sea Scout Ship #145 Challenger crew
The crews of SSS Challenger and SSS Morning Star (girls ship out of Sunnyvale), after the awards ceremony at the Ancient Mariner's Regatta in Stockton, in 2002. The Challenger crew received the Clipper (highest) award at this regatta, and the Morning Star (teamed up with another ship) received the Schooner (second-highest) award. I'm standing third from the left.
The crew of SSS Challenger, after the awards ceremony at the Old Salts Regatta in San Francisco, in 2000. The Challenger received the Clipper award as well as the Old Salts Wheel, a special trophy for the crew who completes every event and scores highest overall. I'm kneeling at the far left.
The crew of SSS Challenger at the Southwestern Rendez-Vous at the Coronado Island Navy base in San Diego, in 1997. The Challenger crew received the Windjammer award here, which is the highest award at this competition. I'm near the far right, with the glasses.
A Challenger whaleboat team practicing at the San Francisco Sea Scout base in 2000. The goal of this event, called "Flotilla", is to row with perfect syncronicity. The young man standing at the stern is serving as a coxswain, steering the boat with the sweep oar (seen hanging off the stern) and giving the crew orders as necessary. This was the only practice our crew received before the first regatta of the year, and in spite of that and the fact that this was the first time the coxswain had ever performed in his position, the crew took first place. I'm sitting in the bow, ensuring that everyone on "my" side of the boat is moving in unison.
The S.S.S. Challenger is underway here, taking a group of Cub Scouts on a tour of the San Francisco Bay. The S.S.S. Intrepid (Ship #51 out of Palo Alto, running the 95' former Coast Guard Cutter Cape Romain) is visible behind us, with another group of Cub Scouts. I'm sitting at the stern of the Challenger, re-tying up a lifeline that we had brought down to allow boarding to go easier, as we were tied to the Intrepid and our gangways didn't line up. We are currently in the process of replacing the rope lifelines with stainless steel cable, along with stainless steel stanchions. We will also be creating a second gangway that lines up with the Intrepid's gangway to allow this annual event to go more smoothly.
The M/V Warden Johnston coming in to dock at the now-decommissioned Alameda Naval Air Station, in 1996. As you can see, the kids are preparing lines to be tossed to shore, while others have fenders handy to protect the boat from hitting the dock. I'm in the yellow shirt holding a fender.
A second picture of the M/V Warden Johnston coming in to dock at the Alameda Naval Air Station in 1996. This was for the Old Salts Regatta, which was held there for just that year, after Treasure Island closed down and before Alameda closed down (the regatta has since been held in San Francisco and Redwood City).
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Last updated 2/26/03
Yes, this is me again :) at the helm of the Warden Johnston, underway in October 1996 to the annual Fleet Week naval demonstration in San Francisco. This was a very impressive sight, with many ships in the Pacific Fleet cruising in under the Golden Gate Bridge. The Blue Angels also perform.
S.S.S. Challenger vessel
The S.S.S. Challenger in the San Pablo Bay, cruising home from a New Year's dance in Petaluma in 1999. We had barely had the boat in the water for 7 months, and have already gotten the superstructure painted white (it was originally battleship gray). If you notice the lower mast, it is still painted primer green.
A more recent picture of the Challenger, taken in either 2000 or 2001 while cruising in the Sacramento/San Joaquim Delta (where most of our summer cruises go).
The S.S.S. Challenger in the Sacramento River, at Rio Vista, CA in June 2002. Note the cargo boom that had been added within the last year; this is used to load and unload small craft.
A second picture of the S.S.S. Challenger in the Sacramento River, at Rio Vista, CA in June 2002. The vessel in the background on the right is the S.S.S. Liberty, a 95' PTF boat run by a female crew, at her home base. The Challenger had been towing the ski boat, and is in this picture reeling the ski boat in so a person can be transferred to the boat, to allow the Challenger to dock unhindered.
The Challenger, having released the ski boat, is now ready to make for the dock. The ski boat will dock on its own. In fact, at this point, the ski boat was brought out of the water, and towed home on a trailer (in fact, I was in school, so, although I drove up to take the ski boat home, I wasn't able to be on that cruise). The Challenger made the 12 hour cruise back to her home-port in Redwood City the following day.
A scary sight, to say the least. Fortunately, when this picture was taken, the S.S.S. Challenger was sitting on skids in a parking lot at Port Hueneme. This was how we first saw her, and she stayed like this for 4 months before we had her ready to be put back in the water. This was how her predicament was viewed from the helmsman's chair.
This picture was taken after we finished our first weekend at Port Hueneme (located near Oxnard, in southern California, which was a 6 hour drive from our home in the Bay Area). This was in late February 1998. As you can see, the starboard side of the lower hull is painted red; we worked day and night (we arrived there at midnight Saturday morning, worked until 6:00am, slept for 6 hours, worked from noon to midnight, slept for another 6 hours, and worked on her from 6:00am until we finished) sanding the hull down and putting the first coat of paint on her. The second weekend, we did the other side! Unfortunately, the Navy hadn't put very much love into this boat, so we spent a lot of time patching holes and making repairs (in fact, we still haven't finished, although the boat is definitely seaworthy). I'm on the far right. :)
A look at the port side of the superstructure on the S.S.S. Challenger, as seen from a boat that was on a skid next to her at Port Hueneme (the "6-Pack", as we called her, was eventually scrapped). This was on oen of the first weekends that we had her; note that the boat is still battleship gray. She was used by the Navy as a retriever for test shots fired from nearby Point Mugu, as was the "6-pack" and various other boats.
AT LAST!! In May 1998, right before Memorial Day, the Challenger is lowered into the water for the first time in 5 years. The adult officers then proceeded to cruise her up the California coast (through a storm that put "green" water over the top of the pilot house). They made it just in time for the big Ancient Mariner's Regatta, held on Memorial Day weekend.
The S.S.S. Challenger, along with the S.S.S. Gryphon (based out of Redwood City, CA), at the Tall Ships Cruise-In in July 1999. Both vessels were tasked with the purpose of traffic control, although this was a very daunting task with the amount of traffic in the Bay this day.
M/V Warden Johnston vessel
The M/V Warden Johnston as she looked when she was serving her original purpose, which was the transport of guards, families, visitors, and prisoners to and from Alcatraz Island. The date of this picture is unknown.
The M/V Warden Johnston underway in the late 1970's. Supposedly, this picture was taken on her way to film the beginning sequence of Escape From Alcatraz, a movie starring Clint Eastwood, about the 1962 Morris/Anglin Alcatraz escape attempt.
The Warden Johnston's bridge, as seen in 1995. You can clearly see here the helm as well as the Engine Order Telegraph (EOT), which gives commands to an engineer in the engine room. There is no direct control on the engine or transmission on this boat; orders had to be "rung" through this unit to the engineer, who shifted the transmission and throttled up or down the engine as needed. When the handle is moved, a bell is rung in the engine room and a pointer moves, pointing to the proper setting ("Engine Stop", "Ahead Half", etc).
The Warden Johnston, out of the water and ready to be put back in, at the Anderson & Christofani yards in 1971. A VERY special thanks to Bill Seramin for providing me with this picture! Notice the bars going vertically through the middle of the front windows. They were actually removed from the frontmost two windows, so that windshield wipers could be installed, for the "rainy approach" scene shot for Escape From Alcatraz.
The Warden Johnston on approach to dock at the Naval Station in Alameda, in April 1996. Note the cleanliness of the hull; she had been hauled out in February of that same year (ironically, on my 15th birthday).
The Warden Johnston getting underway from Pier 32 in San Francisco, in (I believe) late 1996. This was just after a parents' cruise, and the crew was on their way across the bay to a Christmas dance.
The Warden Johnston underway near San Francisco.
The Warden Johnston at our home dock in Redwood City in late 1994. At this time, the boat was unuseable due to the previous crew damaging the transmission badly enough to require a complete rebuild (a process which took almost 6 months). The Warden Johnston's history in the late 1980's up to 1994 is very sketchy; apparently, at one point a Sheriffs youth group had control of her (explaining the blue stripes on her hull), and she was pretty much abandoned for a few years after she was used in the movie Murder in the First (in the process of which she was brutally stripped down in the name of authenticity; parts were lost in the process that made some components, such as the radar, permanently unuseable).
This is a "before/after" shot of the Warden Johnston's propeller and rudder, when she was hauled out of the water in February 1996. This was the first time she had been out of the water in at least 7 years, so the growth was considerable. In the picture, you can see the difference yourself. :)
This is the marine Detroit 6-71 diesel engine that powered the Warden Johnston. You can see the throttle and gearshift lever that the engineer used to respond to EOT commands (in the lower picture, you can see a brass plate; the engine room side of the EOT was mounted there, along with all engine gauges). This engine is 426 cubic inches in displacement, and is a 2 stroke design. As you can likely tell, the engine room was rather cramped as far as headroom goes (I'm 6' tall and couldn't stand straight up). Due to the potential need to throttle down, an engineer was required to stand watch at all times that the boat was underway.
This is the Detroit 2-71 engine that served as the Warden Johnston's generator. This genset turned at an extremely high RPM, and would drown out the main engine at idle easily. Even with the main engine at full speed, you could make out the sound of the generator. People knew that this boat was coming looooong before they saw her. :)
Other Sea Scout vessels
S.S.S. Morning Star, out of Sunnyvale, CA, running a former admiral's gig from the U.S.S. Midway. Their boat is docked at the Port of Redwood City, right next to the S.S.S. Challenger. In fact, Robin, my girlfriend, helps out on the Morning Star.
S.S.S. Gryphon, based out of Redwood City, CA, running a T-class former Army cargo vessel. This picture was taken at a gathering at Yerba Buena Island in February 1998, during a huge storm. No one slept that night. :)
S.S.S. Chaser, based out of Napa, CA, running a 90' vessel.
S.S.S. Compass Rose, based out of Petaluma, CA, running a 65' former torpedo retriever.
A line-up of boats at the Ancient Mariner's Regatta in 2002, held in Stockton (normally held at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, but the threat of war has moved us off of the base). This is only half of the boats that showed up; the other half are on the other side of the San Joaquim River. Vessels pictured include (left to right): SSS Point Weber (our sister ship) (Stockton, CA); M/V Morris (privately owned); S.S.S. Chaser (Napa, CA); S.S.S. Intrepid (running vessel Cape Romain) (Palo Alto, CA); S.S.S. Sea Witch (Concord, CA).
A line-up of boats at the Old Salt's Regatta in 1999, held at Pier 32 in San Francisco. Vessels pictured include: (very back) U.S.S. Constellation, there by special request; (far row, left to right) S.S.S. Northland (Richmond, CA); S.S.S. Reliance (Stockton, CA; vessel now owned by S.S.S. Point Weber); S.S.S. Liberty (Rio Vista, CA); S.S.S. Chaser (Napa, CA); (near row, left to right, rear to front) S.S.S. Challenger (Redwood City/San Jose, CA); S.S.S. Sea Fox (Alameda, CA); S.S.S. Sea Witch (Concord, CA); (foreground, left to right) S.S.S. Gryphon (Redwood City, CA); S.S.S. Intrepid (Palo Alto, CA); S.S.S. Albatross (Martinez, CA); S.S.S. Compass Rose (Petaluma, CA).
Various Boats and Ships
U.S.S. Kitty Hawk
U.S.S. Maine
U.S.S. Tarawa, courtesy of a felow member on TheDieselStop.com
U.S.C.G.C. Point Brower, now retired and will eventually be sold to Azerbaijan. :(
Alcatraz
James A. Johnston, first warden of Alcatraz. He served as prison warden from the opening of the prison in 1934 until 1948 when he chose to retire. The Warden Johnston is named after him.