CABALLERO II
Boat Type: Grand Banks 37
Skipper: Tim Vail
Club: ALYC – Newport Beach
Home Port: Ventura
Built: 1982
Captain/Owner Bio
Tim Vail, owner and skipper was raised on Santa Rosa Island, and worked in his youth and as a young man in the cattle operation there. This included frequent stints as deck hand on the cattle boat, Vaquero II, in the Santa Barbara channel hauling cattle and supplies to Santa Rosa Island in particular, but also for Santa Cruz Island. Tim subsequently went on to become an equine veterinarian and surgeon. He is now semi-retired and keeps his vessel in Channel Islands Harbor.
Favorite Cruising Destination
The northern Santa Barbara Channel Islands due to my lifetime experiences in that maritime community. I have bareboat cruised in the BVI’s, Florida Keys, Maine, Long Island sound and the San Juan islands. The real reason to cruise for me is the satisfaction I get from the process from initiation, planning, navigating and successfully completing the mission.
Favorite Boating Experience
Hard to pick one. I suppose the satisfaction from participating in the roundup of several thousand head of cattle each year and the hauling of those cattle to and from the mainland seasonally!
About the Crew
Unknown at this time. To be announced.
What’s in a Name
I grew up working on Santa Rosa Island, a working cattle ranch off Santa Barbara. Our cattle boat, the Vaquero II was commissioned in 1959, built by Lindwall on the beach in Santa Barbara and operated until 1998. It always seemed to me that the fitting pleasure boat companion to the 100-ton work boat Vaquero II should be named Caballero II, even though there was no Caballero I.
Reason to Buy This Boat
At the age of 60 and after the end of the ranching era on Santa Rosa Island, I realized there was no good reason to wait any longer to buy a boat. I was looking for a comfortable trawler-type with which to cruise the Channel Islands. The Grand Banks trawler spoke to me of a beautifully executed boat that was sound, simple and beautiful. This one had been kept in particularly good condition and I was lucky to find her locally.
Previous Boats Owned
Our company owned, beloved Vaquero II. A 100-ton wood work boat of the west coast traditional coastal schooner type.
Interest in CUBAR
It seemed like a very good way to get the boat prepared for all that is really required of a well-found coast wise vessel. I’m hoping the logistical organization and the comraderie could combine to make this a cruise of a lifetime.