Rachel B. Jackson Home After 'Round-The-World Odyssey

ISLANDER Magazine, Galveston,  July 1990: Cover Story

By MAX RIZLEY, Jr.

GALVESTON -- The commands come quick and crisp: "Take a sweat on that jibsheet! And another! Once more! That's well! Make fast!"

The stout canvas sail flutters once, twice, thrice -- then finds the brisk southeast wind and fills, with a satisfying "whop!"

And the Rachel B. Jackson is underway again.

The 71-foot wooden gafftops'l schooner with the distinctive green-and-white hull is back home, following a three-year 'round-the-world cruise that took Rachel and owners Emil and Susan Dopyera to such exotic ports of call as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Fiji, Raiatea, Bali, and a score of other palm-dotted islets with lots of vowels in their names.

That voyage was a trial and a triumph for the doughty little schooner and her crew. They danced with the tall ships in Australia's 1988 Bicentennial celebration, and braved twisting channels and razor-sharp reefs in isolated tropic anchorages. They chased flat horizons and fiery sunsets across vast stretches of empty ocean, and they rode out a 180-knot typhoon in the far south Pacific, mountainous seas crashing down on Emil's head as he struggled to hold Rachel on course.

"RBJ," as her friends affectionately call her, finally reached home last Dec. 3, and she is now running charters out of Galveston's Pier 21, the Elissa dock.  Her skipper, Carl Dopyera, Emil and Susan's son, says even seasoned yachties will find a ride on Rachel "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," different from any sailing they've done before.

Here is good, down-East tradition, seafaring as the good Lord meant it to be. You'll find no self-tailing winches, or aluminum spars, or rod rigging, or ripstop nylon, or any of the other yacht-catalogue gimcracks on this deck; no, says Carl, although the Rachel may have been built in 1982, she hues true to the design and handling of the 1890s New England coasters of which she is a scaled-down replica.

Rachel's sails are canvas; her rig is tensioned with hardwood deadeyes and tarred-rope lanyards -- no stainless-steel turnbuckles here -- and her hull is good, solid mahogany. The crewmembers hoist the sails with old-fashioned grunt power, and when Carl calls out "WELL the throat halyard!" it gets hitched around a traditional wooden belaying pin.

And under sail, the sounds of nature, of the sea, take over. The snorting tugs and crew boats, the thundering cigarette boats, the 20th century itself, all live on the other side of Rachel's rail.

Aboard the schooner, there is only the thrum of wind in the rigging, the gentle creak and rattle of manila line in wooden blocks, the fitful snap-pop of a sail as it seeks the breeze, the low swash-slap of her bow slicing through the swell.

"The minute the engine's shut off, it's a whole different feeling," says Carl. "It's a real sense of solitude. You're at one with the ocean, with nature." Carl believes the Rachel B. Jackson is a unique attraction along the western Gulf; in fact, he adds with a chuckle, a few passengers have had trouble grasping the fact that -- aside from the times she uses her engine to get away from the dock -- the Rachel B. Jackson is a true sailing vessel.

"Some people ask us, 'do you put the sails up?' " he said. "Some people don't know it's a sailboat; we've had a few actually get worried when we shut the engine off."

Susan Dopyera says Rachel is no stranger to these waters. She chartered out of Seabrook after the Dopyeras bought her in 1984, and before beginning her global circumnavigation in 1986, she was a ubiquitous "little sister" to Elissa, tagging along in the tall ship's wake during the fall daysails, carrying photographers and other sailing-ship groupies who wanted a close look at a square-rigger under sail. That relationship continues today, and the Dopyeras are looking forward to working even more closely with the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Texas Seaport Museum, scheduled to open in 1991.

"Our prime purpose," says Susan, "is to work with Elissa, and become part of the Galveston Historical Foundation."

"We really enjoy working with Elissa," Carl agreed. He noted that the staff and volunteer crew of the 1877 iron barque have been a real help as Rachel has settled into her new digs, pitching in on such tasks as handling dock lines, and occasionally standing in as "guest crew" on Rachel herself.

A two-hour harbor cruise leaves daily at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., at a cost of $25 per person, and the special moonlight cruise, held only on the night of the full moon and the two evenings prior, costs $30 per person and is limited to the first 25 passengers. The Rachel B. Jackson is also available for full five-hour charters by reservation on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays at $825 per party of 1-20, with a $40 charge for each additional person; the Tuesday-Friday rate is $700 and $30. Carl says these charters are "wide-open" as to itinerary, heading into the open Gulf or to popular party anchorages like Redfish Island and Offatt's Bayou, depending on the whim of the customer.

Custom charters, for such special events as corporate entertaining, birthday parties, or weddings at sea, are also available, Susan added, and full catering can be arranged.

Anyone wanting further information or reservations may call the RBJ Charters office in Seabrook at (713) 326-2855, or at the dock, (409) 763-1877.

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