Sea Drift conjures up memories

John Blaich

* EDITOR’S NOTE: John Blaich is a Corona del Mar resident and

volunteer at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. About once a month,

he writes the history of interesting boats that graced Newport

Harbor.

Most yachts of this size would be manned by at least three or more

professional crewmen; not so with Lyman Farwell’s schooner yacht Sea

Drift. She went to sea with an all-Corinthian Crew made up of members

of the extensive Farwell family and close sailing friends. Brother

Byron Farwell, a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve who was

captain of a destroyer escort during World War II, sailed as the

navigator. Farwell’s wife, Kay, and daughter, Nancy, prepared the

menus and were responsible for purchasing and getting the sea stores

on board. Every crew member made his own bed and was expected to help

with the mundane tasks on board Sea Drift.

Bud Landers, a former crew member, told me about the time he was

helping out in the scullery. There was a special square, stainless

steel garbage can there that Farwell had made. This can fit into a

certain space adjacent to the galley sink. Bud carried this stainless

steel garbage can topside and down the ship’s accommodation ladder to

empty it and to wash it out with seawater. The can slipped from his

hands into the bay and started to sink. Bud jumped in, clothes and

all, to rescue the valuable container. Bud was a good swimmer, but

with his clothes on and wrestling with the weight of the garbage can,

he had a problem. By this time, his fellow crew members had lined up

on the rail and were making sport of Bud’s predicament. After Bud

came up for air the third time, they realized the seriousness of the

situation. Two crew members dove in and retrieved Bud and the garbage

can. After this, a lanyard (short piece of rope) was attached to the

can.

When the new section of Irvine Terrace at Corona del Mar was

developed in the 1950s, a street -- Seadrift Drive -- was named after

this famous Schooner Yacht. Farwell entered Sea Drift in the 1958 San

Diego to Acapulco Yacht Race. After the finish at Acapulco, they

leisurely cruised up the Mexican Coast in company with Windward,

another Newport Harbor yacht that was an 83-foot M Class racing

sloop. They were both anchored in an open roadstead off Yelapa,

Mexico. When all of the crew of Windward were ashore in broad

daylight, a link in the yacht’s anchor chain failed. Before members

of the crew could get back on board, Windward drifted into the surf.

Then Farwell and his salty crew on board Sea Drift rallied to the

occasion. Sea Drift was anchored off shore and a heavy line was put

on board the floundering Windward. Sea Drift became a tugboat. Sea

Drift then took in on her anchor chain and, with her engine running

full speed ahead, began pulling Windward out of the surf. Things

looked promising until a link failed in the Sea Drifts’ straining

anchor chain and the salvage efforts had to be aborted. Windward

eventually broke up in the surf and was a total loss.

In 1961, Farwell reluctantly sold Sea Drift. She was purchased by

Warner M. Williams of New York. Sea Drift left the Peninsula for the

last time to cruise to her new home in New York.

In 1962, from the top deck of a large excursion boat, I was

watching the first race of the America’s Cup challenge by Australia,

which was being sailed off Newport, R.I. Suddenly, there, among the

large spectator fleet, was Sea Drift, under power, with her

distinguishing black hull and tan canvas sail cover. It is still

vivid in my memory; it was like unexpectedly running into an old

friend from home in a faraway place.