Sausalito Historical Society Newsletter Winter 2014
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SAUSALITO HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER WINTER 2014 THE DRYDOCKS OFF SAUSALITO These recollections from the early 70s are part of a memoir in The sporadic gunfire didn’t help either. progress by waterfront icon Joe Tate. As leader of the legend- I had a small Chinese junk named the Hwang Ho, ary band the Redlegs, Joe was a regular denizen of the which I more or less lived on while commuting be- drydocks in the waters off Sausalito, and also a participant in tween shore and the drydocks. the infamous houseboat wars: I just wanted a good rockin’ he Red- group that could bring parties T legs came alive. I had no faith in the re- about sort of cording business or any of the by accident. I regular club business, which I was a refugee regarded as being dominated by from the music people whom I viewed as ignora- business living tii. among the boat dwellers For some months we had been in Sausalito. having parties at the drydocks by Many of us picking up paying attendees were very poor from the Sausalito shoreline. We and had taken The Hwang Ho near the drydocks. Photo by Saul Rouda had a friend named Jesse Bolton, to living on who could quickly prepare a some huge abandoned wooden drydocks that were feast. He also did a lot of scrounging at the Big G sunk in the middle of Richardson Bay. It was a really dumpster. Jesse was one party animal and, for his crummy, filthy place to live. They really smelled bad style, he was nicknamed “Jesse Crocodile.” too. It was so wet and moldy that the seams in our We also made friends with Frank Werber, owner of jeans kept rotting out. Someone figured out that the Trident, a trendy restaurant built on a pier in painting the seams kept them from rotting. We had downtown Sausalito. He allowed us to land at the res- red paint. taurant and schmooze. We would hustle patrons to go The drydocks were gigantic and had been used to lift with us aboard the Loafer, a small tug owned by my military ships for repair during WWII. The Sausalito old sailing buddy, Bill Becker. waterfront was largely a big junkyard of marine It was about this time that Becker sold the Loafer to wreckage from the war. Many houseboats were built one Captain Dredge, who was a regular dweller at the on a variety of surplus landing craft, balloon barges drydocks. “Dredge” made the party runs so often, we as well as submarine chasers and minesweepers. The had to scramble to keep up our appearance as the local drydocks were part of this surplus and they were the outlaw rock scene. ugliest of all this stuff. Not only that, but they were right in the middle of the bay where every complain- Our passengers were out to have fun though and they er in town could clearly see them. And complaints loved the Sausalito waterfront ambience. At least they there were. were willing to give us money. We would just load up as many people as we could cram on board. Once the It was bad enough before we started partying there but the bonfires at night along with the electric gui- Continued on page 2 tars really got the complaining department going. Continued from page 1 several trips a day. Who knows how many violations we were committing. SHS CO-PRESENTS This scene went on for many months with growing SAUSALITO FILMS dissatisfaction among the hill people. The rock ’n roll he Sausalito Library and the Sausalito Histori- music, as well T cal Society launched a series of free showings as the gun- of documentary films shot in and about Sausalito fire, could be on Friday evenings from January 16 to February 6. heard along The first showing, Last Free Ride, recreates Joe the shoreline. Tate’s adventures in Sausalito and on the high seas. Frank Wer- This “hip pirate movie” was introduced by its co- ber was get- producer Saul Rouda and drew a packed house at ting fed up the library. DVDs of the film are available at the too. It may library, or may be purchased via have been www.lastfreeride.com. Werber who Another capacity crowd filled the library the follow- exclaimed ing Friday evening to celebrate the 100th anniver- “Those peo- sary of the birth of philosopher and one-time ple at the The drydocks fully aflame. Photo by Saul Rouda Sausalito waterfront resident Alan Watts with a drydocks are just a bunch of rednecks”. John Ste- screening of Why Not Now? Watts’ son and filmmak- phens, a local wit, who was present and knew we had a er Mark Watts introduced the retrospective, which pre- habit of painting our pant seams red, corrected the sents the life and works of Alan Watts in his own gentleman and said, “Those people aren’t rednecks, words using archival film, audio recordings, and pho- they’re REDLEGS”. The name stuck and our band tographs. Afterward, everyone enjoyed a birthday car- was forever branded The Redlegs. rot cake, one of Alan Watts’ favorite treats. While returning from the drydocks one day, Joe found him- On January self in the midst of the houseboat wars, with sheriff’s deputies 30, Galilee attempting to destroy waterfront structures. Most peoples’ Harbor’s Ma- homes were saved, but as Joe notes: rianne Dolan The drydocks, which we continued to plunder, s h o w e d were next. Apparently, the City was anxious to get H o us e b o at rid of them any way they could and, since they were Wars, about no longer occupied they hired someone to torch her commu- them before someone else moved in. That some- nity’s struggle one was Andy Schlepp, as he was known among to survive the locals. “For fifty bucks,” he said later, “I poured during and gasoline on each of the towers and lit it off.” after the con- t e n t i o u s SAUSALITO NEWS 1970s. ACCESS EXPANDED ou can now read, copy and print back issues of Mark Watts shared fond memories of his father. The final in- Y Sausalito News from 1895 through 1957 via stallment in the Historical Society’s website: www. sausalitohistori- the series was a premiere of Eric Torney’s Sausalito calsociety.org. After the Bridge, that tells the story of how Sausalito changed after the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge Just click on the Sausalito News link on the home in 1937. The film’s narrative is interspersed with inter- page. Then, print out the instructions for searching views, old movies, and current and archival photos. the newspaper, click on the green Sausalito News link, and follow your printed instructions. A LOT OF HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS he Historical Society has benefitted greatly from The Sausalito Art Festival Foundation recently awarded T the support of businesses, organizations and indi- the Society $1,500 to create a space at the Ice House Vis- viduals throughout the Sausalito community, and we’d itor Center for the sale of arts and crafts from Sausalito like to acknowledge their artists. The Rotary Club helped up- many contributions: grade our artwork storage. Ed Couderec of Sausalito Jonathan Westerling of Radio Sau- Moving and Storage has salito airs our Secret History spots, provided space for some of and Soren Hemilla of MarinScope the treasures that no longer showcases our weekly history col- fit in our City Hall head- umn. quarters. Michael and Isaac Lappert have generously The City of Sausalito has generously provided ice cream to the provided space for our research and participants in our schools exhibit rooms and the Ice House, program. and helps pay our Ice House staff. Longtime SHS Board Of course, we also want to member Bob Woodrum acknowledge the support of our supplies framing and other members, who contributed over artwork through his busi- $3800 in response to our year end ness, Sausalito Picture fundraising appeal. Those funds Framing. will be used to update and preserve Third grade students and parents from Willow Creek Academy our collections at the Ice House and Food donations for our vol- enjoy ice cream cones from Lappert’s (Isaac Lappert in front) after completing a SHS Schools Program tour of Sausalito’s downtown the Marinship archives at the Bay unteer recognition event Historic District. The program is part of a year long study of the Model. We’re especially grateful to came from Saylor's, Venice history of Sausalito sponsored by the Sausalito Historical Society. members who have upgraded to pre- Gourmet, Cibo and Ange- The program, now in its fifth year, gives third grade students an mium levels of membership. Most lino's. opportunity to explore and learn about the historic buildings and recently, Patricia and Thomas Theo- Walt Van Voorhees has al- people of Sausalito and the history of the Marinship era and its dores renewed as Benefactors, and ways helped with photo en- impact on the community. Mary Foust renewed as a Patron. To largements and enhance- learn more about membership up- ments. Barbara Geisler has provided graphic design grades, please go to www. sausalitohistoricalsociety.com/ for this newsletter and SHS exhibits. Michael Moyle membership. has become the Society’s “house photographer.” COMING EVENTS SHEL SILVERSTEIN EXHIBIT PLANNED PORTUGUESE IN SAUSALITO On May, the Historical Society will launch a new exhib- PRESENTATION it of the music, poetry, drawings, cartoons and writings Last year the Sausalito Historical Society and the Sau- of longtime waterfront resident Shel Silverstein.