Warden Johnston for sale

[bholderman]

Greetings,

Another San Francisco Maritime treasure is on the auction blocks:

http://tinyurl.com/3dr33p

[Ron Paro]

If only I had a spare $175,000 and a 65' slip to park her in...:)

http://www.wardenjohnston.com/images/bexteriorsidedistance4.JPG

[Lew Barrett]

The wheel house looks nice. I wonder how accomodating the brig is?
I note that they didn't show any pictures of the crew's quarters and the guest's staterooms.

[Uncle Duke]

This is a great opportunity for an office or pied-à-terre with a spectacular view and an extraordinary address.
If I'm reading this right, you could live aboard, yes? That's pretty cheap housing for that area!

[MarkC]

displayed and preferably used for a maritime purpose at the end of the Embarcadero (http://www.wardenjohnston.com/photos.html). This is a great opportunity for an office or pied-à-terre with a spectacular view and an extraordinary address.

I believe it has to stay there - and you probably can't alter the boat, so I wonder how comfortable it would be for your 'pied-à-terre' ?

Still - an interesting idea to keep a museum vessel seaworthy - privatise it (to a degree) and take the financial pressure off the museum.

[bholderman]

I believe it has to stay there - and you probably can't alter the boat, so I wonder how comfortable it would be for your 'pied-à-terre' ?

Still - an interesting idea to keep a museum vessel seaworthy - privatise it (to a degree) and take the financial pressure off the museum.

I actually talked to the owner via phone. Staying there is a preference but not a requirement. He's been a bit frustrated in a lack of interest of a historical boat, but it seems thats a bit of the norm in SF. I was actually more interested in the Victory 1, it has a San Diego historical connection, it would be good to get her back down here I think.

[Lew Barrett]

Historical boats, that's to say, boats whose history is "a" or "the" major feature, always seem to be problematic. Perhaps an exception might be made for really important ships, such as the HMS Victory, true national treasures. But really, every 60 foot 75 year old boat has important history. It goes with the territory. This is something that those of us who keep old boats understand. They're all special. I'm not being facetious in the least.
So, once you get past a boat's history, what's left? Well, does the boat appeal; is it a good boat for the purpose it is now intended to fulfill? That's what will sell the Warden Johnston or not. The next owner has to see and understand a purpose for the boat that indeed may honor the history, but, for most people at least, also allows for some utility. An historical runabout or a small sailboat that has done circumnavigations is a perfectly understandable museum piece that you can get your arms around. A sixty five foot enclosed vessel, no matter it's prior purpose is a significant undertaking that will be continuously demanding of it's stewards. What it is capable of giving back to them becomes an important part of the equation.
This might be a fine boat, I really have no idea, but it's condition, beauty and utility has to be
measured as apart from it's historical value. It has crossed over a certain line that needs some experience with such things to understand. Frankly, the listing is too short on detail and too long on "history."

[bholderman]

Mr. Barrett,sir,

Quite true. I guess my tack (or way of thinking) is that I've seen a lot of preservation efforts made too late. What makes something a basic antique versus a museum piece, you have elaborated on quite well.

If it were brought to San Diego, it would be ALMOST meaningless from a historical point-of-view. Its perfect setting would be exactly what it was built for shuttling prisoners (today known as tourists/passengers) to the island of Alcatraz.

But, one wonders if in the future, someone will ask, "Whatever happened to the Warden Johnston?" This is the point where I start to ramble and lose a collective thought, so I'll stop short.

[Lew Barrett]

Mr. Barrett,sir,
........But, one wonders if in the future, someone will ask, "Whatever happened to the Warden Johnston?" This is the point where I start to ramble and lose a collective thought, so I'll stop short.

Don't stop Brad. I can take it! Being an old boat sort of guy myself, I am right there with those who enjoy seeing the survivors preserved for posterity. My sense of what makes a boat's history important isn't seperated from the fabric of the boat, that's all. By keeping an old boat alive we preserve the memory not only of her purpose and the people that used her, but also those that built her, in which we all share a common bond. She becomes part of the landscape for everyone, and will be there for future generations to enjoy and marvel at.
I suppose this has been my round-about way of asking; so what's the condition of the boat? My jaundiced view is that she's worth what she's worth as a boat because the market doesn't reward the history on it's own. I wish it did, because my boat comes with history too, but at this point in time old boats are not something that can be brought to the Antiques Roadshow for a big appraisal wherein the simple fact of age works in favor of the object. There's something about the sales approach here that causes me to question the value. If the value is mainly in preserving a hunk of SF history, my thinking is that she's in deep trouble. She may be a fabulous boat; but they don't say.

[bholderman]

Mr. Barratt,

Unfortunately a lot of the boat lingo was a bit over my head. The plans and dreams of even the simple lumberyard skiff are still on my desk. For the most part, Im investing most of my time on a tall ship.

That said, Mr. S- mentioned that he never has to use the pumps (I'm assuming bilge) and the phrase fir-on-fir was in there. It didn't help that one of my kids was pestering me thinking it was her grandma.

Does it need work, yes he admitted to that, the term "deep pockets" was mentioned but he didn't allude to a complete restoration or not. But as with Mr. Fleming and Mr. Mifsud and other San Francisco alumni, he didn't have very many positive things to say about SF historical Maritime venues.