Mayan (schooner)

The Mayan is a 74-foot wooden schooner designed by John Alden and built in Belize in 1947. She is an Alden 356-B Centerboard Schooner design and constructed of Honduran mahogany. Her name was taken from her country of origin of Belize.

Characteristics

Mayan uses a transitional schooner rig with a gaff foresail. She has an overall length of 66 feet and a beam of 16.5 feet. She is 59 feet on deck and 62 feet to the main masthead with the intent to be operated on the Intracoastal Waterway. Her draft ranges from a maximum of 10 feet to a minimum of 4.5 feet through the use of a lifting centerboard. She has a ballast of 9,000 pounds and a displacement of 60,000 pounds. She is built of Honduran mahogany for the frames, yellow pine for the caulked carvel planking, and teak for the decks.

Mayan accommodates eight guests and requires a crew of three to sail.

History

Mayan was designed by John Alden's office in 1946 for Charles Allen, a WWII Navy captain, based on their Design No. 356B originally designed in 1928. Allen's son, Paul Allen led the construction team at Tewie's Dockyard near Belize City, in the former British Honduras. She was sailed to New York City after launching. She was sold in 1948 and served in the charter trade under a series of owners through the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1967, musician David Crosby purchased Mayan in Fort Lauderdale for $22,500 borrowed from Peter Tork and moved her to Santa Barbara, California. In 1970, Crosby began living on Mayan full-time and wrote rock songs such as Wooden Ships, Carry Me, and Lee Shore while aboard. He owned her for 45 years.

In 2005, Mayan was rebuilt by master shipwright Wayne Ettel in Wilmington Harbor, California.

In 2014, Beau Vrolyk purchased Mayan from Crosby for $750,000 and moved her to Santa Cruz, California.