Search This Blog

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Humphrey Bogart and The Santana: A pictorial on men and the love of sailing....

Text from www.thesantana.com (a wonderful, highly recommended site)


The Santana -built in 1935-owned by Bogart 1945-57. (The pic below is of the Santana restored and under the current owners)






Bogie's Boat...."The trouble with having dames on board is you can't pee over the side."


Regardless of how many owners there have been or ever will be, Santana will always be known as "Bogie's" boat. In Stephen Bogart’s book, "In Search Of My Father," he writes, "While most people know that Bogie and Bacall had a great love affair, probably fewer know about my father’s other great love affair. It was with sailing. Specifically, it was with the Santana, a fifty-five-foot sailing yacht, which he had bought from Dick Powell and June Allyson. My father was not simply some movie star throwing money into a hole in the water. He was very serious about the boat and he was an excellent helmsman who earned the respect of the sailing fraternity, despite some well-entrenched prejudices they had about actors with boats. The sea was my father’s sanity. My father once answered a question about his devotion to sailing this way: "An actor needs something to stabilize his personality, something to nail down what he really is, not what he is currently pretending to be."

Bogart learned to sail as a child and once he had the good fortune to own his own boat he did it as often as possible. He sailed Santana between 35 and 45 weekends a year. Most of those weekends were stag, as Bogie felt that "the trouble with having dames on board is you can’t pee over the side." In addition to many weekends aboard the boat spent at Catalina, he also did a considerable amount of racing with respectable results. Bogart took first in his class in the San Clemente Island Race of 1950 and first in the 1952 Channel Islands Race.


Bogart and Santana played host to many of Hollywood’s greatest stars of the time, including Ingrid Bergman, Richard Burton, David Niven, and Frank Sinatra. In David Niven’s memoir "The Moon’s a Balloon," he tells of a weekend when he and his wife Hjordis were aboard Santana as guests of the Bogarts. Frank Sinatra and his party were on a chartered motor yacht. In the evening Sinatra’s boat tied up next to Santana, and accompanied by Jimmy Van Heusen on piano, Sinatra sang, literally, all through the night. "People from other boats rowed over in dinghies and sat in a circle around the two yachts, under a full moon, listening, until the sky began to grow light and the singing ended. Then they rowed quietly away."

During the years that Bogart owned the boat he made only one significant change, that being the addition of the drink holder that is installed around the base of the steering binnacle. Designed to fit a group of large highball glasses, this proved to be a practical and vital improvement for the competitive yachtsman Bogart was. One night after a race in which Santana coasted past another yacht, Bogart was asked, "What makes the boat go like that?" Bogie said "Scotch" and then just walked away. Clearly Bogart put that drink holder to good use both on and off the race course.

When Bogart wasn’t sailing, he still had Santana on his mind. When he formed his own production company in 1947, he called it "Santana Productions." Bogie starred with Bacall and Edward G. Robinson in the movie Key Largo, and his boat in the film had "Santana" on the stern. He also had a complete model of Santana on display in his home inside a glass case. Above that case sat his two Academy Awards. If asked what was more important--the Oscars or the boat--no doubt he would have replied "The Boat." When Bogart died, they eulogized the actor, the husband and the father, but it was the model of Santana, his love, that stood along side the pulpit.




Bogart certainly had a love affair with Santana. While some think of her as being special just because she was "Bogie’s Boat", in fact quite the opposite was the truth. Bogart had been a life-long sailor and he knew a good boat when he saw one. It was Santana’s indescribable virtues that attracted him. It just happened that he was also extraordinarily well-known, and this only furthered her notoriety.
The is much more history at the site this text is quoted from, including all of the owners, design and history, and also of it's sinking and restoration....VERY RECOMMENDED.

On to a few Bogart pics....




 A few later pics


24 comments:

  1. And I never thought Bogey looked comfortable or convincing at the helm of the African Queen.

    HOW WRONG CAN YOU BE! :o)

    Nice post Babs! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just some fun....I was reading the site about The Santana's current owners, and the history of the boat....felt it deserved a post :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice to see all the pic of "the man and that girl" and his boat.
    Year of the B/W pic. ???

    45to80

    ReplyDelete
  4. All of the black and white pics? hmmm.....the boat was under Bogart's ownership 1945 until his death I believe

    ReplyDelete
  5. Right nοw it appеarѕ like Wοrԁpress iѕ thе top blοggіng platfοrm out there right nоω.
    (from ωhat I've read) Is that what you're using on your blοg?


    Review my webѕite ... halogen oven with hinged lid

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wondеrful blоg! I found it whіle searching οn Yahoo News.
    Dο you have any suggеѕtions on how tο get lіsted in Yahoο Nеωѕ?

    I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thanks

    Feel free to surf to my web blog lakeland steam mop

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hеy thегe! I just wanted to asκ if yоu eѵer have
    any trouble with hackeгs? My lаѕt blog (wогdpresѕ) ωas haсkеd аnԁ
    I ended up loѕing а few mοnths оf hard work due to no baсκ uр.
    Do you hаve any solutions tο stop
    hackers?

    Μу web blog; which deep fat fryer

    ReplyDelete
  8. I visited sеveгal sites еxceρt
    the auԁіo fеature fοr аudio ѕοngs cuгrent at this ѕitе iѕ actuallу fabulous.



    Mу ωеb-site how to make ice cream in an ice cream maker

    ReplyDelete
  9. Useful іnfoгmation. Fortunаte me I diѕcovered your web site by accident,
    and I'm stunned why this twist of fate didn't toοκ place іn advance!
    I bookmаrked it.

    Here is my homepage: Waring Deep Fat Fryer

    ReplyDelete
  10. ӏ all the time еmailed thiѕ wеb site
    poѕt pаge to all my contасtѕ, since if likе tο read
    it aftегward my cοntаctѕ will too.


    Ηеre іs my wеbpagе ::
    Yoghurt ice cream

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello there! Thiѕ article could nоt
    be ωritten much better! Lооking at this post
    remindѕ me οf my pгeviouѕ roommate!

    Ηe continuаlly kept preаchіng about this.
    I am going tο send thiѕ information to him. Fairly ceгtain he'll have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

    My web page - Panasonic bread maker reviews

    ReplyDelete
  12. What's up, its good article on the topic of media print, we all know media is a great source of data.

    Here is my web site ... Hamper gifts

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey! Someone іn my Myspaсe grouр shared this website wіth uѕ sο I came tо giѵe
    it a look. I'm definitely loving the information. I'm bоok-marking and will be tweetіng thіs
    tο my followerѕ! Wonderful blog anԁ outѕtanding ԁesіgn and style.


    Also visit mу blog: epilator for women

    ReplyDelete
  14. What's up, always i used to check webpage posts here in the early hours in the morning, as i love to find out more and more.

    my blog ... jml halogen oven accessories

    ReplyDelete
  15. Qualіty artіcles οr reviews is the secret tο interеst the viewers to paу а quick νіsit the webѕite, that's what this website is providing.

    Look at my web-site - panasonic bread maker reviews

    ReplyDelete
  16. We're a bunch of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with helpful info to work on. You've pеrformed a foгmiԁablе task and our entire neighboгhoοd
    will be thanκful tο you.

    Viѕit my blοg high heel silver shoes

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sony Home cinema - Travel And Shoulders That
    beats all others

    My webpage ... Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 3020e

    ReplyDelete
  18. material Bands You may have Never Discovered But Should really

    Feel free to visit my homepage - Panasonic PT-AE7000 - www.10projectors.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. What's up to every one, the contents existing at this website are in fact remarkable for people knowledge, well, keep up the nice work fellows.

    Review my web site ... Deep Fat fryer

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've read a few excellent stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you put to create this kind of wonderful informative website.

    Here is my page; bissell steam cleaner

    ReplyDelete
  21. Back button Rocker Igaming Chairs - One of the most
    Comfortable Casino Chair

    Feel free to surf to my blog post - converter video to mp3 (http://www.fromvideotomp3.com)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Has got Home Movie theater Finally Come Old?

    my web blog video to mp3 converter download

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ηοwdy! Thiѕ pοst could not
    be wrіtten any betteг! Rеаding
    through this post reminds me of mу old room mate!

    He always kept chatting abοut this.
    I ωill forward this wгіte-up to him.
    Prеtty suгe he will havе a good read.

    Thanks for ѕharing!

    my web blοg ... elizabeth taylor eyelashes

    ReplyDelete