Polaris - USGS Water Quality of SF Bay

Water Quality of San Francisco Bay

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A Short History of the Research Vessel Polaris
Length: 96 feet -- Beam: 20 feet, 8 inches -- Draft: 7.5 feet

The ship's hull is constructed of fir planking with oak and teak beams. The deck is teak plankings with fittings of teak and mahogany. She is powered by her original Atlas-Imperial diesel engine, rebuilt in 1960 and 1991.

The yacht was designed by A.E. Hudson and built by H.C. Carlson at the Wilmington Boat Works in Los Angeles, at a cost of $150,000, for Lee Phillips. She was christened the "Pasada Mañana" and launched on May 12, 1927. Mr. Phillips was an engineer and building contractor who built the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel, developed Wilshire Boulevard and superinteded the construction of many of the levees in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River delta. He was a large man, and designed much of the interior of the boat to suit his size. The exception was the pilot house, which was designed to accommodate the 5 foot, 8 inch captain. Byron Richards, who has piloted the boat since 1980, is 6 feet, 7 inches tall.

Mr. Phillips died in 1936 and the boat was sold, eventually ending up in the Navy's "Q-109" fleet in Seattle during World War II. During her service in the Navy, much of the boat's beautiful interior woods were covered over with layers of white paint. Following the war the yacht was sold to the Bechtel family and kept in northern waters. It was during that time that it was rechristened "Polaris". In 1963 the Bechtels, unable to find a buyer for the boat, donated her to the University of California at Berkeley. The USGS purchased the yacht for a nominal sum (less than $10,000) in 1966, and subsequently retrofitted the upper salon into a water-quality laboratory.

Each month the Polaris completes several cruises on San Francisco Bay, collecting water and sediment samples that are taken back to USGS labs in Menlo Park for analyses.

The Polaris was featured in the Nova television series, "Inside the Golden Gate", and has been featured in articles in Sunset Magazine and National Geographic.

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