History

Alondra was designed and built In 1927 by the J.M. Densmore Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. It is believed that her original plans were produced by the renowned naval architects of "commuter yacht" fame, Tams & King of New York City. While under construction at the yard, she was the third yacht called Maya in a series of five Mayas. Her original owner, Mr. George C. Smith, Jr. of New York City, was a member of the New York Yacht Club as well as the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. Alondra was constructed of yellow pine planking on steam bent white oak frames and is 68 feet overall in length. She was originally powered with a pair of six cylinder Sterling gasoline marine engines and sold new for $60,000.00.

In the early spring of 1932, Mr. Smith sold Alondra to Mr. Charles E, Proctor, also a member of the New York Yacht Club. Later that summer Mr. John H. Clowes, of Great Neck Long Island and a member of the Columbia Yacht Club, surprised his wife one afternoon by walking her around to the back of their house which overlooked Long Island Sound. He pointed out a beautiful yacht with a crew of three conducting their daily onboard routine. When she remarked how striking the yacht was, Mr. Clowes informed his wife that Alondra now belonged to her. The Clowes family enjoyed many delightful summers onboard, cruising between their Long Island Estate and Newport, Rhode Island, where they viewed two America's Cup challenges. But in 1940, Mr. Clowes, a hotelier in New York City, experienced some set backs in business which led to the loss of Alondra to the Fyfe Shipyard of Long Island for a past due yard bill of $850.00.

A couple of years later in 1942, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence S. Bruce of Washington, DC purchased Alondra for $6,000.00 and brought her down to her new home on the Potomac River. In May of 1947, the Bruces changed the name of the yacht to Sallie B. The Bruces were members of the Corinthian Yacht Club in Washington and spent nearly twenty years cruising back and forth to Florida, where they later retired onboard Sallie B. In 1962, Mr. Bruce died and his wife sold Sallie B to Mr. Herbert P. Field.

During the 1960s, Sallie B. passed through the hands of several owners and her name was changed again, to Mahogany Lady. Mr. Field owned the yacht until the fall of 1966, when he sold her to Mr. Edwin S. Mooers. Mr. Mooers kept the Mahogany Lady for a couple of years before selling her to Mr. Lee R. Bass. Over the next several years, the Mahogany Lady passed back and forth between Lee Bass and his brother Mr. Ray C. Bass. Then in December of 1971, Lee Bass sold the yacht to Captain Doug Kenny. Captain Kenny cruised extensively along the Gulf coast between Florida and Louisiana, before selling the Mahogany Lady to my father, Mr. Earl McMillen, Jr. and his business partner Mr, Arnold Guest. Along with the purchase, they hired Captain Kenny to continue to manage and operate the yacht in the Florida Keys.

My father and Mr. Guest kept the Mahogany Lady for several years before trading her to a mutual friend, Mr. Frank W. Rash. In the late 70's, Mr. Rash donated the yacht to a church in Florida, where she sat languishing in the sun and heat until Mr. and Mrs. W. Edward Guy, of Stuart, Florida bought her. The Guys owned the yacht for seven years before selling her in 1986 to Mr. Arthur Burch of Morristown, New Jersey. The yacht's name was once again changed for a brief period to, Somewhere in Time. In the fall of 1988, Mr. Ross MacTaggart of New York City bought the yacht and immediately renamed her Alondra. A year later in the fall of 1989, Alondra was towed to Newport with the prospect of a grand restoration. Unfortunately, Mr. MacTaggart's plans never came to fruition. Since then, Alondra has been patiently awaiting her overdue restoration. In the summer of 1997, McMillen Yachts, Inc, purchased Alondra and plans have been made to begin her restoration in the fall of 1998, upon the launching of a current restoration!