Hi All,

It warms the cockles thinking of al those long evenings in the Thayer, rain or shine, tearing out a tonsil in those halcyon days of the early 80s. Thayer actually had all 3 masts then. ;)

I recall in those first months the crowd was small enough to fit into the Thayer focs'l, Dave would light up the pot bellied stove and put a pot of coffee on it and we'd be snug but stiff from those bunks and benches at the end of the night.
From the first event Dave past around a sign up ledger of who was there so people could get on the mailing list and to keep track of the number of attendees for security and record keeping purposes.

I think it only took about 3 or 4 months before we had to move into the hold and it was no longer a small gathering of 35 or so.
Many of the first folks were either SF or Berkeley Folk Club folks, like Ricky and Richard. Some were Renn Faire or Dickens Faire folks. And then the yacht club and boating community started finding out about the event. Doug Olsen, Jon Berger, Jerry Peterson, Dick Holdstock and Allen McCloud, Redmond (when he was O'Connel)adn so many others ehlped it along that fiorst year.
I think it was only 8 months or so before the mailing list was close to one thousand. I was a ranger at Alcatraz and Fort Mason at the time, due to Simon Spauldings having introduced me to the Pier during Dickens Faire workshops in 1979 when I was in college. The Pier became my employment goal after that, and it took a couple years at the park before I finally made it into the job of second banana and after hours copier slave for Dave. We had some fun mailing out the chanty fliers when you had to do it all by hand. I think we did them quarterly so Dave could schedule around major holidays and other waterfront events like 4th of July and Fleet week.

Lots of folding, stamping and stapling when the mailing list reached 2500. It was time for serious editing so we would send out a flyer with a return card for those who wanted to stay on the list.

I do recall one event int eh early to mid 80s when the singing went on all night until the sun came up. I think I was sleeping inthe ARK or the Eureka, but you could still hear the voices. Then off to the Eagle Cafe for corn beef hash and pancakes before the tourists arrived.

Somewhere are those ledgers with all the names and signitures of even the first chanty sing attendees.

Way to go Peter, a great milestone. IT s all thsoe volunteers at the gat and in the galley plus everyone with a love for raising voices in harmony and good humor that have kept it goign all these years.

Hope the Thayer is wheelchair accessable for us on the 50th anniversay when wer'e real old codgers!

Gary Keep