Wild Goose

NEWPORT BEACH - John Wayne's beloved yacht, the Wild Goose, is now among some 200 boats listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "The Duke" would have been proud. "While our focus has, and perhaps always will be, predominantly on buildings, the programs include a broad spectrum of property types, from archaeological sites to bridges, locomotives, lighthouses, historic districts and ships," Paul S. Lusignan, an historian with the National Register of Places, said in an email.

Alex Coolman Since it was launched by the Navy in 1942, the minesweeper Wild Goose has grown in size like a loaf of particularly yeasty bread. What was once a relatively sleek vessel with lines that betrayed its military function has gained layers over the years as each owner has customized the craft according to his needs. The most famous owner of the Wild Goose, as most Newport boat enthusiasts know, was John Wayne, who bought the boat in 1965 and kept it until his death in 1979.

Have you wondered what the inside of John Wayne’s former yacht, the Wild Goose, looks like or had the urge to stand at the helm to gaze out the bridge windows while dreaming you were cruising on the high seas with the Duke standing by your side? Some people will tell you that the boat is haunted, especially by the crew who hear and notice strange things when no passengers are aboard. Well, now you can tour the Wild Goose, which is a 136-foot converted minesweeper. Hornblower Cruises will have the Wild Goose dockside during the Lido Yacht Expo for you to tour each day until 3 p.m. “Wild Goose has been an icon in Newport Harbor for nearly 50 years,” said Duncan McIntosh, producer of the Lido Yacht Expo.

The lights are strung across the bow of the Endeavor, a 120-foot party boat docked in Newport Harbor in preparation for what promoter Alan Freeman hopes will be the largest party on the water for the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. “It’s the 100th anniversary of the parade this year, and what better way to celebrate it,” Freeman said. As many as 150 boats will set sail at 6:30 tonight on Newport Harbor for the 100th anniversary of the parade. Many charter cruise companies and promoters are offering special Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade events on Newport Harbor this week in celebration of the centennial.

Jennifer K Mahal No one living in Newport Beach can escape the influence of its most celebrated resident. After all, John Wayne Airport bears his name. Wayne, born Marion Morrison, would have been 94 today. He died of cancer in 1979 at age 72. Duke's Hollywood Cowboys, a group of Wayne look-alikes, will celebrate the celluloid cowboy's legacy on Sunday aboard his yacht, the Wild Goose, with a celebrity dinner cruise around Newport Harbor. Among those expected to attend are A.C. Lyles, who produced a number of westerns for Paramount Studios, and Gregg Palmer, who shared the screen with Wayne in such films as "The Shootist" and "Chisum."

Starnes-Pharris Ashley Kirtland Starnes of San Marino and Jonathan Michael Pharris of Newport Beach exchanged vows at the Lighthouse Courtyard of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Aug. 31. The bride is the daughter of Janet Starnes of San Marino and Vaughn Starnes of La Canada-Flintridge. The bride wore a Badgley-Mischka's Christa, a white silk and satin strapless gown with beaded detail at bodice and draped waist and train with a cathedral veil. The maid of honor was Margaret Starnes.

You mention the name John Wayne round these parts, pardner, and yer gonna hear an earful. We reckon you'll hear yarns about his times at the Balboa Bay Club and the Arches and tooling around the harbor on his beloved boat, Wild Goose. He was bigger than life, pilgrim, and folks in Newport Beach loved their Duke. So it's only fitting that the Newport Beach Film Festival will commemorate the 100th birthday of Newport's favorite movie star with a weeklong showing of some of his greatest movies from April 21 to 28. "True Grit," "Sands of Iwo Jima," and "Stagecoach" will come back to the big screen, most likely to inspire new generations of Duke fans.

Alex Coolman Before a boat looks beautiful, it looks like this. Before it has a glossy white hull or creamy wooden rails, it looks like this. In the lot of Newport Harbor Shipyard, Allister McIntosh and John Ward are at work on something that looks like a dusty gray fiberglass bathtub. What the two men -- a boat builder and a shipwright, respectively -- can see in the dull shape is the artful vessel it will eventually become: a snug, 24-foot tugboat with a gleaming teak deck and a tidy, efficient deckhouse.

Deepa Bharath The Duke's French waterfront chateau is gone. But Newport Beach Realtor Michael Thornton has made sure that pieces of John Wayne's home, which stood majestically on Bayshore Drive until late last year, are still alive. Thornton walked around the 7,105-square-foot home the day its owners, Robert and Beverly Cohen, demolished it to build their proposed two-story, 12,437-square-foot home. Thornton said he "rescued" wood from the demolished home that was headed to the dumpster, cleaned it up, cut it into little squares and mounted them on a card with a picture of the home and a paragraph summarizing its history.

With stocks, the rule is to buy low and sell high. With yachts it’s not much different. Just like the saying goes, “The happiest day for a boat owner is the day he [or she] sells it.” Well, today through Sunday, yacht dealers in Newport Beach are looking to make some boat owners very happy. They will give customers an opportunity to play a kind of stocks-on-the-water with the annual Lido Yacht Expo at Lido Marina Village. “It’s going good; basically yachts have been doing this a long time.

NEWPORT BEACH - John Wayne's beloved yacht, the Wild Goose, is now among some 200 boats listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "The Duke" would have been proud. "While our focus has, and perhaps always will be, predominantly on buildings, the programs include a broad spectrum of property types, from archaeological sites to bridges, locomotives, lighthouses, historic districts and ships," Paul S. Lusignan, an historian with the National Register of Places, said in an email.

With stocks, the rule is to buy low and sell high. With yachts it’s not much different. Just like the saying goes, “The happiest day for a boat owner is the day he [or she] sells it.” Well, today through Sunday, yacht dealers in Newport Beach are looking to make some boat owners very happy. They will give customers an opportunity to play a kind of stocks-on-the-water with the annual Lido Yacht Expo at Lido Marina Village. “It’s going good; basically yachts have been doing this a long time.

Have you wondered what the inside of John Wayne’s former yacht, the Wild Goose, looks like or had the urge to stand at the helm to gaze out the bridge windows while dreaming you were cruising on the high seas with the Duke standing by your side? Some people will tell you that the boat is haunted, especially by the crew who hear and notice strange things when no passengers are aboard. Well, now you can tour the Wild Goose, which is a 136-foot converted minesweeper. Hornblower Cruises will have the Wild Goose dockside during the Lido Yacht Expo for you to tour each day until 3 p.m. “Wild Goose has been an icon in Newport Harbor for nearly 50 years,” said Duncan McIntosh, producer of the Lido Yacht Expo.

The Wild Goose has almost as storied a past in Newport Beach as its former owner, John Wayne. The 136-foot boat, a former minesweeper used during World War II, became as recognizable as its owner as Wayne motored around the harbor and Catalina Island with family and famous friends for more than a decade. As news clippings over the years retell, The Duke made few changes to the boat after he bought it in 1965. He added some beds for family and repainted it a bit, but left the sturdy military vessel mostly as-is.

As Southern California warms up under the summer sun, tourists and locals alike will be searching for new ways to have fun in their own backyard. In Newport Beach, a number of companies are offering visitors and county residents a unique experience on the water with tours of the harbor that highlight the history and jewels of the area. For a leisurely tour during a weekend visit to the Balboa Peninsula, the Fun Zone Boat Company out of the Balboa Fun Zone offers visitors 45- and 90-minute tours through Newport Harbor.

The lights are strung across the bow of the Endeavor, a 120-foot party boat docked in Newport Harbor in preparation for what promoter Alan Freeman hopes will be the largest party on the water for the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. “It’s the 100th anniversary of the parade this year, and what better way to celebrate it,” Freeman said. As many as 150 boats will set sail at 6:30 tonight on Newport Harbor for the 100th anniversary of the parade. Many charter cruise companies and promoters are offering special Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade events on Newport Harbor this week in celebration of the centennial.

The Back Bay, the Balboa Island Auto Ferry and John Wayne’s old yacht — all major attractions of Newport Beach, and next week, all California’s Gold. In two episodes of PBS personality Huell Howser’s signature show “California’s Gold,” he tours the trails and educational opportunities of Newport Beach’s Back Bay, as well as exploring the iconic boats of Newport Beach, like the ferry and Wayne’s yacht Wild Goose. It’s all part of “OC Week,” a special on PBS, which spends from Sunday through Nov. 16 focusing on destinations within this county.

You mention the name John Wayne round these parts, pardner, and yer gonna hear an earful. We reckon you'll hear yarns about his times at the Balboa Bay Club and the Arches and tooling around the harbor on his beloved boat, Wild Goose. He was bigger than life, pilgrim, and folks in Newport Beach loved their Duke. So it's only fitting that the Newport Beach Film Festival will commemorate the 100th birthday of Newport's favorite movie star with a weeklong showing of some of his greatest movies from April 21 to 28. "True Grit," "Sands of Iwo Jima," and "Stagecoach" will come back to the big screen, most likely to inspire new generations of Duke fans.

As Hollywood's "It" girls and guys tread the famed red carpet at the 78th annual Academy Awards tonight in Los Angeles, there's no need for Newport Beach to feel left out. This seaside enclave, some 50 miles from the epicenter of the movie biz, has a star-studded past worth boasting about. For some of Hollywood's most legendary names, Newport Beach was an old stomping ground, and for a few stars, Newport was a place to grow roots. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall kept a boat in Newport Harbor.