At 38 years old, I’ve lived and worked on boats for 31 years, since I was seven. I’m Australian by birth, Irish by ancestry. My mother and father left Australia to go to England. He wanted to go there to build a boat and sail around the world. My mother was enthusiastic about it, too, up to a point. After all, she had four kids.
Richard Maguire
Published: November, 2001
Manager, Stone Boatyard
At 38 years old, I’ve lived and worked on boats for 31 years, since I was seven. I’m Australian by birth, Irish by ancestry. My mother and father left Australia to go to England. He wanted to go there to build a boat and sail around the world. My mother was enthusiastic about it, too, up to a point. After all, she had four kids.
I had a pretty wonderful upbringing. Every summer we’d sail twice, maybe three times a year across the English Channel to France, altogether, I bet, fifty odd times. It was a night away from Lymington, where we lived in England. It’s a famous little seaport on the south coast of England. So I was basically brought up on boats.
When I was fourteen, my father decided the boys needed a bigger room than a cabin and brought us back to land. But that didn’t stop him. We built a 54-foot cold molded ketch. I was of an age deciding what to do and that settled it for me.
I went off to do an apprenticeship as a boat builder but, unfortunately, two weeks into my apprenticeship they cut the program because the yard was in financial difficulty. Sadly that particular yard had been around since the 1500’s. I shifted to Falmouth Technical College where they taught boat building, engineering and marine architecture. It was better for me in the end by gaining a broader scope. Instead of building one part of a boat at a time, I learned how to do most of it.
When I finished my education in England, I moved back to Australia and worked for a naval architect, but was getting bored with the whole sailing thing. I’d been doing it since I was seven. I tried the complete opposite and worked as a sales rep for a computer company. Then took a turn restoring Australian classic Victorian houses.
In less than a year of non-boat efforts my younger brother turned up in Australia on a boat called Adix. She was a beautiful three-masted schooner, 215 feet overall. It was an fantastic opportunity when invited to be involved in its refit and then to go sailing around the world. My brother and I were able to live out the family dream.
Part of the world trip involved coming to Stone Boatyard to have a teak deck laid. Though Stone Boat Yard made a positive impression, I never imagined I would be coming back here. After 2 ½ years of world cruising, I joined Endeavour, owned by Elizabeth Meyer. Elizabeth has an International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island. She teaches people how to build wooden boats, classics to moderns. I sailed on Endeavour for about a year. While I on Endeavour, I met my wife.
The way it happened Endeavour was engaged for charter in British Columbia to Jim and Nancy Clark, the Netscape founder. The weather was bad that trip. They had such a miserable time that we promised that when we came down the coast, we’d stop in San Francisco and give them a couple of weekends on the boat free. They appreciated it so much they threw a big barbeque for us at their house. That’s where I met Lee, my wife. Lee’s currently the Managing Editor of Forbes ASAP.
It’s a typical sailor story – falling in love but you have to keep on going. I promised Lee I’d come back. Three or four months, I handed in my notice on Endeavour.
I came back to San Francisco keeping my promise to Lee but first I had one more adventure before settling down. I had to go do the Atlantic challenge. It’s a big yacht race that happens every four years. The goal is to beat the speed record from the Sandy Hook to The Lizard. Historically, when ships crossed the Atlantic, they’d mark time when they passed Sandy Hook NY and again when they got to England marked by a lighthouse known as The Lizard. That’s how our time was measured for the Atlantic Challenge. We came in 2nd in class on Adix. After the race, I gave Stone Boatyard a call about a job. I am currently the manager at Stone’s.
Stone Boatyard is two years shy of 150 years of continuous operation. It’s been in Alameda since the March 1941. The yard was originally in the area where Sam’s is in Tibourn then moved to San Francisco then Oakland. When WWII started they were on leased land and given 30 days by the military to move lot stock and barrel. They did it.
The present owner is David Olson. Over two years ago, he brought his 78’ 1934 Runner to Stone Boat Yard to have an engine room restoration and a bit of plumbing done. He fell in love with the yard. Dave purchased it in January 2000.
Dave has an absolute passion for old wooden boats. He has a beautiful collection of boats ranging from the 20’s into the 70’s. What is new that Dave wants for Stone Boatyard to return to the restoration and possible construction of wooden boats. We are also expanding our established service to the commercial and private sector. We currently maintain and repair ferry boats, Army Corp boats, SF pilot boats, fireboats, dinner cruisers, fishing vessels and more. Our railway allows us to handle most yachts.
There are plenty of wooden boatyards around but this one built the big sailing ships that worked the commercial routes. A current project, we’ve started building new lake boats. In a nutshell, they’re a piece of art, like a grand piano. They’re like the ones you saw in The Godfather. They’re exceptionally shiny. Everything glares back at you.
For me, Dave’s a dream owner and this is my perfect job. Dave holds the commitment to restoring the yard as its custodian. Every now and then I find a quality classic yacht and suggest, "Hey, there’s a nice wooden boat," and he buys it. We look for boats that aid the overall goal toward our vessel restoration mastery and facility development.
We’re negotiating to purchase such a boat right now. What’s nice about this particular boat is that it was built right here. The man that built it, Jack Ehrhorn, is alive, well and a true gentleman. I told Jack that we were in the midst of buying a Yankee and you should have seen the man’s face light up. Jack looked like he was sixteen again when I asked him to be part of the restoration team.
Jack’s a legend here in Alameda. He worked with Lester Stone at Stone Boat Yard since 1937. Dave Olson’s tribute to him is to turn the loft upstairs into a museum and reference library. Jack is going to be the curator. We want to keep alive some of the creative efficient ways in which a commercial shipyards of old worked. Watch for our announcement of the opening celebration of the museum in the coming months.
Robert Katzman & Marilyn Katzman
San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures
We live in a 105-year old San Francisco Victorian Firehouse, Old S.F.F.D. Engine Co. # 33, in service from 1896 -1994. It’s been our home for 24 years, since 1977 when the City put it up for auction because the doors became too small for the bigger fire engines they were purchasing. We were the lucky bidders. We have become Fire historians and avid collectors of fire service memorabilia and our home has become a living museum.
Before creating San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures, Robert was a marketing consultant and Marilyn had been an entertainer since the age of 3, performing and dancing on television and in the movies and also as a professional tap dancer. Marilyn is the only person to tap dance on the top of the South tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
While still in our separate careers, we also had an artistic business together, The Lizards Of Oz. We created living sculptures by combining natural burlwood with exotic bromelaid airplants. The burlwood was uprooted in Baja California to eliminate a fire hazard.
In 1995 there was a series of stories in the Sunday Chronicle/Examiner about people who live in unconventional homes. One week we were featured and soon after received a call from a fellow who had restored an old San Francisco hook and ladder truck and wanted to display his rig at our place. We were thrilled to have a fire truck here and before long decided we wanted our very own so we could take a ride whenever we wanted .
We put the word out and looked and looked. When we saw the cut-out doors and beautiful lines and the striking front end of this 1955 MACK pumper we knew we’d found the perfect one. The Fire Engine of our dreams was retired from service in 1989 and we were thrilled to be able to buy it.
In 1997 we began taking the fire engine out for rides. Our friends and family were having so much fun, and there were smiles and waves from everyone we passed on the road. There was an excitement and energy that was undeniable. We named the rig The Big Red Shiny Mack Fire Engine and thought how great it would be to be on the fire engine together every day and we started to think about the possibilities.
We discovered that in order to carry passengers commercially, we needed special licenses, permits and insurance. It became clear that our first thought of bringing people back to our Firehouse in a residential neighborhood would have limited appeal. So we decided to take advantage of the world class sights that surround us in the Bay Area.
Just about that time, Northern California started to experience El Nino, It took us six months to get everything in order, legal and ready to roll, though it seemed as if the rain would never stop. Finally it did, and on June 20, 1998 we began our business, operating from The Cannery Historic Marketplace at Fisherman’s Wharf.
We were not an immediate success. Of course there were spontaneous people who couldn’t resist riding in a classic, open-air, restored fire engine over the Golden Gate Bridge. But it took lots of hard work, word-of -mouth, advertising, marketing and working 7 days a week for many months to get us on the road to becoming World Famous, which we now are.
We’ve become very popular with tourists as well as thousands of Bay Area locals, many who see us while commuting over the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone loves riding on the Fire Engine and we love entertaining them. Our standard tour goes through the Presidio to Fort Point, across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, down to Ft. Baker and back over the Golden Gate Bridge through Cow Hollow/Union Street neighborhood and back to Fisherman’s Wharf, about 20 miles. The heavy firefighter jackets we provide keep everyone comfortable.
After more than three years of operation, our business of the heart is finally a success, both financially and emotionally. Of course firefighters have always been our heroes and now that everyone is so aware of their awesome bravery, it makes us especially proud to be preserving their history. We also raise money for the Burn Foundation and collect toys for the Firefighter’s Toy Program.
We have always loved working together. It’s not for every couple, but it sure works for us. We’re having the time of our lives!
Robert Katzman & Marilyn Katzman San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures
