The Seminole(a Native American people originally of Florida) was designed by W. J. McInnes and built by George Lawley and Sons (Boston, MA) in 1916. Around 1928 the boat was relocated to California where she passed through several owners before finally being put up for sale in a police auction in 1996.
Memory from Karl Stice
“I was just remembering my boyhood days in the late 1950s/early ’60s, when my family used to sail the Seminole, out of Marina Del Rey harbor in the Los Angeles area. My Dad, Eric Stice, was an excellent skipper, and had gotten to know the owners of the Seminole back then, through other friends of ours, Jim and Sandy Wynn, the owners of the classic ‘Emerald’ (the famous boat that Leonard Wibberley rescued after its sinking accident in 1963). We had been sailing the ‘Emerald’ several times, and then my Dad got the idea to run a charter service, taking passengers for the weekends, over to Santa Catalina Island; and we three kids and Mom were the crew. Those were glorious sailing days, and I will always hold dear the beautiful memories of sailing this most beautiful ship, the Seminole.”
Memory from Juliet Elton Peck
“As a young girl living in Huntington Beach California, my father, Bob Elton, was “hired” by (one of?) the owners of the Seminole, Bill Disbrow, to teach Bill how to sail. My father is an avid and competent sailor.
I was my father’s “oldest son”, and spent numerous wonderful hours of my childhood sailing on the Seminole. One of my favourite memories was sailing down the coastline into Mexico with thousands of dolphins at our side.
I believe Bill Disbrow was the last owner, sailing out of Oxnard or Marina del Ray.”
Seminole was purchased sight unseen for $1.00 by Elizabeth Meyer’s J-Class organisation and trucked back east arriving at Brooklin Boat Yard in 2003 for a 2 year restoration.
Relaunched in May of 2005 she has been on the move sailing the US East Coast and traveling back to the Pacific. There she cruised most of the length of North America from La Paz, Mexico to the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska before returning home to New England waters.
Elizabeth Meyer and her husband have sailed Seminole over 18,000 miles.
