This special classic was previously owned by former CYA member, Dana Hayden, and originally endorsed by Mel Owen of PAT PENDING in 1994 (processed by Cynthia & Mont Mc Millen when Jim Butz was CYA Commodore). The vessel's original name was, "RUNAWAY." She is a custom design originally built for film noir motion picture director, King Vidor as a pleasure yacht for spending time with his immediate family and entertaining Hollywood co-stars on weekend getaways to Catalina Island in the early 30s. In 1941, at the beginning of WWII, she was confiscated by the US Maritime Commission and put into service. Vidor later reclaimed her in 1945 from the War Shipping Administration.

She went thru a series of owners & name changes over the decades, there is even speculation she has seen the Panama Canal. In the 60s, the vessel found herself traveling north from the Port of Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, spending a brief stint in the Delta in the early 80s. Her longest standing owner of ~25 years was builder Dana Hayden of Sausalito; Hayden re-named the yacht, “TAUTIRA,” after the serene beauty of a province in Tahiti where Hayden spent quality time with his siblings and father, Sterling Hayden, aboard Schooner Wanderer in 1959.

Tragically, Dana was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2018, months after falling in love with local sailor Lauren de Remer whom he met organically on the docks. After selling her sailboat and becoming the vessel’s sole caretaker, M/V TAUTIRA was formerly purchased from the Hayden family by de Remer for $1 (a dollar she found on the boat, “Dana’s dollar” to which she jokes he owed her after losing a bet).

De Remer has since accomplished massive restoration efforts, investing $175K+ into the hull and hopes to fully rebuild the vessel. Her intention is to pay it forward to her local community by placing M/V TAUTIRA into a nonprofit to run palliative programs onboard for cancer patients & their families. To learn more, please visit www.tautira.org.

For more information, please visit www.tautira.org