DOLPHIN HISTORY

Dolphin was built and launched in October of 1943 at Ernst Burmester Schiffswerft KG at Swinemunde on the Baltic Sea in Northern Germany, and is one of 612 Kriegsfischkutters (KFK's) built for the German Navy and Coastal Patrol during WWII. Dolphin was KFK hull number 259.

After launch in October of 1943, KFK 259 was assigned to the Naval High Command East, Harbor Protection Fleet stationed in the Kleiner Belt (Little Belt, one of the Danish channels of the Baltic Sea). In February of 1944, KFK 259 was given registration number Vs 425 and in September 1944 listed as in the Surveillance Force. At the end of the war, KFK 259 was stationed at Aalborg in the German Mine Sweeping Administration, Denmark Protection Division. In October of 1947 she was in the possession of the Bremerhaven Office of Military Government, United States, and apparently transferred to civilian ownership and registered under the name MAKRELE (mackerel) by new owner E. Mantau. KFK 259, now MAKRELE, was rebuilt and converted for civilian use at the Burmester Shipyards in Bremerhaven and in December of 1947 given registration number BX 461 in the name of H. Junge in Hornum, later transferred to A. O. Petersen also in Hornum. In 1953 the registered owner was W. Oetken in Oldenburg, and in 1955 owner Oetken moved the boat to Wilhelmshafen.

In 1960 Hans Hagelstein purchased Makrele and undertook an extensive reconstruction of the vessel, including conversion from a fishing trawler to a luxury sailing yacht. German registry records (as abstracted in Herwig Danner's KFK book) show that from January through May of 1960, MAKRELE was at the Alfred Hagelstein Hatras Werk shipyards at Lübeck-Travemünde.

To refit the boat into the present tall staysail Schooner rig, in addition to the fitting of masts, standing and running rigging, approximately one meter was added to her draft in the form of a 30,000 pound cast iron ballast keel along with deadwood to make a full length deep keel. Below is a copy of the original sail and rigging plan drawn up circa 1960 by Kurt W. Schroter, yacht and boat designer, of Lubeck-Travemunde.

The original sail and rigging plan for conversion of KFK 259/Makrele into a schooner rigged sailing yacht circa 1960. Here called "Hatra" as this was the name of the Alfred Hagelstein owned shipyard at Lubeck-Travemunde where the conversion work was performed.

In addition to the sail, rigging and keel modifications shown in the sail plan above, the decks and below deck accommodations were extensively rebuilt according to the deck plans below, which show the existing cabin arrangements as they were built in 1960-61.

Deck plans as built at Lubeck-Travemunde in 1960-61, as drawn in 1968 by V. Hosford for Gary W. Mull, Naval Architect, Oakland, California for the new owner.

Hans Hagelstein owned Makrele until August of 1967 when she was sold to Paul V. Ammen of Orinda, California, a town in the hills above Oakland overlooking San Francisco Bay, for $80,000 US Dollars. A copy of the bill of sale is shown below.

Bill of sale dated August 7, 1967 transferring ownership of Makrele from Hans Hagelstein of Lubeck-Travemunde, Germany to Paul V. Ammen of Orinda, California, USA.

Immediately upon purchase of the boat, Mr. Ammen began making preparations to have the vessel delivered from her long time home port in Germany to her new home in Oakland, California on San Francisco Bay. It is likely that the formed aluminum wheelhouse roof enclosure was added at this time. Ammen contracted with well know English professional yacht delivery captain Peter Haward to skipper Makrele from Travemunde to San Francisco.

Haward arrived to take command on Monday October 9, 1967. From this day forward until arrival in San Francisco in May of 1968, Captain Haward kept detailed daily logs of all movements and events of significance on the boat, including deficiencies, repairs, wind, weather, sailing points and progress in the official Ship's Log. Haward's logs have been recovered and scanned and can be found in the LOG BOOKS section of the web site.

Cover and inside cover pages from brochure of Captain Peter Haward who delivered Makrele from Germany to California in 1967-68.

After just two days of last minute preparations, Haward and four crew (Chris Barnett, Maurice Durman, Jenny Andrew and Anders Ingmarsson) cast off from Travemunde on Wednesday, October 11, 1967, bound for San Francisco. On their first day out in force 8 winds, many problems with rigging, leaks and equipment failures occur, so they put into Den Helder on 14 October for repairs. Temporary repairs effected, set out again on Monday October 16 bound for England A Force 10 gale in the North Sea causes additional failures and damage, Makrele is reported lost at sea to the new owners awaiting news of her survival of the storm and arrival in England. Reports of loss of the vessel are premature, and she makes Portsmouth, England late in the night on October 18.

Peter Haward photo of the North Sea force 10 gale taken from the deck of Makrele. Scanned from Haward's delivery brochure with the caption "The North Sea was not really fit for photography when Makrele crossed it in October '67. Sustained mean wind speeds of 50 knots were recorded at adjacent light vessels."

After three weeks of extensive repairs, refitting, preparations and loading of stores at Camper and Nicholson in Gosport (which are documented in detail in the LOG BOOKS and CORRESPONDENCE sections of the web site), on Friday November 10, 1967, Makrele once again set out bound across the Atlantic. Additional repair and refit stops are necessary at Newlyn, Arklow, Penzance and Falmouth. Finally on January 25th 1968 Makrele puts to sea, arriving Las Palmas, Mallorca on February 2nd, departing on the 7th, arriving St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on February 23rd after a relatively uneventful passage.

Peter Haward photos of Makrele in the Caribbean in 1968, on her delivery from Germany to San Francisco, before installation of the bow sprit.

Upon arrival in the Virgin Islands, new owner Paul Ammen talks Haward and his delivery crew into becoming a charter crew and detouring for five weeks of Caribbean cruising with many sets of the owner's family and friends on board. Departing St. Thomas on February 29th, cruising grounds include the British and US Virgin Islands, St. Maartins, St. Barthelemey, St. Gustavia, St. Barts, Guadaloupe, Isles des Saintes, St. Vincent, Bequia, Tobago Cays and Grenada, arriving at Port of Spain, Trinidad on Monday April 8, where the owners and guests depart. Personal logs by Paul Ammen of these five weeks with detailed descriptions of the cruise, in addition to Pater Haward's log book, can be found in the LOG BOOKS section.

After a five day haulout for a bottom job, minor repairs and loading stores, Haward and his delivery crew leave Port of Spain, Trinidad on April 13, arriving Christobal, Panama on April 19. Passage through the canal is made on Sunday April 21st. departing Balboa, Panama on the 22nd. With stops in Cabo San Lucas, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey, at 12 noon on May 18, 1968 Makrele passes under the Golden Gate Bridge, having arrived at her new home half a world away from her European birthplace. As noted, details of the voyage may be found in the LOG BOOKS and CORRESPONDENCE pages.




During the summer of 1968 Makrele could be seen sailing around San Francisco Bay.

Makrele with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Treasure Island behind.

As soon as Makrele reached San Francisco, plans were made to haul and refit the boat. Naval Architect Gary W. Mull of Oakland was retained to draw up the Existing Arrangements Deck Plans shown above as the boat was at the time, having been built this way during the 1960-1962 refit at Hatra Werft in Travemunde. F. W. Stone and Sons, Boatbuilder, of Alemeda, California was retained to begin major reconstruction of the vessel in 1968. Extensive rot was found in the hull, and it was necessary to remove the majority of the interior accommodations to gain access to the framing structure and fastenings. The internal steel framework was sandblasted and painted, and all of the original Larch Pine topsides planking above the waterline was replaced with "Kambala" teak, an African hardwood also known as Iroko.

Due to the rotten condition of the vessel, legal action was filed by Ammen to recover damages from the company which surveyed the vessel prior to the sale and certified it to be in good condition. Ammen prevailed and collected substantial damages, but likely spent much more on the extensive repairs and refit.

In addition to interior and structural repairs, the rig was changed to carry a large Genoa jib through the addition of a 10' bow sprit/pulpit and new headstay as shown in the modified rigging plan below.

Sail Plan Elevation of schooner Makrele as refit in 1968-1969 showing the Pilot House roof added in 1967 and the bowsprit/pulpit with new fore stay carrying a large Genoa added in 1969.

During the 1968-1969 refit at F. W. Stone's yard in Alameda, the interior accommodations were reconfigured and rebuilt. The galley was moved into the starboard side of the large midship saloon. A new head and staterooms were added forward and new cabinetry in the owner's stateroom aft as shown in the drawing below. On deck a new anchor windlass was installed along with a 600 gallon diesel fuel tank just aft of the foremast.

Upper and lower deck plans showing modifications made during the 1968-1969 refit in California.

When the refit was complete, John W. Walsh, Marine Engineer, Naval Architect and Surveyor conducted a thorough survey of the boat, details of which can be found in the SURVEYS section of the web site. The January 29, 1970 survey was meticulous and detailed and shows Makrele to be in very good condition. Photos included in Walsh's survey are included below.

Makrele berthed at F. W. Stone shipyard in Alameda after completion of the refit

View of deck from amidships forward.	Fore mast boom fittings detail.	Detail of the anchor chain stopper.
Main Mast at deck detail.	Detail of bulwarks with shroud turnbuckles and sheet winch.	Port side forward bulwarks detail.
New Galley as built in 1969.	Steering station in the wheelhouse circa 1970.	Navigation Station in the Deck House.
	New Galley looking forward.

After completion of the 1968-1969 refit, Makrele was chartered for $1 to the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories of the California State Colleges for an oceanographic research voyage to Baja California and the Sea of Cortez. Under the direction of Dr. John Harville, a boatload full of faculty, crew and 16 students sailed on Makrele from San Francisco to the Sea of Cortez for two months in March and April of 1969. Personal logs of Paul Ammen and his sister Janet Yager detail a portion of the voayge and can be seen in the LOG BOOKS web section. A San Francisco Chronicle article published July 7, 1969 describing the voyage can be found in the PRESS web section.

Upon return from the expedition to Mexico, Makrele was involved in the peace activism movement of the day, sailing around San Francisco Bay with a huge Peace Symbol sewn onto her fisherman sail between the masts. Reports say that the boat was also used to carry provisions to the Native American occupation force when they took over Alcatraz Island to publicize their grieveances. A December 1969 American Civil Liberties Union Newspaper article (copy in PRESS web page) offers Makrele for a weekend fundraising benefit cruise around San Francisco Bay.

In 1970 Makrele was moved back to the Caribbean and offered for charter through VEB Nicholson & Sons out of Antugua, West Indies. A copy of the charter brochure prepared at the time is shown below, and a copy of a letter from Nicholson to a prospective client in Kansas dated October 23, 1970 can be seen in the CORESPDONDENCE web page.

An economic recession coinciding with Makrele's arrival in the Caribbean doomed her charter career at the time, so Ammen had her moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and offered for sale. Below is a copy of the listing sheet from the broker, offering Makrele for sale for $200,000.



The US Coast Guard Abstract of Title shows that the boat was first documented in United States Registry in March of 1969 under the ownership of Paul V. Ammen. Under Ammen's ownership, USCG records show the boat being inspected by a Coast Guard Inspection Officer in San Francisco, California in 1969 and in Miami, Florida during 1972.

In September of 1972 Donald I. Stockall purchased MAKRELE from Ammen. The sale was for no cash, but in trade for 12 acres of land on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Ammen's later sold the property to a group of Swedes, but Stockall kept Makrele sailing in the Caribbean until he sold her in 1978.

In 2004 Carroll Ammen-Beckett, who was Paul Ammen's wife during his ownership of Makrele, wrote a short memoir of her family's tenure with the boat. It can be seen in the CORRESPONDENCE section of the web site. Many thanks to Carroll and her son Chris Ammen, who have generously provided all of the drawings, photographs, press clippings, letters and log books to fill in this huge chapter of the boat's history from 1967 to 1972.

Throughout most of the 1970's under Stockall's ownership, Makrele was in the commercial dive and charter business throughout the Bahamas, Florida and the Caribbean

In April of 1978, Philip Evans purchased MAKRELE and changed her name to DOLPHIN.

In January of 1979 ownership of DOLPHIN was transferred to Cruising Club Ltd., a Bahamian corporation under the direction of Philip Evans. The vessel was removed from US registration and most likely registered under the British flag in the Bahamas. DOLPHIN thus became a private yacht for the Evans family and their friends, as well as being a very successful and well-known dive and charter boat in the Caribbean out of the Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Antigua for the years from 1979 through 1986.




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Dolphin sailing in light air in the 1980's

	A lookout on the bow of Dolphin in the Caribbean (Craig Ligibel photo)
A peacful day cruising in light air on Dolphin in the Bahamas (Craig Ligibel photo)

In 1979, after a new refit and paint job and on the maiden voyage with the new owner and his family and friends under a new captain, Dolphin ran aground on a sandbar in the Exzuma Islands region of the Bahamas. The tide range set her upright at high tide, but almost horizontal on her side at low tide, so the passengers and crew abandoned ship and spent five days of their "cruise" camping on the beach of a deserted island until being rescued. The captain stayed with the boat, and, a few days after the passengers were rescued, the wind picked up and shifted to offshore and he was able to raise the sails and sail her off the sandbar undamaged." (Craig Ligibel photo)

In 1986 DOLPHIN retired from charter service in the Caribbean and moved to United States waters, was again documented as a US Vessel, and was donated to the Echo Hill Outdoor School on Still Pond Neck Road in Worton, Maryland. Echo Hill School did not have the funds, infrastructure or personnel to maintain and operate the vessel properly, so for several years she sat unused.

In April 1987 Dolphin was dis-masted while sailing out of New York Harbor bound for the Bahamas. She turned around and never made the voyage south, which probably saved the boat, as she was badly in need of repair and not seaworthy enough for an ocean voyage.

The wooden masts were broken beyond repair and replaced with new steel masts painstakingly fabricated to the exact specifications of the original wooden masts by George Lewis Ray at Kretzer's boatyard on City Island in New York. The new masts were stepped with all new stainless standing rigging, after which Dolphin was docked in New Rochelle.

Dolphin at the dock in New Rochelle

In October of 1990 DOLPHIN was registered to Ricky Sands in City Island, New York.

In 1991 DOLPHIN was registered to The Little Mermaid Co. Inc. and sometime in 1991 or 1992 she was scuttled at a dock in Atlantic City, in a failed attempt to collect on the insurance.

Captain Rusty Nielsen raised DOLPHIN from the bottom and assumed ownership in October of 1992 and began clean up and restoration efforts to prevent further decay, hauling the boat out at Norwalk Cove Marina in Connecticut for maintenance and repairs.

In 1999 Gary Scheuerman of Sister Bay, Wisconsin purchased DOLPHIN from Nielsen, but the boat remained berthed on the canal in Stamford, Connecticut until May of 2002 when she was purchased by Adventures In Paradise, LLC and moved back to Norwalk Cove Marina to begin the refit presently underway.

Dolphin in November 2001 at her berth in Stamford, Connecticut, where she sat from 1993 until 2002 when she was purchased by Adventures In Paradise to begin the present refit.