Will The City's Dismal History with History Repeat Itself?

When history is built of wood, it cannot be left in the wind, sun and rain, or it rots. That is a lesson the city has learned twice now about vessels with history, and officials say they won't make the same mistake with the latest acqusition. 

The  is the city's latest historic boat to celebrate a link to a storied past. Built in 1936 in Pittsburg, and used up and down the western Pacific coast, it was donated last month to Martinez by the San Francisco Historical Society, as a tribute to the Italian fishing heritage of Martinez.

The boat is sitting at the Marina, where it bobs gently in the summer breeze. But city officials insist that it is too costly to leave it afloat, and want to put it on display onshore. Trouble is, that's happened with two other boats in the past:

• There was the Pescatore, an actual fishing boat used by Italian fishermen before the state banned commercial fishing here in the 1950s. That boat was on display at the Waterfront for years, where it was exposed to the elements, and it finally rotted to the point where it cannot be repaired. It now rests, unseen, at the city's Water Treatment Plant on Pacheco Boulevard.

• Then there was the Joltin' Joe, a Chris Craft pleasure vessel given to Martinez native Joe DiMaggio in 1943 by his fans in New York on Joe DiMaggio Day, and in which DiMaggio reportedly gave his new bride Marilyn Monroe a ride in the waters of Carquinez Strait. That boat remained in Martinez and was converted to a fishing boat by relatives before it was signed over to the city in 1995. A fundraising effort restored the boat, and it was put on display at the Waterfront, again without shelter, until it rotted. There is a full restoration effort underway now, at a cost of many thousands of dollars, by the Sons of Italy.

Now officials want to put the Blue Eagle on land-based display near the Harbormaster's Office, but this time, according to Recreation Manager Mitch Austin, they want to build a shelter for it, to keep it from getting direct exposure to the elements.

"We've learned a few lessons with the boats that we’ve had," Austin told the Park, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission on Aug. 16. "Any display would include a shade structure to help shelter the boat from wind, rain and sun. Couple that with a maintenance program by the Sea Scouts, so every couple of years it would be treated and painted to keep it in its best shape."

But not all the commissioners thought that was a good idea.

"I'm dead set on putting the boat on land unless it's in a completely enclosed structure," said commissioner Richard Patchin. "It’s going to dry out, it’s going to shrink, it’s going to rot. I sort of wish the city would not have accepted the boat if that’s the condition we have to deal with."

"If it’s in the water, it’s just another boat out in the Marina, because it’s not displayed properly," countered commissioner Don Pollatta, who said there are ways to display a boat on land — using drip irrigation methods, etc. — and still keep the boat ship-shape.

Eventually, it is hoped that the boat can be part of a display at the old railroad station on Ferry Street, which is slated to be used by the historical society as a museum that would house, among other things, the Joltin' Joe. But that is not slated to take place for several years.

Meanwhile, the PRMCC will review the short-term alternatives for the Blue Eagle's fate and make a recommendation to the City Council at its meeting next month, with an eye toward keeping history from repeating itself.