Mayan is a 74-foot wooden

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

in 1947. She is Alden Design No. 356-B - a Centerboard Schooner constructed of Honduran mahogany. Her name was taken from her country of origin of Belize where the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

developed. Her current home port is

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

where she serves as the flagship of the

St. Francis Yacht Club The St. Francis Yacht Club is a private sailing club located in San Francisco. History Founded in 1927, the Saint Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) was formed when some of the members of the San Francisco Yacht Club decided to move their clubhouse from ...

Characteristics

Mayan is rigged as a transitional schooner with a

gaff Gaff may refer to: Ankle-worn devices * Spurs in variations of cockfighting * Climbing spikes used to ascend wood poles, such as utility poles Arts and entertainment * A character in the ''Blade Runner'' film franchise * Penny gaff, a 19th- ...

foresail A foresail is one of a few different types of sail set on the foremost mast (''foremast'') of a sailing vessel: * A fore-and-aft sail set on the foremast of a schooner or similar vessel. * The lowest square sail on the foremast of a full-rigged ...

and a Marconi

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. T ...

. She has an overall length of 73 feet and a beam of 16.5 feet. She is 59.5 feet on deck and 62 feet to the main masthead with the intent to be operated on the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

. Her draft ranges from a maximum of 10 feet to a minimum of 4.5 feet through the use of a lifting centerboard. She has a ballast of 10,000 pounds and a displacement of 68,000 pounds. She was originally built White Oak for the frames, Honduran Somosa for the heavy timbers, Honduran mahogany for the planking (fastened with iron nails) and yellow pine for ceiling carvel planking Teak decking atop White oak deck frames. She was significantly rebuilt in 2005 with purple heart frames and bronze fastened double-planked with sepele and cedar set in epoxy. Mayan accommodates eight guests and requires a crew of three to sail.

History

Mayan was designed by John Alden's office in 1946 for Paul and Charles Allen, Paul served as a

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Navy captain, and was a revision on their Design No. 356 from 1928. C. Allen's son, Paul Allen led the construction team at Tewes Dockyard near

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

, in the former

British Honduras British Honduras was a Crown colony on the east coast of Central America — specifically located on the southern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony — renamed Belize from June 1973

. Mayan was sailed to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

after launching. She was sold in 1948 and served in the charter trade under a series of owners through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1969, musician

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

found Mayan in

Port Everglades Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2022, Port Eve ...

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

and purchased her for $22,500 borrowed from

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the bass guitarist and keyboardist of the Monkees and co-star of the NBC ...

. He sailed her from Florida through the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

to a new home port in

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 1970, Crosby began living on Mayan full-time and wrote rock songs such as

Wooden Ships "Wooden Ships" is a song written and composed by David Crosby, Paul Kantner, and Stephen Stills and recorded both by Crosby, Stills & Nash and by Kantner with Jefferson Airplane. It was written and composed in 1968 in Fort Lauderdale, Flori ...

, Carry Me, and Lee Shore while aboard. Crosby eventually moved Mayan to Santa Barbara, California. He owned her for 46 years. In 2005, Mayan was extensively rebuilt by master shipwright Wayne Ettel in Wilmington Harbor,

At that time her Mercedes Benz engine was entirely rebuilt, much of her rigging replaced, and various systems improved or replaced. In 2014, Stacey & Beau Vrolyk purchased Mayan from Crosby and moved her to Santa Cruz, California which remains her home port. From 2014 to 2018 during the off-season, the Vrolyk's returned Mayan to Wayne Ettel's boatyard and had her cockpit replaced, new fuel tanks and plumbing made, a holding tank added, a new head and shower built, her rail caps replaced, her Sampson post and many more of her frames replaced, and removed the white paint and varnished the cabin sides and rails. In 2022, master rigger Matthew Coale of Santa Cruz converted her from a staysail schooner back into her original design as a transitional schooner and outfitted her for classics racing.

References

{{reflist

External Links

Schooner Mayan Facebook page

Schooner Mayan Medium blog

Mayan Blogspot blog
Schooners of the United States Individual sailing vessels 1940s sailing yachts Sailboat type designs by Alden Designs