From the book “West Coast Windjammers in Story and Pictures”, author Jim Gibbs.
Translated from the Spanish version by V-A Ismael Huerta (R.I.P.).

VIGILANT, a gallant five masted schooner, was one of the last high seas trade sailing ships built on the Pacific Coast. She was built in 1920 by the George F. Matthews shipyard in Hoquiam, Washington state, for the E.K. Wood Lumber Company.

This 244 foot sailing ship not only became famous, but her shipyard was already acclaimed throughout the world due to the many beautiful sailing ships they had built over the years. George F. Matthews purchased the shipyard from Hitchings & Joyce in 1906, although it had originally been established by his father, Peter Matthews. For the last eight years it had been run by George H. Hitchings and John Joyce.

In April 1920 the ship sailed on her maiden voyage from Gray’s Harbor to Sydney and returned to Puget Sound via Newcastle and Honolulu. On her second voyage she sailed from Port Angeles to Adelaide carrying lumber and returned with 2,540 tons of coal to San Francisco. Her third voyage was from Bellingham to Callao; and on her return, in June 1952, she was destined to the coastal trade.

On 29th May 1923 she was towed, leaking badly, to San Pedro, by the steam schooner CASCADE. She had struck a submerged object 40 miles out of Ventura, California.

Once repaired she sailed for Bellingham to load cargo for Callao. In June 1924 she returned to Puget Sound where she was laid up due to lack of cargo. In 1926 the City Mill Company in Honolulu took an interest in VIGILANT, and placed her back in service to carry lumber from Puget Sound to Hawaii, on which route she set an enviable record.

The first Captain assigned to VIGILANT was none other than Matt Peasley, the character in Peter B. Kyne’s series of CAPPY RICKS novels. Another outstanding Captain followed him, Charles Mellberg.

The ship’s log shows that in 1932 she arrived in Hawaii accompanied by the 4 masted schooner COMMODORE which also handled the island trade. These two ships occasionally competed where speed was concerned and the press enjoyed describing the races in colorful terms. VIGILANT, larger in size and with a greater sail surface, was considered faster, although COMMODORE offered fair and square competition and was a beautiful modern sailing ship.

On a voyage in 1932, VIGILANT completed a fast return voyage from Honolulu to Cape Flattery in only 13 days. She was towed from this point to Bellingham where she was made ready to take on another cargo of lumber.

In 1936 she was equipped with a new set of masts: 110 foot lower masts and 60 foot topmasts. In 1940 she was bought at a good price by Canadian Transport Company. She was renamed CITY OF ALBERNI and, under Canadian flag, was placed under the command of another intrepid captain, John D. Vosper, a veteran mariner who had served on a number of sailing, cargo, and passenger ships. Vosper fell madly in love with CITY OF ALBERNI. At the beginning of Summer in 1940, after refitting, the ship was loaded with 1,650,000 feet of lumber from British Columbia destined to Sydney, Australia. The voyage would take 71 days from Cape Flattery to Sydney Heads, but the ship was delayed near the latter point due to bad weather. First, heavy storm clouds built up towards the South, and then, precisely when night fell, they met up with a violent squall from the South. Before they could reef sails and veer, the wind blew out sails and damaged the rigging. With winds against the schooner and lulls, it took them another eight days to reach their destination and be towed to the anchorage. Vosper stated that he had never before encountered such a strong current from the South off New South Wales.

After unloading in Snail’s Bay, CITY OF ALBERNI was to load sugar at Latoka, Fiji, for Vancouver. On reaching the outer entry to the port they met up with another problem. The course through the narrow mouth between the rocks was more or less to the North East. With the prevailing trade winds – more or less from the East South East – it was only just possible to pass through with very little leeway. No tug boat was available, and all the aids to navigation were not functioning due to wartime restrictions. It was an arduous task to maneuver the great sailing ship and lead her into the bay depending only on the wind, but Vosper was an able navigator. With the sweat of his brow he was able to take the ship into the calmroadstead, just as the natives began indicating the markers showing the entrance.

With the aid of a native boat, CITY OF ALBERNI loaded 1,500 tons of sacks of sugar and sailed for Vancouver, where she arrived 51 days later.

CITY OF ALBERNI was under the command of Captain Vosper for three and a half years; but at the end of this time she was forced to cut short a voyage to Durban, South Africa, when the ship received severe punishment in a storm at latitude 41º S and had to head for Valparaíso leaking badly. After due inspection it was decided to cancel the voyage in view of the fact that there were no facilities for adequate repairs in Chile.

Captain Vosper and the crew were paid off, and the schooner was sold to Chilean ship owners and renamed CÓNDOR. Legal action against the previous owners then followed, when Judge Sidney Smith, who had been a seaman, showed great personal interest when handling the case. The complaint was filed by Hunt Leuchars Hepburn Ltd. of British Columbia, owners of the ship, and involved a sum of US$ 55,000 for the shipment of lumber. The decision rendered by the judge was that the Durban firm should receive compensation from the ship owners in proportion with the price obtained for the cargo when CITY OF ALBERNI was abandoned in Valparaíso in 1943.

Much later, in December 1945, CÓNDOR sailed from Valparaíso with rice destined to Piraeus, Greece, commanded by Chilean Captain Raúl Bennewitz. The ship was damaged by the sea en route, and a large part of the cargo was wet. This required setting course to Montevideo where the cargo which could be salvaged was sold. CÓNDOR was repaired and fitted with a new set of sails before continuing her voyage to load in Bahía Blanca; but there was a fire on board when on this route and she was destroyed.

Note: According to information provided by Captain Bennewitz to his friend Aníbal Oyarzún, CÓNDOR was damaged when rounding Cape Horn (perhaps because of not having been properly repaired) and, not being able to call at Port Stanley, headed for Montevideo where, after selling the rice, she sailed for Bahía Blanca to take on a cargo of wheat. At this port she suffered severe up to 40º rolls due to the ocean tides meeting the flow of the river, which caused some batteries lying on the radio shack to fall. This in turn produced a strong short circuit and started a fire which could not be controlled.