Does anyone remember the launching of the Deacon? Please email me: june@halfmoonbaymemories.com
Fayden Holmboe says: I don’t recognize the boat however the trailer it was launched on was Larry Fortado’s who still buys fish in Princeton.
(Photo above is of the new radar station.)
In the 1980s it was flat like a big plate. Photo by Maria Demarest.
In the fall of 1981 I interviewed El Granada resident, Frank Millione, then a 41-year-old professional bowler, who, when, not working at Pillar Point Radar Station, traveled the country to participate in championship bowling contests.
Rumors of flying saucers launced from Pillar Point–that peninsula of land that juts out into the Pacific Ocean at the northern end of Half Moon Bay–circulate from time to time. The 80-foot radar dish, which sticks out like a sore thumb high atop Pillar Point, helps to stimulate fertile imaginations.
But 41-year-old Frank Millione, who has worked as a “special tech” at Pillar Point Air Force Tracking Station for 17 years, denies the flying saucer rumors.
Pillar Point Tracking Station–a division of ITT, tracks the flight accuracy of missiles launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Millione told me that “There has never been anything around here that can honestly be called unexplained phenomena.” He explained the UFO sightings as being mistakes for missiles launched from Vandenberg in the evening or early morning when they can be seen near Half Moon Bay.
“It looks like a big white object streaking through the sky,” Millione said. “But people don’t recognize it, so they say, ‘I saw a flying saucer’.”
Vandenberg on the West Coast (California) is the equivalent of Cape Kennedy on the East Coast (Florida). “At Vandenberg,” Millione said,” when they look up at a missile, they’re looking at the back end. Due to heat produce at take-off time, they can’t see through it, so somebody must look at it from the side which is what we do here.”
Missiles launched from Vandenberg either go south or west. “The missiles that go south,” Millione told me, “are put into orbit and used for navigation and communication. The ones that go west are testing for inter-continental ballistic missiles, like the Minutemen–they’re targeted at cities.”
Besides two telemetries and two radars, there is a fifth system at Pillar Point. Frank Millione is in charge of the fifth system called command control. “Once a missile is launched,” he said, “it’s an object that’s not controlled, like a bullet in flight. While missiles are not externally controlled, they are internally controlled by a guidance mechanism that enables signals to be sent from Pillar Point to the missile and back.
“If something goes wrong with a missile, endangering the safety of lives, somebody must get rid of it. That’s one of the things I do. Blow missiles up.”
Frank Millione said he last blew up a missile about a year ago (1980).
Although several sites on the West Coast have the ability to blow up missiles, only Pillar Point ia allowed to do it. Two other stations act as back-up sites.
A new system recently installed (1981) at Pillar Point enables the station to move satellites. I “We can fire their engines up,” Millione told me, ” and move them from one position to another.”
Sport Crab On Thanksgiving by Fran “Buzz” Young
Crab On Huli Cat With Matt
Son Matt had a chance to go on a ship that I couldn’t bark orders to him on, so he jumped at the opportunity Thanksgiving morning.
What a great day on the water it was indeed! Limits for 15 Thankful Sport fishermen and an agreeable King Neptune giving us a large but well spaced swell– and a chance to watch the folks at Maverick’s do the crazy stuff they do, (I used to get wet for fun until I bought a boat)
Matt loaded bait jars, Gary ran the block, Dennis check and counted; I didn’t remember everyone else’s names… I’m stuffed, I think Matt could get used to not having to clean up the boat; I liked the fact I went right past the fuel dock, now if I could only do something about my dock rent.
Francis (Brother Buzz) Young
Coastside Fishing Club, click here
& here
Also,
I HAVE NEW NEIGHBORS
Nice Tall ships at B & C Docks, Pillar Point Harbor
Coming soon, Brother Buzz Slows down enough to be painted!!! FLYII
As you can see Buzz needs a little paint but the boat is out of dock too often to get a brush on it! Here are some pictures of Family and Friends on fishing outings, I think it is fitting that the boat was built in the Bay Area, went off to war and now spend it’s golden years making folks happy, I have had tourist walk by and say, “This sure looks like WHIRL-A-WAY” Imagine their surprise when I tell them they are correct. Through the years I have found several folks that say, “I used to own that boat” and still others that say “I used to fish on this boat when I was a kid”. Captain Bill Beckett of Huck Fin Sportfishing at Pillar Point Harbor calls Buzz “Jack’s Little Boat” which is the name of a Captain two owners back. A trusted source told me that there is a picture of Buzz when it was the Queen of Hearts at Fishermen’s Warf, the book is titled San Francisco: The City’s Sights and Secrets (Paperback) by Leah Garchik.
Photo: (L) 40′ motor launch that might have been the Buzz before retrofitting; (R) the Brother Buzz today. Courtesy Fran Young.
You may recall a decade or so ago we also found a Dog at sea, it made The Review Every Dog Has It’s Day…
I have included a picture of “BROTHER BUZZ” and a US NAVY photo of a 40′ motor launch that might be Buzz before “his” retrofitting, ( I know boats are usually referred to as “She” but my oldest Son Francis III once quizzed me, “Dad why do you call the boat her, when it’s name is “Brother Buzz?” I changed my behavior at least when referring to “The Buzz”
The boat has a substantial history,
——————–
“Brother Buzz” Built-1941 Mare Island Naval Ship Yard (40′ Motor Launch)
Served until decommission in 1951, Sold at auction Mare Island;
Names in Chronological Order:
“WHIRL-A-WAY” 1951-64, Party Boat Sausalito
“KW” 1964-65, Party Boat Sausalito
“CORINNE II” 1965, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf
“PATTIE L” 1966-71, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf
“QUEEN OF HEARTS” 1971-86, Party Boat Fishermen’s Warf / Halfmoon Bay
“BROTHER BUZZ” 1987-present, Party Boat, Private Fishing Boat Halfmoon Bay
