History of the Bay View Boat Club

"So, one evening, the boys were whooping it up in a tavern near Hunter's Point and the salty old sailor tending the bar was carefully scanning the joint. An opinion was formed, an idea spoken - to be juggled from mind to mind; To emerge in the form of a nebulous thought needing naught but space and time. It snowballed along from hand to hand, leaving impressions - taking form, Growing and swelling with accumulous thought - in the space of never, a club was born. In the tavern, a charter was placed on the wall To gather in members; "Come one, come all! The more the merrier!" came the joyful cry and the call was answered from far and wide."

That is the first entry in the Official Bay View Boat Club Log, which cites April 17th, 1961 as the date of the club's first meeting. Details of the early days of the Bay View are sketchy, at best, but there are a few things that those who remain among us from those times can agree on. Many thanks to Flip Allemand for much of the following information.

The history of the Bay View is much intertwined with that of the Hunter's Point boatyard, Allemand Brothers. In the late 1930's, a man named Joe Boesl who repaired rowboats and had a tavern in the Hunter's Point area approached John Allemand and his friend Woody and asked them to design and build a place for his boat repair business. The structure was raised on a site just adjacent to the tavern. A second story was built over the repair shop, in order to provide Boesl with on-site living quarters. This detail from a 1942 photo shows both structures. (Click on the photo to see the full picture which includes many happy boaters.) In 1946 John and Rene ('Flip') Allemand established Allemand Brothers Boatyard, using the tavern for their offices.

The socializing that ensued among customers, friends and local boaters evolved into the birth of a boat club, originally the Hunter's Point Boat Club. As the years passed, the concept for what is now the Bay View Boat Club emerged. Informal meetings began to be held in the boat repair shop, or the Allemand Brothers office/lunch bar when the weather turned cold, as they had heat, something the Boesl establishment lacked.

When Joe Boesl died in 1957, the properties came under the ownership of Hoagy Holmes who became the first club Commodore. In 1962, Mr. Holmes gave or sold the house to the Bay View Boat Club.


a later view of Boat Club at Hunter's Point
In the mid-sixties, the site where the two buildings stood was sold. The Allemand Brothers' office and lunchbar was moved 75 yards north. It seems that everyone thought the club's building was too good to abandon. Spearheaded by Mr. Claire Nabonne and at the urging of the then Commodore, Dave Del Carlo, when a new site was found, a work party loaded the building onto a series of rollers and guided the structure down the hill during high tide to a waiting barge in the bay. With the help of the tugboat, G.B. Marshall, the building was towed to the present site of the Bay View Boat Club, and the membership followed.

There have been many improvements to the basic structure since then. Not surprisingly, one of the first additions was a large, efficient fireplace. Boesl's living quarters still survive on a smaller scale in the form of the office and race deck, although the rest of his space has been eliminated to accommodate a sky light in the main club area.

It is now 41 commodores and 42 years later, but the spirit of the original club survives. One of the signature features of our club is the annual "Plastic Classic" regatta. This event, which celebrated its nineteenth year in 2003, has become somewhat of a legendary event in Bay Area boating The regatta is open to fiberglass boats of a pre-1970 vintage, and has the distinction of having had Carol Doda, a plastic classic in her own right, present the trophies at its inaugural event.

The Bay View has long-standing tradition of diversity and hospitality in the Bay Area community, as we somehow manage to blend boating with good food and entertainment. Our members have consistently proven to be competitive in the Bay Area racing arena, due in part to an attitude that has been referred to as "Industrial Strength Boating."

Although we are located in an area of San Francisco that is experiencing incredible and rapid change due to new construction projects and the new downtown ballpark, we will no doubt survive it all and be able of offer our distinctive personality to the mix that is the Bay Area boating community for many years to come.

Updated: 2003. See also: 2005 Clubhouse Dedication Ceremony




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