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susa
Mountain climber
larkspur ca
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 24, 2009 - 11:02pm PT
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Where is she? have been looking for her! Any leads? Susa
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Jaybro
Social climber
wuz real!
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Mar 24, 2009 - 11:07pm PT
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check the Nose 50th anniversary (she was there) threads of last November, here and go from there.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Mar 24, 2009 - 11:44pm PT
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at the Nose Reunion, last September
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Mar 25, 2009 - 12:28am PT
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Wasn't her Warren name, "Beastie", pls advise.
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Mar 25, 2009 - 01:01am PT
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Beasto.
Susa check your email.
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Lynne Leichtfuss
Social climber
valley center, ca
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Mar 25, 2009 - 02:00am PT
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Talked to her at length in the meadow. What a great human being. What a person of wit and integrity and great honesty and feeling. Sho wish I could get together again. She has the best stories and the greatest smile. Peace to you B. from Lynne
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Mar 26, 2009 - 05:52pm PT
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Lovely Beryl!
A wonderful lady and lively soul indeed. She grew up in Belvedere in Marin County, private schools in San Francisco and then a chance introduction to the darker side of life, aka climbing in the early 60s.
Partner in crime with such infamous characters as Harper, Mort, Rob Wood and of course Harding, Beryl will forever remind me of some of the finer moments of living.
She was also a superb artist. Beastly's, "Rock of Ages, Home for Old Climbers." Pratt conducting, Warren consuming, Yvone the consumate fisherman and of course, Super Royal. Plus a cast of other familiar characters from that era. Was a great pleasure to see her at the Nose reunion.
Beryl and Chris Jones at the Nose Reunion
cheers
Guido
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jbar
Social climber
Asymptote
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Mar 30, 2009 - 03:51am PT
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That picture is a real treasure Guido.
Here's a description from another post to go along with it.
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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It’s funny how this climbing thing seems to intertwine with so many other aspects of our life and how, often they collide in a chance meeting as unpredictable as the July sun this summer in Santa Cruz.
Two weeks ago, I was tying up our friends boat at the visitors dock in Friday Harbor Washington. Intent on getting our boat squared away I hardly noticed the boat next to us.
Finishing the last hitch on the dock cleat I glanced up and staring me in the face was the name of the adjoining sailboat, “BIMI”. No, couldn’t be, impossible after all these years? Here in the NW?
A quick glance at her 14 ½ beam and comparatively short length, I was quickly convinced it was her. Her blue hull color should have tipped me off right away but the addition of a cabin top was enough of a difference to fool me at first. I had last seen her on the SF Bay back in the mid 60s and what a surprise to see the old girl once again.
Many lads from the climbing scene in the Bay back in the early 60s were first introduced to sailing via their connection with Beryl. Some rather un-seamanship like manuvers were accomplished by renegade climbers often invited to partake in a race or two. Then again, sailing and grog are as old as the sea and the climbers were taught a thing or two by Basil. It’s hard to get one up on Harding in this category.
“Bimi” was basically designed by Beryl’s father Basil, the original drawings were done by Chris Norgaard and she was constructed by the Nunes Brothers in Sausalito. The Nunes Brothers yard sat in front of Sally Standford’s place, and the boat was launched in 1955.
Basil was a cruising purist. There were no thru hulls, no engine and 30 block and tackles. With her centerboard down the draft was almost 8 ft but with it up she only drew 1 foot. Great for exploring the Delta and other shallow areas in the Bay. The kids, Beryl and Natalie spent many a summers in the Delta on “Bimi”.
“Basil was the great, great grandson of Nathaniel Bowditch. Bowditch as we all know, wrote the American Practical Navigator, which is still used today by the Navy, Coast Guard and mariners world wide. He was the first person to develop tables fro navigation and in fact first introduced the concept of longitude for use in navigation. Basil’s parents had a schooner named the “Venturer”, and his grandfather, George Henry Clements had the yawl “Adventure” that he designed himself and had built back in 1900. Joshua Slocum was present at the launching of the “Adventure”, and had glowing praise for the new vessel. It is no wonder that Basil grew up with the tradition in his veins. The “Bimi” is his continuance of his family heritage.”
“Basil and Bimi were a colorful duo in the SF Bay sailing circles. Bimi was always sporting her flags and canon, and Basil his Admiral’s uniform. Entering the Master Mariner Regatta every year they usually placed first in their division and in 1970 won the coveted overall trophy.”
After Basil passed away in the mid 80s Bimi was trucked to Seattle. A permanent cabin top, engine, head and thru hulls were added to make her more comfortable in the inclement and unpredictable NW weather. Beryl’s sister Natalie and her husband Mac Maclachlan keep here moored off their house near Kenmoor and often cruise north into the Gulf islands of Wash and British Columbia.
A toast to Nathaniel Bowditch, BIMI, Basil Knauth and his two lovely dauther's, Beryl and Natalie.
On a sad note, Beryl’s uncle Felix Knauth, age 80, was lost at sea near Pt Conception this past May while sailing single handed south on his Santana 22, “Rose”. Felix was an experienced sailor with at least one Atlantic passage and extensive coastal experience on both the West and East Coasts of North America.
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jstan
climber
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Very sorry to hear of Felix's passing. I had the pleasure of corresponding with Felix several times back in the 70's about shared concerns.
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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I love these stories of running into s/v that one hasn't seen in many years or last saw in some distant port. We have had people come running up to us exclaiming "we last saw you in Tahiti or Alaska or the Sea of Cortez" not knowing that we were the new owners (of at least 7 years now) but the cruiser population isn't that large and so people remember. Much in common with the climbing community. The story of s/v BIMI is beautiful and reinforces the community aspect and connection of endeavors that can take you to the edge. Single handing a Santana 22 around Point Conception??!! Wow, many times on our 50 foot aluminium s/v Mouton Noir; I wondered if we would ever make it. What a brave man and doing what he loved and all that...as I sit on our boat putting up new solar panels getting ready for an Hawaiian to Alaskan adventure next spring and summer. Coastal cruising and mountains will have to suffice for this summer and fall.
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
San Francisco, CA
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Thanks for this exciting detailed account, Joe! By the way, the Baruna is still for sale...
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jstan
climber
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Joe clued me in to Latitude 38 for more information on Felix.
http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2010-05-21&dayid=429
Felix Knauth, 80, set sail from Monterey aboard his newly acquired Santana 22 in the early morning hours of May 12. The following day, his unmanned Rose was found adrift off Pt. Conception. The Coast Guard reports scouring 8,100 square miles for any sign of Knauth before suspending the search on May 14.
Normally stories such as these — thankfully few and far between — leave us with little information about the victims themselves. Their families are devastated, and the last thing we want to do is compound their grief by bothering them for details. But Felix Knauth's life was far from 'normal', so it shouldn't come as a surprise that his family was eager to tell his inspiring story.
"My dad survived polio as a child, so he was always shaking his fists at the fates," Knauth's son Rick told us today. A meticulous planner and avid adventurer, the elder Knauth spent his life climbing mountains, crossing oceans, and helping others. "He was tremendously intelligent," said Rick, "but he always worked in the non-profit and NGO arena. He chose altruism over money."
Look for Knauth's full story — from his days of climbing one of the Golden Gate Bridge's towers to his doublehanded Atlantic crossing to his work with the Peace Corps and Oxfam America — in the June issue of Latitude 38, scheduled for delivery on May 28. In the meantime, join us in bidding farewell to this fascinating sailor.
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HILTZ
Trad climber
England
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Dec 30, 2010 - 09:00am PT
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I know this is a bit late on this post, but to come back to the original question, does anyone know where I could contact Beryl?
Quite happy to do it through a third party, I just have a couple of questions about "Downward Bound". I recently managed to buy a first edition copy at a good price.
I don't want to invade anyones' privacy.
Thanks in advance for any contact information anyone may have.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Dec 30, 2010 - 10:02am PT
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Bowditch as we all know, wrote the American Practical Navigator, which is still used today by the Navy, Coast Guard and mariners world wide.
Uhhhh....actually.....not all of us, ....uh, knew that, Joe.
Damn you know a lot of sh*t about boats and such like....
Guido the Pirate for President!!
I see the tendrils and roots of Harding and Beryl branching off into other corners of the climbing world and the sailing world and wine and sports cars and.....so many places I've never been.
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Park Rat
Social climber
CA, UT,CT,FL
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Dec 30, 2010 - 10:09am PT
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Does anyone know where I could contact Beryl?
I would also love to get some input from her.
I believe she played a major role in Warrens life and I would love to hear her thoughts on the subject.
I was able to talk to Alice, but unfortunately she came into his life after his climbing days were mostly over. The Harding she knew and described to me was very different from the person I remember.
Beryl was there when he was still very much in the game.
Park Rat
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John Morton
climber
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Dec 31, 2010 - 12:22am PT
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Pohono Pinnacle FA: George Sessions and Felix Knauth, August 1958
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Chuckles
climber
Stockton
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Apr 19, 2011 - 02:14pm PT
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Just trying to contact Beryl--Her friend, Kerry Harper, has died of complications from multiple sclerosis.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Apr 19, 2011 - 03:26pm PT
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You can find her on google.
That's how I did.
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Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
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Apr 19, 2011 - 09:03pm PT
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Felix Knauth did the first ascent of the right hand couloir on the north face of Mt. Mendel. It may have been the hardest ice climb in the High Sierra for many years.
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