MMBC Presents: 2025 Classic Boat Festival Honorary Commodore William E Harpster

In this 130th anniversary year of Joshua Slocum’s famous departure aboard Spray from Boston Harbour for his solo circumnavigation of the globe, the Maritime Museum of BC is delighted to announce the Honorary Commodore of the 2025 Classic Boat Festival will be William E Harpster, Captain of the sailing vessel Joshua.

Joshua is a replica of the historic Spray. Slocum completed his sail from 1895-1898; Joshua was launched in 1980.

We are excited to see Joshua return to the Festival this Labour Day weekend, and to recognize Bill Harpster’s long contributions to the maritime and sailing communities on both sides of the border.

Bill wrote a short record of his life and experiences, and how he built Joshua:

I grew up in a small farming community in Illinois. My father was a farmer but he encouraged his five children to be productive, especially when it came to chores. Working with wood came naturally; when I was very young, I spent about a year pulling nails out of wood recovered from an old barn. I built my first boat at age 12, and another one every year thereafter for a while.

Joshua. Photos courtesy of William Harpster

As a teenager, my buddies and I made two wilderness canoe trips in Canada during the summers. I became proficient with a wood axe, once I learned how to protect my hands. After returning from Vietnam, I moved to California in 1971. The fiberglass sailboat my wife and I had just bought was quickly sold, and we bought a 1939 Bear boat. I renovated her, and sold her to begin building the Joshua.

Bill Elliott, owner of Bay Ship & Yacht, and his crew Allen Cameron were contracted to build the hull and deck with me working alongside as much as possible. We laid the keel in 1979. Joshua was launched in 1980 in San Leandro near the build site.

Joshua was towed to NAS Alameda where I was harbor manager. Working evenings and
weekends, and a bit of help (paid and unpaid), two cabins were added. Masts and booms
were built, rigging was fabricated, and sails made by Pineapple Sails. Many hours were spent
in the evenings, doing the handwork on the sails to save money. Joshua’s maiden voyage was
in July of 1982, with 20 people onboard to serve as ballast and deckhands, and sailed well!
Later, we were fortunate to get iron ballast from the famous Presidential yacht Potomac which
was undergoing renovation in Oakland.

Sailing the Joshua from California to Oak Harbor in 1997 was a dream trip, after sailing up and down the coast of Northern California for a few years. One of my crew was Dick Wagner, founding director of the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle. We sailed non stop for 11 days from San Francisco to NAS Whidbey. Since then, I have sailed twice to Alaska, Ketchikan to Sitka. I estimate I have participated in 65 wooden boat shows in California (Master Mariners), Washington and Canada, sometimes 3 or 4 a year. I circumnavigated Vancouver Island about 20 years ago and have spent many summer months in the Broughton Archipelago of British Columbia.

During all these years, I have been mentored by many wonderful boat builders, such as John Linderman and Babe Lamerd in in California. In Canada, I have developed friendships with many young and older boat builders. It is an honor to be a part of their world. My goal is to mentor as many younger boat builders as possible and encourage others in our orbit to do that as well.

Honorary Commodores

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