Yankee – Great Earthquake Survivor

San Francisco Bay is home to one of the largest, coolest and most active fleets of classic yachts anywhere in the world — the Master Mariners Benevolent Association. And one of the oldest, coolest and most active among them is 53-ft Stone schooner Yankee. Undoubtedly the best-known story of this famous local boat took place before she was even launched from Stone Boat Yard (then located adjacent to the present-day site of the St. Francis YC): she was knocked off her building cradle by the 1906 earthquake! She suffered only minor damage and was later jacked back into place, finished and ‘properly’ launched later that year.

Yankee is still around, still sailing, and still under the ownership of the Ford family and their in-laws. (Brothers Sydney and Arthur Ford bought the boat in 1925.) She was hauled out at KKMI earlier this month for routine maintenance, and on April 18 — the 102nd anniversary of her ‘accidental’ launch during the Great Earthquake — she was launched once again, ready for another year of making memories. Look for her out and about in the next few weekends, warming up for the MMBA’s big event, the Master Mariners Regatta, whose roots go back even farther than Yankee’s. As always, it’s scheduled for Memorial Day Saturday, which this year falls on May 24.