Burger's 118' "Chanticleer"

Further question,

Frances Langford owned a waterfront restaurant in the same area, named after her. Does anyone know if it is still in business. It was a grteat spot and great food.

Chanticleer (108')

Chanticleer (108') is currently in my yard (Hinckley Yacht) undergoing major interior refit, paint, etc. New owners have a real passion for quality and fine wood design. New teak decks are also in place.

The yacht used to tie up across from the Dolphin Bar restaraunt in Jensen Beach. Great food and a good place to take somebody. The old Captain (Junior) still comes around and checks out our work. I spent many hours going over billing with Jr and company at the Langford estate. I have walked Jr over to count the gallons of paint I put on the boats bottom many times.

We love that boat here as if we own it. Its just a great thing to have a yacht with that kind of historical significance in the yard.

Darryl Schmiermund
Hinckley Yacht
Stuart, FL

Welcome to YF Darryl. Thank you for bringing us up to speed. I had lunch right across the Manatee Pocket from you on Saturday. I was thinking about a drive by the yard, but it was beginning to rain and I decided to head home.

ccamper,

Stop by anytime. I'll be the guy pulling his hair out but will take the time to show you around a bit. I'm usually here on weekends as well but this weekend is golf, finally, golf!

-D

The Original 118 Defoe Cruisemaster Chanticleer sits in Jimmy Gillikan's boat yard... Gillikin Marine Railway on Radio Island, NC.

The shafts have been pulled, and it is in a state of disrepair... Doesnt have much brightwork left. Thick coat of green primer on the whole boat.

Somebody needs to save her. The yard is only around till maybe this summer, going to get a condo on top of it. Don't know what they will do with the derelicts.

Defoe Chanticleer

Zach...do you have a contact for someone at this NC yard?

Hi Couch,

I happened to catch your profile when you signed up. Seems you've acquired Ralph's rooster! Hope you don't mind our members "singing" its praises. Good luck with the old girl. A brilliant buy!

And thanks for joining.

I have a Mystery for you... was hoping you might have a magical database that might hold the secret. I am researching an old Defoe Yacht that used to belong to Phil Berg. It was called the Savitar. 1 of 6 "Cruisemasters", built in the forties in bay city Michigan.

Length 118', Beam 18' 6", Delivered 1947

It was built for and owned by a fella named Phil Berg. He may have been the famous Talent agent from the heyday of Hollywood. There is a model of the yacht in the California Yacht Club lobby. Which is where it caught my eye. This is the only information I was able to find :

"The Savitar model was donated to CYC in the early 70's by our member, Phil Berg. He had the original boat built in 1947 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan. The model is a 3/8" scale to her 128' overall length. Phil cruised this boat extensively and carried a crew of 9 people. I have no idea if she is still around."

I have managed to find some of her sister ships and lots of magazine articles from the forties. 2 of them are already at the bottom of the sea as artificial reefs, and one of them, the Chanticleer which used to be owned by Francis Langford and Ralph Evinrude, is floating in a yard in North Carolina, in relatively poor condition I have phots of her and have spoken to the current owner.

I have tracked savitar to South africa. She was sold to a buyer there in the late seventies. Can you help me find the Savitar?

I worked on the Defoe Cruisemster, "Vergemere", owned by the Phipps family out of Palm Beach,Fl. during the late 50's. It was said to be the sistership to the original "Chanticleer". Wondered if she's still afloat? A real beautiful vessel.

FYI, In the November '07 Issue of PMY "America's 100 Largest Yachts", there is an article on Langford and her 108' Chanticleer, the 118 Defoe, and also pics of the 108' as she is presently with her refitted interior and dark blue hull. Worth a look!

Defoe Searching

http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/hcgl/vessel.html the best tool I've found for starting a search on great lakes vessels is at the URL above.

Does anyone have an update on the Defoe's mentioned above?

I grew up in Bay City, Michigan and went to school with some of the Defoe great grand kids. I was able to cut class on a few occasions and watch them launch some of their last ships before the place closed.

Savitar

Sorry, I forgot to add the link to the Savitar. Looks like it is the same information you have, but didn't know if you had the #'s. http://ul.bgsu.edu/cgi-bin/xvsl2.cgi

I remember Chanticleer well - she came into the Great Lakes in the summers and up to the Evinrude's island in the North Channel of Georgian Bay, down at the end of Bay Finne. Beautiful boat with a dark blue hull. I also remember the Natoya which was docked at the Detroit Boat Basin for years. She was gray and white if I remember correctly. The Cruisemasters were very efficient boats with four low horsepower GM 6-71's on two shafts.

defoe cruisemsters

Defoe cruisemsters... I have been able to account for 4 of the 5 cruisemasters. But Savitar eludes me.She was sold to south Africa after that and I cannot trace her any further. Any one have any ideas.. ?
L

Good looking but not the original

The original Chanticleer was 118' and once a summer usually made the trip through the Great Lakes and down into Long Island and Nantucket Sounds. In the early to mid fifties her sister ship the Savitar was berthed in Stamford, CT. These pictures are of a subsequent vessel carrying the same name.

Haven't posted in awhile. The above note above tendency to roll reminded my of one trip in the Natoya, around 1963, in which the owner DuCharme wanted to 'get home'. So we headed out into 10'-12' seas on Lake MI, headed upbound out of Frankfort I think, and headed for Grays Reef Passage and thence to Cheboygan. We had a lot of beam seas, so we rolled as noted up to 40 degrees and anything not screwed down (as some of the furniture was) rolling around, although not bouncing at all.

When we got in from that run, a 24" diameter chunk of concrete hull covering about 1/4-1/2" thick had broken away from and off of the port hull by the bow above the waterline. Captain Murtaugh had me try to sand or grind around the remaining material around the hole, but is was as hard as concrete and I could not make a mark on it.

The original or the new one..?