May 25 2009
Bill of Rights Finds a Home!
As the redevelopment of Channel Islands Harbor, in Oxnard, inches along, we have a new neighbor and hopefully, a long term attraction; Tall Ship, Bill of Rights. She is an absolute beauty. A replica of a 19th century Schooner which was built in Maine in 1971. She is 136 feet long and has nearly 25 feet of beam. Her mainmast stands 115 feet above the deck and has a tonnage of 160 gross.
Bill of Rights had the distinction of being the lead Tall Ship through New York Harbor during the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration. The boats’ current owner, Stephen Taylor, is also her Captain and the founder of the American Tall Ships institute. She is now berthed near the Marina Emporium Landing, 3600 S. Harbor Blvd., next to the Scarlett Belle, a Mississippi River paddle-wheel replica that provides private and public party tours of the harbor. If all goes well, she is here to stay and will provide a variety of “immersion type” student programs during the week and through Island Packers, offers day sails to the public on the weekends.
Thanks to Member, Larry Pruitt, for capturing this grand photo of her out yesterday! Im trying to track down her history… She spent her early years in and around the sailing centers of New England. In 1986, a group called Vision Quest bought her and installed an engine. Her history, online at least, is spotty in the 90’s. It appears she nearly went the way of a lot of neglected wooden boats, down in San Pedro, around 2003. But after a “frantic” refit in 2005 participated in some West Coast Tall Ship events. Alas, she could not find a permanent berth to work from on the West Coast, until this recent offering from our harbor and the Marine Emporium folks who redeveloped their commercial docks last year to accommodate a tall ship.
I have spent three summers working on this boat from 2001-2003 in San Pedro, she got alot of attention and alot of love. congratulations to the new owner. i have pictures somewhere of her firing her canon at cruise ships!
I first saw the Bill of Rights at the Newport Boat show in 1971. I was a crew member on the “Royono”, a Herishoff yawl built in 1936- that was also exhibiting at the show. I remember going to a party on the Bill of Rights one night and watching in horror as people stomped out their cigarettes on her deck! Glad to see that she has found a good home at Channel Islands Harbor-ironically so close to my home here in California!
Kvaser, Inc. (www.kvaserinc.com) working in conjunction with Victory Coaching held their corporate team building event on the “Bill of Rights” . It was an awesome experience and everyone in our group thoroughly enjoyed it! This created memories of a lifetime for us all. Thank you Stephen, MJ, Nate, Abbey and Gabe.
[...] consisted of two days on the Pacific Ocean, which we launched our full size pirate ship (see Bill of Rights) from Oxnard Harbor in Oxnard, CA. We also shot about 7 days on a sound stage at Azusa Pacific [...]
wow… this brings back so many adventurous memorys .. on this ship ive had the most wonderful, trying..and magical experiences of life. I was on this ship when I was 14.. part of the ocean quest.. for 3 mon. 25 miles off shore .. from flordia to maine.. awsome to see it again… I love the ocan it gave me a greater love of the earth and the creator…
I spent the summer of 1984 as an apprentice crew member on board the Bill of Rights. We sailed weeklong cruises out of Newport for around 20 guests. We would sail the Elizabeth Islands, Fisher’s Island, Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and sometimes out as far as Nantucket, depending on the wind and the tides. At the time, it didn’t have an engine, we would use our launch to push the boat if we couldn’t get somewhere under sail. I was 15 at the time and it was a formative experience in my life. I’m glad to see that she has been rescued and resuscitated.