papha june 2015 newsletter.indd

The Road to the Future Begins in the Past
Volume 9, Issue 6
PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015
Historic Landing
Re-enactment Set
On the morning of July 26, 1845, the Ulysses S. Grant, James Longstreet,
first United States flag in Texas was George Meade, Braxton Bragg, John
planted on San Jose Island two miles Magruder, and E. Kirby Smith.
north of present-day Port Aransas.
The historic landing will be re-created
The USS Alabama arrived at the beach with period costumes and weapons
with the Third United States infantry on Sunday, July 26, at the I.B. Magee
which
was
the
vanguard of the U.S.
Army of Observation
from New Orleans.
The arrival was in
anticipation of a war
with Mexico over
the Nueces Strip,
the land between the
mouth of the Nueces
and the Rio Grande
rivers, where the city
of Corpus Christi is
now located.
On board were a
group of officers,
mostly
West
Pointers, who would
later fill the pages
of the history of the
Civil War: twentyUniforms of United States Infantry
four year-old 2nd Lt.
Palo Alto National Park
Inside this Issue:
Re-enactment ................................. Page 2,3
plyWooden Festival ......................... Page 3
Director's Report............................. Page 4
FBW Report .................................... Page 4
2nd Saturday ................................... Page 4
Texas 200......................................... Page 5
Surf Boat Camp ............................... Page 6
Maritime Branch schematic ............ Page 7
County Park near Horace Caldwell Pier
in Port Aransas. The Palo Alto Living
History group from the Rio Grande
Valley will perform the re-enactment.
The public is invited to attend.
Just a few weeks prior to the landing,
on June 26, the Ninth Texian Congress
had consented to the annexation of the
Republic of Texas into the United States
of America. But in the mind of the
Mexican government, who still wasn’t
completely convinced any of Texas was
not part of Mexico, the Nueces Strip,
was still part of Mexico, and the matter
would be settled by a contest of arms.
Troops scrambled from the ship to the
shore and Lt. Daniel Chandler climbed
to the highest See 'FLAG' on Page 2
CONTACT US:
Port Aransas Museum
Community Center Complex
www.portaransasmuseum.org
101 E. Brundrett at Alister St.
[Mailing] P.O. Box 677
Port Aransas, Texas 78373
(361) 749-3800
portamuseum@paphafarley.org
Follow museum on Facebook
Port Aransas Museum Director
Rick Pratt
(361) 749-3800
(361) 549-6328
rickpratt45@gmail.com
Farley Boat Works
Frank Coletta, Manager
716 W Ave C
[Mailing] P.O. Box 677
Port Aransas, Texas 78373
(409) 356-5065
(210) 218-9961
fbwpam@gmail.com
Follow boat works on Facebook
'FLAG'
Cont. from Page 1
dune and planted the flag of the United
States with its twenty-seven stars in the
sand.
Capt. W.S Henry reported, “It floats
over a rich acquisition, the most
precious Uncle Sam has yet added to
his crown.”
With the planting of the first United
States flag in the state of Texas, the
U.S. Mexico War, for all intents and
purposes, had begun.
March 1, 1845
Annexation of Texas. Joint Resolution of the Congress of the United States, March 1, 1845
Joint Resolution of the Congress of the United States, March 1, 1845
28th Congress Second Session
Begun and held at the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, on Monday the second day of December, eighteen hundred and forty-four.
Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to the United States.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That Congress doth consent that the territory properly included within, and rightfully belonging to the Republic
of Texas, may be erected into a new state, to be called the state of Texas, with a republican form of government,
to be adopted by the people of said republic, by deputies in Convention assembled, with the consent of the
existing government, in order that the same may be admitted as one of the states of this Union.
July 4..........Texas votes to join the Union
July 23........Zachary Taylors Army of Observation for the Defense of
Texas departs New Orleans
1
July 25.........Ships arrive off the Aransas Pass
*
July 26.........Lt. Daniel T Chandler, 3rd US Infantry Regiment under orders
from Lt Col. Ethan Hitchcock lands in the surf and plants the United States
Flag on top of a Sand Hill two miles north of present day Port Aransas. *
(1) Major General Ethan Allan Hitchcock,
Fifty Years in Camp & Field, page 193
The 3rd U.S. Infantry is the oldest active-duty infantry unit in the Army.
* Lt. Chandler rose to the rank of Major & Brevet rank of Lt. Col. during the Mexican campaign. He was wounded at Monterey
and cited for gallant & meritorious conduct at Monterey and also at Contreras & Churubusco.
See 'FLAG' on Page 3
*
Page 2
PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015
'FLAG'
Cont. from Page 2
Above: Variant of US flag PBS
http://www.props.eric-hart.com/
wp-content/uploads/2011/07/usflags.gif
At right: Beach Landing at Vera
Cruz & Star Flag
Below, 13th Maine flag....in the capture of Ft. Semmes.
15th Maine flag, flag was blue reverse side Irish flag, green with harp
plyWooden Boat Festival in October
Make plans to attend the Second Annual Port Aransas plyWooden Boat Festival on October 16-18, 2015. Last
year’s festival attracted 92 wooden boats gathered at beautiful Port Aransas, Texas. This year’s festival will
be even bigger and better. We are planning informative talks by Jim Michalak, John Welsford, David Nichols,
and Howard Rice, among others. We will have another family boat building event where folks can build a row
boat or canoe. A SCAMP and Welsford’s new Saturday Night Special will be under construction at the Farley
Boat Works. New this year will be the Lighthouse Regatta on the morning of the last day. Row, sail, motor or
paddle to the nearby Lydia Ann Lighthouse for a tour and cruise back to Port A in time for lunch. Round trip is
only about four miles. Check out www.portaransasplywoodenboatfestival.org for more info.
Page 3
PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015
Museum
From the FBW ...
Director’s Report
May was an interesting and busy month with lots of rain.
Downtown Branch
Kandice Turicchi is resigning her position as a board member of PAPHA. The combination of a new job and being very
busy raising a child are taking all her spare time. We owe her
a big thank you for all the time she spent with us, and hope
she will return in the future.
Visitation was about normal for this month, with some very
special groups coming in for programs.
Gift shop sales were good as usual and Chapel tours remain
popular. Several chapel weddings, an always popular item,
are scheduled at present.
New Maritime Building
Architect Charles Milligan completed preliminary plans
and elevations for the proposed new building at the Farley
Boat Works. After a series of 5 meetings with the building
committee, he arrived at a design that nicely meets the needs
we expressed.(see design on page 7)
The plan includes a large, non air conditioned exhibit space
for display of our boats and marine artifacts and a smaller, air
conditioned space for the boat works office, a meeting/classroom and an additional, smaller exhibit area for less durable
items and AV.
Visually, the façade is reminiscent of the old Life Saving
Station that was taken out by the 1916 storm, and in keeping
with the present Farley shop.
We hope to lease the city owned land currently being used
for construction of the schooner to build the new building.
We envision a lease much like the one we currently have with
the city for the Port Aransas museum. I will be meeting with
City Manager David Parsons to discuss the issue.
Next step is to seek estimates on building costs, and adjust
the design if needed.
Rick Pratt
(June 2015)
SECOND SATURDAY
No Second Saturday Party at the
Farley in July. We'll all be at the
80th Annual Deep Sea Roundup.
Page 4
Colby Jones’s skiff left the shop on May 29 and moved
to storage until Colby is available to finish up his decks
later this summer. He started the project in October 2014.
His materials and shop time used to date has been paid.
Richard Schrorer installed the Whiskey planks on his
two stand-up paddle boards. He expects to be finished by
the middle of June. Look for a Whisky plank party when
he returns on the week of July 9.
Neal Scogin has taken a break from building his trimaran sailboat. He moved it to a storage unit he rented from
us. He has paid for his to-date materials and shop time.
My wife, Beth, and I are repairing and re-painting a donated sailboat. I will be sailing it on the second half of
the Texas 200. The five day organized event is a 200 mile
expedition cruise from South Padre Island to Magnolia
Beach on Matagorda Bay. I will join the fleet when they
pass by Port A. Our plan is to sell the boat when I return.
The “surf rider” test build is nearing completion. I am
learning that this boat will take a significant amount of precutting before our June 16-20 youth boat building camp.
We have two twelve-year-olds and one twelve-year-old at
heart building three of these little boats.(photos page 6)
Our next scheduled builds are in August. The three skiffs
scheduled for June cancelled or postponed. In the meantime, we will have time to work on the Abaco Dinghy and
other shop boat projects.
I am considering offering the shop to wooden builders
and repairers for a fee of $40 per day to use the shop, tools
and advice. Some folks may not be interested in committing to an entire boat build, but would like to use our facilities for wooden boat-related projects such as building
components, repair or restoration.
Rick and I took the lines off of the cypress planked 1880s
rowing skiff we built for the auction in order for us to draw
up the plans to build another one. This boat will be one of
the boats in our build catalog. The boat rows superbly and
works well with a light weight, two horsepower outboard.
We had a good turnout for the May Second Saturday
Party at the Boat Works. Approximately thirty people come
out for the cookout, live music and dancing. We are cancelling the June Second Saturday. The Port A. High School
Alumni reunion is that night at the Community Center and
the Museum will extend its hours into the evening.
Saturday, May 16, Rick and I held an Introduction to
Rowing class at the harbor. We had two students. We had
to cancel the two evening classes we offered in May and
June for insufficient enrollment. We may offer these classes again during the first quarter of 2016.
The Farley Boat Works hosted 140 visitors during May.
PAPHA Newsletter
Frank Coletta
Boat Works Manager
June 2015
Texas 200 Sails
Past Port Aransas
Several folk from
Farley Boat Works
rendezvoused with
a rather eclectic collection of sailboats
making their way
past Port Aransas
on June 10th as part
of the 8th Annual Texas 200. Ken Curlee
and Cameron &
Rick Pratt took the
Farley skiff Kay Baby
to the backside of
San Jose Island to
visit with some of the
sailors taking a short
break in this week
long, 200 mile trek between Port Isabel and Magnolia
Beach (near Port Lavaca), Texas. Farley Boat Works
Manager Frank Coletta also joined the fleet at this midway point, but he arrived in a 17-foot home built sailing
skiff with the intention of continuing up the coast for
the remaining 3 days of the event. (top photo)
Later that afternoon, Farley Boat Works helped the
crew from a participating small boat after they experienced major gear failure near the Ferry Landing. The
shop built them a new mast and got them back on the
water in their little craft within a couple of hours.
Page 5
PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015
Surf Boat Building
Camp 2015
12-year-old Zach Childs from Corpus Christi
Pam Klee, a 12-year-old at heart, helping out
Above & right, Zach, FBW Manager Frank Coletta
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PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015
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PAPHA Newsletter
June 2015