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The keel was lain for this page in late
June of 2007 after we received an email from our friend, William
Heritage, present owner of the Wilbo ketch Leeway. The
Leeway design was a collaborative effort of Hugh Angelman and Dave Lee,
and it was built by Dave Lee at Wilbo to be his own personal boat –
the name perhaps being what is called a double entendre. Bill said:
"Have been in contact with David Lee Jr. and he has been kind enough to send me pictures of Leeway being built and several at anchor and under way. I am in the process of scanning them and would be most happy to share them with anyone that is interested. This should be a great opportunity for someone (writer) to get first hand information about WILBO. David has told me that Leeway had always had canvas decks and that the lead keel was made from scrap defective toy soldiers from a factory in the area."
We've acted on Bill's suggestion and
taken the opportunity to begin a WILBO page, in hopes
that it will develop into a comprehensive pictorial and written history
of the famous boatyard where Sea Witch and so many other fine boats were built. Our thanks
go to Bill Heritage and Dave Lee, Jr., for the photographs and
information used to launch this page.
The photos initially shown below are heavily
weighted with "Leeway" photos, taken both while under
construction at WILBO and on sea trials. We hope to add more photos as
time goes by.
For the written part of the history of WILBO, I'm
initially borrowing text from our Hugh Angelman
biographical sketch page. Information will be added as it is received,
or gleaned from other sources.
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Dave Lee
(right), Dave Jr., and wife, Eleanor, abt. 1950 |
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Leeway
under construction. Sea Queen can be seen in the center photo.
At left, 2 page article about Sea Nymph from Oct. 1938 SEA
magazine |
| Above
photographs and article from Dave Lee, Jr.'s collection – compliments of William
Heritage and Dave Lee, Jr. |
OUTLINE OF WILBO HISTORY
In 1919, Hugh and a
friend, Willard Buchanan, teamed up and built a boat on the Los Angeles
waterfront. This successful project attracted the attention of a wealthy
man named Tom Smith. Tom liked what he saw well enough to advance them
the money to build a boat for him. Not only did Hugh and Willard build
the boat in a surprisingly short time, they built two of them! Smith
took one, the "Little Warrior," and the other, "Deep
Water" became the Angelman family boat.
Smith was so impressed with Hugh and Willard's
accomplishment that he provided them with the financial backing to
launch Wilmington Boat Works in 1920. And thus began the career that
would produce an impressive array of some of the finest sail and power
boats ever built.
By 1922, "Wilbo" (as the yard became
informally known), had been successful enough to requiring more room,
and it moved to its final location on the Wilmington waterfront East
Basin. Under Smith's direction, Angelman and his crew built two houses
on the property, one for Smith, and one for Hugh and his family.
While Hugh was becoming a master boat builder, he
developed his natural boat designing talents – and though he built an
array of boats designed by other famous designers of the day, some of his own
designs became famous in their own right. Over the years, the list of
Angelman designs grew to an impressive length, of both power and sail
vessels of all types and sizes.
Angelman designed and built a yard office in the form
of a sailing ship's great cabin, and this unique "office,"
which had a fully outfitted galley, became a waterfront institution in
itself. Friday evening gatherings at the Wilbo office – for business,
camaraderie, and a good meal – became a tradition. Tom Smith himself
served as chef, and the "ship room" hosted an array of guests
that included the worthy yachting and boat yard fraternity, along with
occasional Hollywood celebrities.
The Hollywood connection contributed to Wilbo
landing the job of building the 36 foot replica of the HMS Bounty, for
the 1935 movie, Mutiny on the Bounty, staring Charles Laughton
and Clark Gable.
The Wilbo crew worked feverishly around the
clock to complete the project in only three weeks, and were later
appalled to watch it wrecked and burned to the waterline in the movie. Full sized
ships were used in most of the movie, and the Wilbo model was considered
expendable (see: http://www.winthrop.dk/bounty).
Hollywood celebrities became some of
Wilbo's most notable customers, and Spencer Tracy, Dick Powell, John
Wayne, Ernest K. Gann were among the movie luminaries to have boats
built by Hugh at Wilbo.
Hugh Angelman's reputation and professional
success, of course, owed a lot to his business partners, several design
assistants, and skilled and dedicated workers. He was skilled at
choosing the right people for the job, and many unsung helping hands
quietly contributed to both the success of the yard and the Angelman
phenomena.
Among them were Willard
Buchanan, Vic Ward, Nick Potter, Harry and Bob Carlson, Dave Lee, Merle
Davis, and Charles Davies – designers, loftsmen, patternmakers, and
shipwrights – to name only the most prominent. Perhaps the most
recognized of all (at least to Sea Witch devotees), was Angelman's protégé, and most prominent long-time
design partner, Charles Davies.
Though a success from the beginning, Wilbo
experienced its share of business ups and downs during its long history.
It prospered, fell on hard times, and prospered again, producing fine
sail and power yachts of every step of the way. Lacking orders, there
was usually at least one boat being built on speculation to provide work
for the men. They never failed to sell, and sometimes got the yard out
of a financial bind.
During Prohibition, fast motorboats were in
demand. Law enforcement required fast boats to overtake the bootleggers,
and the bootleggers needed fast boats to outrun the revenuers. And Wilbo
was pleased to satisfy the demands of both markets.
In 1937 Hugh designed what many consider the
crown jewel of his career – the 35 foot, gaff rigged auxiliary ketch,
Sea Witch. He designed and built it for himself with an eye toward
safety, comfort, and the romantic tradition of the great clipper era –
undoubtedly naming it for the famous China tea clipper of that
name. She was completed in 1939, but it caught the eye of an eager buyer
and Hugh let the Sea Witch slip from his grasp.
Realizing his loss, Hugh built another exactly
like it – the Sea Rover – which was completed in 1941, just before
the Navy came knocking at the beginning of World War II. The Sea Rover
remained the Angelman boat for over two decades, until Hugh was forced
by old age to retire from active boating.
During the Second World War, Wilbo was
requisitioned by the Navy Department for the duration, a circumstance
that Hugh hardly relished. Hugh helped design, and the yard built, FT
boats, minesweepers, and sub chasers throughout the war years.
Hugh had gained the reputation of being one of
the finest designers and builders of the times, and in spite of his
dislike for Navy work (or perhaps, because of it), he was "chosen
by his fellow West Coast shipbuilders as their arbitration
representative to the United States Government."
Though he was
quite willing to do his patriotic duty, being under the managerial
control of naval brass and government bureaucrats seems to have entailed
more headaches and frustrations than rewards. At one point he sent a
letter to a friend expressing some of his frustrations. A single
paragraph just about sums it up:
We are building
the ship with a deck load of Gold Braid, a bottom planked with
creditors and a cargo of confusion. However, we walk the quarterdeck
with a determined stride and steer a straight course, although the
compass goes around with the sun. It seems a long and devious route
must be sailed before we fetch up in Catalina Harbor, so we are
carrying on.
Untiringly yours,
Hugh
The Mudflat Philosopher
In 1945 Hugh turned management of Wilmington Boat Works over to his
former son-in-law Bob Carlson (who had married, and later divorced, his
daughter Mae). Though divorced from Mae, Hugh continued to look upon Bob
as a son. At about the same time he sold his interest in the business to
William L. Horton, and finally retired from active boat building, though
he remained closely associated with the yard, more or less in the
capacity of a consultant. He often visited Wilbo to inspect the progress
of Angelman designs the yard continued to build.
Wilmington Boat Works was a full service yard,
complete with it's own casting foundry and machine shops. It built just
about everything that went into its boats except the engine. It had
become a big incorporated business during Hugh Angelman's tenure prior
to World War Two, and it became even larger during the war years. It's
Navy contracts continued after the war and it remained a large presence
on the waterfront under Bob Carlson, with a full scale corporate
organization, including a dispensary, and it's one corporate
publication, the "Wilbo Log" (A few pages from Volume II,
Issue No. 6 shown below. Click thumbs for larger view.)
Readers who have something to contribute to this page, please feel
free to send photos or additional information to: webmaster@heritech.com.
Source References
"The Grand Old Man of Pacific Yachting, the Enduring West Coast
Legacy of Hugh Angelman" by Robby Coleman with Thomas G. Skahill,
and "Pure Sea Witch" by Robby Coleman – WoodenBoat,
No. 147, Mar/Apr 1999
The "Residential History of Portuguese Bend, Rancho Palos Verdes,
Los Angeles," by Connie Luffkin. (http://www.geocities.com/pbchost/History/history.htm)
A short biographical sketch posted on the Naples (Florida) Sailing
& Yacht Club website: http://ouryachtclub.memfirstweb.net/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp
Photo credits: Dave Lee, Jr., William Heritage. "Wilbo
Log" images provided by Dave Lee, Jr.
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