The Buccaneer Yacht Club bought a cargo schooner called the Resolute that would become its clubhouse in 1932. Built in 1902, the schooner had just carried its final load of lumber to Mobile and was retired. After the yacht club’s purchase, the ship was moored at Arlington Pier and redesigned to serve as the second clubhouse for the club’s members (the first being a two-story building near Dog River).
Upon its completion, the new clubhouse was the only yacht club building like it in the world. The ship-turned-gathering spot had an oak dance floor over the deck and a rooftop garden. Boat races were run off the ship’s fantail near Arlington Pier. Eventually, at the onset of World War II, the Resolute was needed by the Army Air Corp. to serve as a storage facility. Afterwards, the Corp. purchased the ship. Buccaneer Yacht Club members have a saying, “Remember the Resolute,” to mark the days of the cargo schooner clubhouse.
“A race of colors, an event which gives promise of being a most spectacular and brilliant nocturnal display, will be staged tonight by the Buccaneer Yacht club on its course off Arlington park…Each boat will be equipped with a colored light so they may be identified by spectators on the club schooner, Resolute, and at the park. As an added feature of the race, the boats will be anchored in the channel with all sails furled.” – an excerpt from the June 22, 1936, edition of the Press-Register
By the Numbers
4: The number of masts on the gaff-rigged schooner when she was operable.
1928: The year the Buccaneer Yacht Club was founded. The private member-run club emphasizes sailing and operates with no employees. Leon Delaplaine, Foster Pfleger, John Mandeville and Ben Mayfield were the founding members.
The Resolute was pulled down river, helped into a dug out slip at high tide and tied down. Then holes were drilled into the hull to allow water to flow in and out, creating a suction that held the ship in the sand.
1947: The year that a third clubhouse was purchased by the Buccaneer Yacht Club after the Resolute was bought by the Army Air Corp. It is the club’s current facility.
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