[Alan Bemis—home movies] Reel 3

Date1930s

AbstractCan notes: "Cirrus Cruises 1930's. An edited SNS original" On leader: "SNS Pix Cruising on Cirrus". Sidney Shurcliff was a classmate of Alan Bemis' at Harvard. Shurcliff also photographed the "Motormaulers" films in the Bemis Collection. Donor notes: "Provisioning at Hi Hd Faith- 2 or 3 yrs old - Molly Big SE gale - old "A" sailing dinghy sinking going into Dyer Bay. ACB seasick Vieux Corbeau- Roque Lubec Cobscook Falls - not fast. St. George-Magadavik [sic illegible] High Head- the 3 Boats at Roque George Walunglot [sic illegible] Valgerda Machias Bay - the old light The Old Man I. Sid ashore on it. St. Andrews - Cobscook Falls Cirrus and V.C. Fog - probably off West Quoddy. All CIRRUS + Vieux Corbeau cruises in 1930's All photog by SNShurcliff + edited by SNS." 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. In the cove by the Bemis summer home, High Head, Brooklin, Maine, a float plane prepares to take off. On board Cirrus, Faith and Molly (?) are with caretakers, and two men load luggage on the boat. Shots from the cabin top of Alan at the tiller on a stormy day, with dinghy towed behind, filling with water from waves and almost sinking. Finally, two men haul the dinghy in. Views from deck as the boat passes a marked shoal with waves crashing over. Chapie Bemis on board with megaphone hailing another boat, Vieux Corbeau, sailed by Harold Willis, who often joined Cirrus cruises. Views of Vieux Corbeau coming in to gam with Cirrus at Roque Island, and views of the two at anchor. Views sailing by Lubec Channel light, built in 1890, a cast-iron "spark plug-style" light house in Lubec Narrows separating Maine from Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Views of boat traffic going to Lubec's sardine factories, seen on shore. Views of Mulholland Point lighthouse on southern end of Campobello Island, New Brunswick, built in 1884 as a guide through Lubec Narrows. Views through rigging of Vieux Corbeau, landscape, and the rip tide in the channel. CU Chapie and other sailors, waterfowl, steep shoreline and bringing water aboard. Shots from Cirrus of Vieux Corbeau underway, and shots of Cirrus under sail, passing Little River Lighthouse in Cutler, Maine, built in 1876. views of Cirrus and two other sailboats moored in cove by High Head and views from the water of High Head with its distinctive lighthouse-like tower. Alan waves from the house to a sailboat below, and views of him exiting the tower. Views of Chapie and others setting out food on decks of boats for breakfast, then cleanup. Views of three boats gammed together and everyone enjoying the morning. Double-ended ketch Valgerda sails along with Cirrus. Chapie relaxes on deck as it sails by Avery Rock lighthouse, built in 1875 on south end of Machias Bay. This light station was demolished by a storm in 1946. Another gam is created at cocktail time. CUs of sailors on "Valgerda," homeport Boston. Views of shorebirds and nests in dead trees on rocky coastline. Seagulls around the boat. (Old Man Island near Cutler, Maine?) Views of whale (?) diving in distance. Views of Cirrus and Vieux Corbeau running the Cobscook Bay Falls tide current under power, struggling to keep forward way. CUs of Chapie and Alan on board. Deckhand coils line. Foggy views of three-masted schooner, POV from Cirrus passing Lubec Channel Light in fog.