1969 — May 25, CA racing schooner yacht Goodwill wrecks on reef off Baja CA, Mexico — all 9

— 9-13 Archer, Dave. “The Goodwill.” Website.
–10-12 Independent, Long Beach, CA. “Little Hope for 10 in Luxury Yacht Wreck,” 6-3-69, 1.
— 9 Motor Boating. “Goodwill, With All Hands, Lost.” July 1969, pp. 45-46.
— 9 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Nine Missing Off Wrecked Schooner ‘Goodwill’… 6-2-1969, 1.

Narrative Information

Motor Boating: “Finally, it is tragic farewell to “We, the People,’ as race followers dubbed the great schooner Goodwill – largest sailing yacht under American registry — during her two appearances in the Transpacific Race in 1953 and 1959.

“Today, some mystery still clouds the accident which caused the sinking of Goodwill and the loss of all aboard, including Ralph Larrabee (co-owner with Marlow Marrs) after she crashed onto the Sacramento Reef off the coast of Baja California. It apparently happened about midnight May 25. Nine were known to be aboard.

“The yacht was obviously proceeding under power only 4½ miles off Baja coast, and best speculation indicated that a beacon light had been inoperable. Sacramento Reef is well-known to California sailors and Goodwill had cruised the waters several times before.

“She had departed Cabo San Lucas at Baja’s tip on May 21, bound for Ensenada where she was scheduled to arrive May 27. Concerned by her non-appearance, the wife of Bernard (Bernie) Stark, one of those aboard, alerted the Coast Guard on May 31. Search was promptly begun and June 1 a helicopter spotted her half-careened on the reef under some 25 feet of water. She was also plainly being battered by powerful surge and tide.

“Though search by Coast Guard and the Mexican Navy continued until June 6, when a private salvage crew arrived, only two bodies had been recovered. One was Tim Smith, 16, who, it was thought, had been swept overboard. The pajama-clad body of a man, unidentified at the writing, was found two days later and it was believed that all aboard except young Smith had been asleep when Goodwill struck.

“Others reported aboard included two women, Patricia Nienhauser and her niece, Carrie Graybehl, 15; Engineer Walter Zeiss, Robert Comstock and Edward Henderson. It was thought there may have been one or two Mexican crewmen also. By June 10 tide and current had gutted the interior and the great yacht was rapidly breaking up. Though investigation continued, salvage hope was also abandoned.

“So died a storied vessel. The 229-ton steel schooner-measuring 161’x120’x30’2″x15’3″ – was unquestionably one of the more famous sailing yachts in the nation. Designed by Henry Gielow, Goodwill was built in 1922 by the Bethlehem Corp., and for years flew the house flag of the A. G. Spaulding sporting goods family. Prior to WWII, and under ownership of Keith Spaulding, of Long Beach, she flew the burgee of California Yacht Club. She was leased to the Navy for WW II service and, in 1951, auctioned off. With a miniscule bid of $35,000 she was purchased by Larrabee, who then spent an estimated half-million restoring the yacht to her one-time sailing splendor….” (Motor Boating. “Goodwill, With All Hands, Lost.” July 1969, pp. 45-46.)

Newspaper

June 2: “San Diego (AP) – The once-famed racing schooner Goodwill, nearing the end of a four-month fishing cruise, has been found wrecked on a reef off the Baja California coast. The fate of the nine persons believed aboard was not known.

“The sunken hull of the two-masted, 229-ton schooner, twice a winner of the Trans-Pacific Yacht race, was sighted by a Coast Guard aircraft yesterday about four miles offshore and 200 miles south of San Diego, near the fishing village of Punto San Antonio [Baja California, Mexico]. Two Coast Guard planes from San Diego and a Mexican Naval vessel have found no sign of survivors. The wreckage was positively identified today when part-owner Marlow Marrs of Los Angeles flew over in a Coast Guard plane.

“The 47-year-old, $1.5 million vessel was skippered by part-owner Ralph E. Larrabee, a Newport Beach millionaire industrialist, on a return voyage that began May 21 at Cape San Lucas at the tip of Baja California. It had been on an extended cruise since last February. It was moored briefly in the Oakland Estuary last June.

“The Coast Guard began searching last Friday after Mrs. Bernard Stark of Capistrano Beach reported the yacht overdue at Ensenada, Mexico. She said it was due there Mary 27.

“The Coast Guard said about eight persons were believed aboard but could not provide identifications.

“A spokesman said two small boats on the vessel were not sighted and survivors possibly used them to reach the sparsely populated Mexican shore.

“Besides Mrs. Stark’s husband and Larrabee, those aboard the 161-foot yacht were identified as Walter Zaiss, Ed Henderson and Gerald Comstock, all of San Clemente; John Cole Jr., Long Beach; T. Smith, Carrie Greybehl and Patricia Nienhauser.” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Nine Missing Off Wrecked Schooner ‘Goodwill’ Sinks Off Baja Coast.” 6-2-1969, p.1.)

Sources

Archer, Dave. “The Goodwill.” Accessed at: http://www.davearcher.com/goodwill.html [Broken link when checked 3-26-2022]

Independent, Long Beach, CA. “Little Hope for 10 in Luxury Yacht Wreck,” June 3, 1969, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=49123076

Motor Boating. “Goodwill, With All Hands, Lost.” July 1969, pp. 45-46. Accessed 3-26-2022 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=TmO48kJzAmsC&pg=RA1-PA45#v=onepage&q=goodwill&f=true

Oakland Tribune, CA. “Nine Missing Off Wrecked Schooner ‘Goodwill’ Sinks Off Baja Coast.” 6-2-1969, p.1. Accessed 3-26-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-02-1969-p-2/