[Alan Bemis—home movies] Reel 22

Date1930s

AbstractCruising Reel 2 Donor notes on can: "CRUISING REEL II as edited by SNS 1947" Donor notes in can: "CIRRUS -1930s" Meeting up w/ George Wheelwright's Valgerda in Machias Bay Big NW thrash to windward Vieux Corbeau Loves+ Shurcliffs Willises Wrights East Quoddy Head Cobscook Falls- best pics of them Sid in dinghy Fog in Lubec Narrows Chapie + Kay Shurcliff watch a rainbow (Brent Dickson's cruise on the GUMBO removed + given to Brent - 10/2/78" The yacht Cirrus is a Fisher Island Sound 31 class sloop, sail number 11 with a distinctive red hull. She was built at Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, RI, in 1930 (originally named Kelpie) and bought by Alan Bemis in 1934 or 1935. There were 14 boats in the class. LOA 44 ft. In 1954, Bemis converted Cirrus to a yawl rig. Bemis owned Cirrus for more than 50 years, sailing her almost exclusively in Maine and Canadian waters. A sister ship "Torch" (sail number 7) is on display at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, Bristol, RI. Views of Avery Rock Lighthouse at the south end of Machias Bay, ME, which was built in 1875 and destroyed in a storm in 1946. Views from Cirrus of Valgerda sailing by. Alan and Chapie Bemis sailing Cirrus on a windy day, close-hauled with the rail under. Shots from Cirrus of a coastal fishing village and canning factories. POV from boats of Cobscook Falls with roiling current. Shots from Cirrus as it comes alongside Vieux Corbeau to gam. Shots of Head Harbor Lighthouse, Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Long shots of Cirrus and Vieux Corbeau working their way through Cobscook Falls narrows. Sid Shurcliff tries to row a dinghy back to Cirrus through the roiling water. Foggy day in Lubec narrows; Chapie is on deck as lookout. Foggy coastline with sardine trawlers and canning factories on the shore. Kay Shurcliff watches a rainbow.

• Sidney N. Shurcliff

• Sidney N. Shurcliff