The Hannah Girl

Hannah Girl

Built by American Marine, Hong Kong in 1961, Hull #4
Previous names: Sea Dart and Lualan

Owners: Helen Lingley, of Juneau, Alaska
and Jeff Berg and Elizabeth (Beth) Campbell
of Petersburg, Alaska

Jeff and Eliza"beth" would like for you to visit their Website at:
http://www.aalaska3dadventures.com

FORMER OWNERS
(Ken and Sandy Dorman)
(Jack and Frances Hardy)
(George Scheuermann)
(Daniel Wrightinton)
(Louise and Alan ----?)

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In July 2011 we heard from David Walker, the son of onetime owners of Lualan, Jack and Frances Hardy. Here's a little of what he had to say.

Hi, I found your Sea Witch Page. Great site, brings back memories. Last I heard of the boat my parents told me it got dismasted going around South Africa.
My parents and I sailed in the south pacific on the Lualan, a 35 Sea Witch built in Hong Kong by American Marine. We owned the boat from around 1968 to 1974. The boat was in pristine condition, but that was because me and my brother were sanding slaves. ...It was always the best looking boat wherever we went but damn that gaff rig cannot cut into the wind like a Marconi rig can – and that few degrees is very costly.
In 1973 we were 10 days out from NZ to Tahiti and ran into a hurricane where the barometer was pegged at the bottom for 4 to 5 days. The hull speed was probably 6 knots but we were doing 10 knots surfing the waves with no sails up, just the wind blowing through the rigging and surfing!
When we were in the hurricane, I got thrown out of that bunk with the sideboard on the port side and landed in the bunk across the other side when we breached. All the spices jumped out of the spice rack and dented the door straight across where the bilge pump is – if they ever noticed the little dings in the door that is how they got there. You know it has to be shitty to turn that boat sideways with a 7 ton keel. The waves kept crashing on the dingy and started pulling the davit bolts out of the deck. That was where the backstay attached and if we lost the dingy we would have lost the backstay. So we had to cut away the dingy and let her go.
The only other time the boat did 10 knots was off a barrier reef in Fiji going into Suva. The reef drops off to about 1000 ft. and there was a gale blowing and we had the sails reefed and were up against the reef at low tide, reef exposed and had near glassy water and a 35 to 40kt wind.   It was awesome to see the boat do 10 knots, the flat water made a huge difference. I think we were healed over so far that the hull curve provided lift to give us the extra speed.
I lost a cowrie shell that got stuck in between the hull and the bunk on the port side across from the dining table. It might still be wedged there between the frames. Give the owners of the Hannah something to do. If you put your eye against the hull you can see it stuck about an elbow length down.
My mom... wrote up several stories and was going to write a book... I will (check with her) for some photos she says she saved. If she comes up with the hurricane story I will send that to you as well. (She tells us "The yacht was named after the original owners, Louise and Alan, but I do not know their last name.")

Take Care,

Dave

Another American Marine Angelman Classic is about to be reborn. In mid-August (2007) we got the good news from Beth Campbell of Petersburg, Alaska. She, along with Jeff Berg and Helen Lingley, have acquired Hannah Girl as a joint investment, and intend put her back into mint condition.
Hannah Girl was a beautiful boat in her previous incarnations as Sea Dart and Lualan, and undoubtedly as Hannah Girl too (last under the loving care of Ken and Sandy Dorman) – but she was apparently abandoned by the next owner after he'd begun to work on her, and has been totally neglected for the last two years.

Beth writes:

It's a shame when you hear her story. A guy in town was buying her from the previous owner... in the process he "stripped" her out, from top to bottom. He then, I guess, had a midlife crisis and stopped making payments and left town.
     Well that was about 2 years ago and the poor ole gal has been sitting bare since. So we jumped in and saved her... she was seized by the harbor department for past bills and more. Now that the paper work is complete we are days away... from putting her up on the tidal grid and doing the hull work... not to mention seeing what shape she's really in.
     Either way we are so excited about her. I call her my 5 year project. Jeff has been commercially fishing for over 30 years and knows wood boats very well. We have 3 steel vessels and I can't wait to put my woodworking skills to use. ...I am a camera nut... so you can bet I will keep you guys posted on her recovery.
     She will be a beauty again... and I can't wait on the day we will finally sail her into the sunset. Hawaii looks good once the snow starts flying up here:) So thanks for the great website. I hope to have a spot for the Hannah Girl as we get working on her on your website so those interested can watch her come back to life. Wish us luck!!

Beth

We'll certainly be watching the progress with considerable interest, and expect this page will grow in size as time goes on. Because Beth has a rare opportunity to photographically record just how American Marine Sea Witches were put together, we hope this page will be of value to anybody contemplating building a Sea Witch in the future.
We'll be anxiously awaiting developments on the Alaskan waterfront, and more photos of Hannah Girl as Jeff and Beth turn to on her.

HANNAH GIRL PHOTOS
(Click on Thumbnails for Larger View)

As Jeff and Beth found her - August 2007



Hanna Girl Progress - 26 September 2007 Additions


Framework of "snow roof" in place for winter.
And as she emerged from the long winter (May 2009)

Hi from Petersburg, (Wed, 26 Sep 2007)

Sorry it has taken so long to get these pictures out. We put the Hannah Girl on the grid last week and did the hull work. She was in great shape!!! Still had some bottom paint and zincs so we were lucky. So we scraped and pressure washed her. Painted with some "killer" bottom paint and rezinced her. No major problems, just a few leaky spots in the hull itself. Boy, what's up with all those thru hull fittings??? ...enjoy the pictures!

Beth and Jeff

P.S. I forgot to mention that the Ford Layman (sp?) is no longer in the boat. We took it out a few days before we put her up on the grid. So hopefully one day we will find a used but good engine to replace it. Also... I wanted to tell you what we plan to do to the hull above the water line is...
Have you (has anyone?) heard of that stuff called CETOL? It is a clear breathable protective covering that we have found a few local wood boat owners are using up here. It lets out the natural teak color and in my opinion, I think she will look so beautiful.
We are about to go out and get a ridge pole to make her permanent shelter for the next couple of years... I am working on clearing all the limber holes and getting all the gunk out of the bilge. Oh how I love bilge work:) So as you can imagine, there are no floorboards and the galley/sink area is now laying on the port bunk. But she is slowly drying out...

Email: freedommudbrody@yahoo.com

Visit Jeff and Beth's Website at:
http://www.aalaska3dadventures.com

HANNA GIRL IN A PREVIOUS INCARNATION

The "Lualan" was the very first Sea Witch this webmaster had seen in the "flesh." She sure was a beauty! And, of course, he was eating his heart out.
The photos below were taken at the Ala Wai Yacht Basin in Honolulu in 1965. One of them shows yours truly, as a young man, inspecting her minutely from the dock – thinking very wistfully and very wishfully.

Hanna Girl in a Previous Incarnation LUALAN – 1965 HONOLULU

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The Hannah Girl

Hannah Girl

HANNAH GIRL PHOTOS (Click on Thumbnails for Larger View)

HANNAH GIRL PHOTOS
(Click on Thumbnails for Larger View)