Researching My Grandfather’s Epic Legacy and the ‘Ysabel May’

In the June issue of Latitude 38 we published a letter from Marc English, a sailor in Maine, who is researching his grandfather’s voyage aboard the 1910-built vessel Ysabel May. The letter reads:

To Scott Grindy, harbormaster, San Francisco:

I stopped down to the waterfront the other day, hoping to pick your brain.

On April 20, 1917, my grandfather sailed out of the W. F. Stone & Sons Boatyard on the 100-ft-long schooner Ysabel May. They headed to Tahiti, then north to Christmas Island, where he worked on a coconut plantation, eventually becoming manager. He was marooned there for a year-and-a-half, with two teens from Tahiti, and rescued in November 1919 by Lord Admiral Jellicoe of Her Majesty’s Navy.

I’m working on a book about his adventure. Two years ago, as passenger, I sailed on a 100-ft vessel from Honolulu to Kiritimati (Christmas Island) while most of the Pacific was still under quarantine. Oh, by the way, Grandpa got marooned due to Spanish flu, of which he was unaware — one more thing to tie past and present together.

Long story longer, I’d love to pick your brain regarding tides, currents, winds, etc,, for sailing from Oakland to the deep blue. Along those lines, I’m wondering if you know of any archival records that may contain that data for that date.

This is the tip of the iceberg, as the intended book will become books, as well as a film. Thanks for the consideration.

Scott Grindy directed Marc to Latitude 38. No doubt Scott was familiar with the Latitude readers’ Brain Trust and believed someone among us could help. How about it? Does anyone have the knowledge and experience to give Marc the answers he needs to accurately portray his grandfather’s journey — “regarding tides, currents, winds, etc., for sailing from Oakland to the deep blue?”

Marc tells us he was aboard the USS Potomac “for a turn around the Bay,” three days earlier than the day his grandfather sailed out of Oakland in 1917, “which means the weather may well have been similar.” The time crossing the Bay on the Potomac would have been considerably less. Marc was told it might take up to five or six hours to tack across to the strait from Oakland, depending on all factors.

Following are images of a couple of newspaper clippings Marc sent us along with his letter.

Ending with a fun note, Marc mentioned that on the sail from Honolulu to Kiritimati he met a fellow sailor from Boston, now in Oakland. While the pair were on the island, they started the Kiritimati Yacht Klub. They even have a Facebook page, and a T-shirt with their logo.