[Alan Bemis—home movies] Reel 18

Date1938

AbstractDonor notes: "Bemis Maine 1938 +1937? EXLPT for GAM Cruise" "Summer High Head - 1938 (+37?) Cirrus + Corbeau getting ready for sail [illegible] Ringtown- Shurcliffs on Cirrus spreaders nearly hitting Sand Cove Alice + Charles leaving High Head in little Chevvy Lunch party near front door with Ann + Margot+ Alice - Miss Ellenbrook Hauling out Fairchild with Pierce Arrow fire engine" 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. Cirrus and Vieux Corbeau at High Head dock, the summer home of the Alan Bemis family in Brooklin, Maine. Men diving and jumping from the boats and dock into the water. Chapie Bemis at the tiller sailing away from High Head. View from Cirrus of Vieux Corbeau under sail. Chapie and Sid Shurcliff (?) on board. Outside the house at High Head, Chapie stands in the driveway with three girls (Ann, Margot, Alice?) as Alice and Charlie (Alice Bemis Thompson, Alan's sister and Charlie Thompson his friend and best man) leave in little Chevy convertible. Views of Fairchild 24 float plane at the edge of the water being pulled back on a skid via a rope attached to an old Pierce-Arrow fire truck. View of outdoor lunch party by the front door of High Head at a child-sized table. Miss Ellenbrook brings out supplies. Teddy Bears are put in chairs, Margot helps set the table, Alice sits with her doll and feeds it. Then Margot plays with her doll and feeds it. Nice shots of Cirrus on a tack, rail under, showing her bottom. Views of Cirrus on mooring on a blustery day. View of Ann sitting on diving board on dock, fishing. The Shurcliffs on board Cirrus, with rocky cliffs of an island or mainland beyond. Adults rock climbing on the steep cliffs on a foggy day. Alan and others throw rocks into water below. Alan (?) jumps off steep, rocky cliff to water below. Nice shots of Cirrus under sail, Alan at tiller, going by High Head on a reach. High angle shots looking down as the Fairchild 24 float plane taxis on the calm bay and slowly takes off. LAS plane flying over. Several sunset views over water.