Like so many other shipbuilding volunteers here at Call of the Sea, Pete Strietmann noticed the tall ship tent in 2013 and wandered in to see what was happening. He started volunteering, helping build Matthew Turner twice a week, before the keel was laid. He enjoyed the wood work and building aspects of the project and the fact that there was “Always something going on” in that tent!
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he grew up sailing on Lake Leland, Michigan, in the summertime at his grandparents’ cabin where he raced a lightning class sloop. He attended the Ohio Institute of photography then move to San Francisco in 1977 to attend the San Francisco Art Institute. Pete’s career as a Director of Photography in filmmaking took him all over the world, mostly making cinematic art films and some music videos for artists such as Bjork, The Black Eyed Peas and Kanye West. Here in Sausalito, Pete filmed the launch of Matthew Turner on April 1st, 2017. He also filmed the stepping of the masts and volunteered to help create a promotional video for Call of The Sea.
Pete lived on a double-ended 50 ft ketch, named Burma Girl, for years. He sold that boat to purchase the 1914 gaff rig sloop, Flirt, a 30 ft boat built on Mare Island by Ralph Flowers. Pete asked Ralph what he should do with the old boat and Ralph replied… ” Take it out and sink it”. Instead, he undertook a multi-year refurbishment at a shipwrights cooperative in Sausalito. Dan Jones and Craig Tells helped him restore her planks, frames, deck, house and rigging (which he converted to a Marconi rig).
Pete racing in a Master Mariners Regatta
Ralph Flowers at the helm of Flirt
Currently, Pete volunteers a couple times a week here at Call of the Sea, helping with ship maintenance. He also volunteers at the Dolphin Club in San Francisco working on small wooden boats.
All that remained of the original boat is the keel, mast and bowsprit. Flirt has an electric outboard motor built by Ray, so he was an early adopter of the technology. Pete went on to sail Flirt in many Master Mariners races starting in the year 2000, competing for around 20 years in a row with Craig Tells and Dan Jones as crew.
Dan Jones and Craig Tells with Flirt in the shipyard
Just last year, he spent 6 days rowing from San Francisco to Sacramento in a 3-man lapstrake canoe with 2 rowing stations and a stern station with a tiller. The crew rotated spots every 25 minutes. They camped out each night, at China Camp, Benicia, then a few camping spots in the Delta. Sounds like a beautiful adventure!