The 103' west coast square-rigger, HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN, will be back in the San Francisco Bay, sailing in under the Golden Gate Bridge on March 14, 2001 after spending the winter in southern California. The ship is a replica of a 1790’s northern European trading vessel. From November through March each year she visits more than 14 different ports between San Francisco and San Diego conducting the VOYAGES OF REDISCOVERY. 4th &5th grade history programs together with Battle Reenactment Sails forthe public.

The well-known Sausalito based HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN gets the sailing season off to a great start with the first "Adventure Sail" on Saturday April 28, 2001. The next day is "Opening Day" on the Bay and a three public sail is scheduled at 2:30pm in the afternoon.

Every week thereafter through October will see Sunset Sails each Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and Sunday Brunch Sails with live music on Sunday mornings. Saturday mornings give folks a chance to exercise their sea legs on our popular interactive Adventure Sail. These sails all include complimentary food and beverages and cost from $35 to $50 per person.

Some of the upcoming special events include Mothers Day & Fathers Day Brunch sails, Battle Reenactments, Natural History Cruises, and an Independence Day Sail.

The ship is licensed for 47 passengers and is also available for private charter for birthdays, weddings, family and corporate events. In the summer months there are week long day camps, BUCCANEERS & EXPLORERS CAMP for kids ages 9 through 12 and SAILORS & EXPLORERS CAMP for ages 13 through 16. A long boat program will be announced in the near future. She also offers the 4th & 5th grade hands-on-history program, VOYAGES OF REDISCOVERY.

For reservations and more information about the ship, call 415-331-3214 or check out the web site at www.hawaiianchieftain.com

By Natalie Erlich

A teenage fantasy has turned into reality for Rob Fruechtenicht, a Marin entrepreneur who invented an extreme sport: the Diggler.

The mountain scooter, a cross between mountain biking and skateboarding, is hitting ski resorts across the country like Aspen and Vail, Colo. and Park City, Utah.

Built like a scooter, the Diggler has BMX wheels, mountain bike brakes, and a skid-plate bottom that allows for the grinding sensation that

Fruechtenicht envisioned at the age of 13.

"I was in pursuit of the carving sensation of snowboarding and skateboarding combined with the high-speed off-road technical aspect of mountain biking," he said.

Fruechtenicht, who participated in the skateboarding and mountain biking fads of the 80s, wanted to skateboard on mountain bike trails.

"I took part in the advancement of these sports and watched them grow from their infancy to becoming mainstream," he said. "That’s when people are really sharing true love for the sport versus when technology and competition and participation grow and the sport loses its soul."

Fruechtenicht says the Diggler is designed for a crossover market of mountain bikers, skaters and surfers. "The Diggler has the ability to beat proficient mountain bike racers, which shocks many people," he said. Unlike the mountain bike, it is a sport that is not intimidating to beginners…

"The beauty of it is it’s so easy to ride and anyone can do it,"

Fruechtenicht said. "It’s fun for everybody of every skill and level."

Fruechtenicht earned a B.A. in American Studies from San Francisco State University in 1995. Fruechtenicht decided to pursue his childhood dream once he graduated from college.

"Ironically, I was on my way to the DMV, with all the money I had from graduating," he said. "I was so depressed that I had to pay all of it to re-register my car, that I basically turned around to the bike shop and bought myself a scooter. I parked the van and started developing the product."

Fruechtenicht says initially he faced difficulty convincing his family to support his idea. "It’s been one big sales pitch from the beginning," he said.

At the time, however, scooters were not yet popular. Nonetheless, the 25-year-old college graduate assembled the prototype, showed it to his parents, borrowed some money, and started pursuing his teen-age dream. Some six years later, the CEO of Diggler, Inc. is seeing the initial rewards from the effort he and his partner Peter Berridge put forth. The Diggler is now manufactured in Taiwan and is marketed on www.diggler.com, the Sharper Image’s Web site and FAO Schwartz, among others.

There are three models geared to the individual interests of the "digglerer." The OMS, the original, is built for a real mountain terrain, the OMS Pro, an upgrade, is generally rented at ski resorts, and the Cement Mixer "was created for tearing up city streets, skate parks, half pipes, and dirt jumps," as stated on the Diggler Web site. The products sell from just below $400 to a little more than $600.

Fruechtenicht attributes his success to the "pioneering spirit" he witnessed as a teen growing up in Fort Wayne, Ind. and later in Larkspur, Calif. He also emphasizes that unlike the typical scooter, the Diggler is not for transportation but for sport.

"Just how I was a part of the BMX, skateboarding, and snowboarding in its early days, the kids will inevitably take it to the next sporting level," he said.

Fruechtenicht would also like to create a youth advisory board that would offer suggestions to the business in order to appeal to a teen market. "In order to succeed in this market, you have to be in tune with youth and what’s cool," he said.

"Dreams do come true and they don’t come for free. You have to work really hard to achieve your dreams".

The Little Trestle that Could!

By Wes Starratt

Not far from the Larkspur Landing Terminal of the Golden Gate Ferry System is the "little trestle that could" … could carry trains to the ferry terminal at Larkspur Landing and make possible the re-establishment of a combination rail-ferry service for Marin County … or could mark the end of many years of effort to bring commuter rail service to central Marin, since the ferry terminal is the single high-ridership destination for commuter rail service now and for many years to come.

The little trestle, crossing Sir Francis Drake Blvd. almost underneath Highway 101, is a part of the Northwestern Pacific right-of-way from Corte Madera to Willits that was purchased by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, as we learned last month in an interview with Stephan L. Leanoudakis, past president of the district and generally credited as being the "father" of the Golden Gate Ferry System. We also learned that Larkspur Ferry Terminal was located adjacent to the right-of-way with the vision of re-establishing an integrated rail-ferry service in Marin County. With that vision in mind, the trestle was rebuilt and strengthened shortly after the ferry terminal was put in operation.

But, after many years of effort by many people, the first railroad train carrying passengers to Larkspur Landing has yet to arrive … largely because of problems in securing funding (with sales tax initiatives defeated), but also because of a tunnel cave-in and other issues.

As the popularity of the Larkspur ferry system has increased, traffic leading to the ferry terminal has also increased, and the little trestle has become an obstacle to the widening the approach road. Now, proposals are being made to tear down the little trestle, perhaps sounding the death-knell to prospects for getting a passenger rail service to meet the new high-speed ferries at Larkspur Landing. The trestle or some replacement provides rail access to the ferry terminal. Without it, it is unlikely that there will be intermodal rail-ferry service in Marin County.