The 136-foot Wild Goose, the dearly cherished yacht of John Wayne, is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
In late July, the U.S. Department of the Interior approved the nomination, which had previously been certified by the California Office of Historic Preservation. Wild Goose became eligible for entry into the National Register because of her association with Wayne. The documents submitted and approved cite him as “one of the most iconic actors in the history of cinema” and the yacht “as an expression of John Wayne’s personality and outsized image.”
Wayne enjoyed time aboard the all-wood megayacht from 1962 until two months prior to his death in 1979. Wild Goose was actually a converted minesweeper, originally built in 1943 in Seattle as YMS-328 for the U.S. Navy. She was decommissioned from military use in 1946, her three on-deck guns removed in the process. Harold Jones, the owner of the Vancouver Tug and Barge Company, purchased the vessel in 1948 and converted her for private use, christening her La Beverie. In the late 1950s, Max Wyman, a Seattle-area lumber tycoon, acquired her, gracing her with the name Wild Goose II, which was reportedly inspired by a run-down sailboat owned by his chef.
Wyman sold the yacht to Wayne for $116,000, a tidy sum in those days. Thereafter, she went simply by Wild Goose. Wayne further altered the yacht for his needs, creating a master stateroom and adding two staterooms for his children in 1965. In fact, one of the staterooms, fitted with bunk berths, still bears raised carvings reading “EW” and “AW,” made by his children Ethan and Aissa, respectively, to represent their initials. One of Wayne’s most famous additions is still aboard, too. It’s a round Koa wood table on the aft deck (above), where he hosted many a poker game. When just he and his family were aboard, it was a dining table.
Wayne’s children, captains, and crewmembers all have given interviews attesting to how Wayne thoroughly enjoyed family time on Wild Goose. The kids waterskied off the California coast, and they took family trips up the U.S. West Coast. Wild Goose even ventured to Europe with Wayne aboard shortly after he purchased her, so that he could film Circus World. But she became particularly important to him after his lung-cancer diagnosis in 1964. Wayne moved to the coast, directly across the street from Wild Goose’s berth, in 1965.
Interesting enough, as big of a movie star as Wayne was, Wild Goose actually became a film star herself. Though she was never on the screen alongside Wayne, she did appear in The President’s Analyst in 1967 and Skidoo in 1968.
Wild Goose still cruises in California, hosting day trips under the operation of Hornblower Cruises & Events.
brian stehling
I had a friend don bain from Canada I met in Spokane Washington who said he had a company named canalaska and was friends with john wayne. he said he had a boat just like john’s and named it grey goose II.
he said him and john would travel up and down the west coast of US for fun.
can you verify this?
thanks,
brian
Diane M. Byrne
We’ve never heard of a motoryacht similar to John Wayne’s by that name. In the 70-foot-plus size range, we do know of a 72-foot sloop built at the Derecktor yard in New York in 1987 that was launched as Grey Goose II.
Tony Moran
I own a U.S. Navy minesweeper, the same as the wild goose. I’m thinking about selling, and thought
You might know someone interested. It is YMS-111, presently named the “Western Challenger”.
This vessel has been in the fishing industry since 1951, and would convert easily for pleasure service.
If you know some one interested, call Tony @907-518-0440.
Richard Johnston
My father served aboard the YMS 111, it was based in Cape May, New Jersey during the war . I would greatly appreciate any information about the ship (perhaps a photo), where it is currently located, etc. This is quite extraordinary for me, of the over 400 of these vessels built for the war, it may be the only survivor ( at least in something close to original appearance). Any reply would greatly be appreciated. My name is Richard Johnston ( my father was Ensign Curtis G Johnston) from Pennsylvania
David
I worked on the Wild Goose when it was in Marina Del Rey around 1995. I cleaned the bottom! You might be interested to know that captain loved the boat and was very in to CAD and modeled the boat
tony moran
Are you still interested in info? The boat is docked in the Pacific Northwest and I have a photo available.
Perry Lind
Small world, I went to Vancouver BC to put the then LaBevere back in service for Max Wyman, who later sold it to John Wayne. I also ran the MV Puffin same hull for underwater recovery and survey work. Do you still have YMS 111? I love those ships easy to work.
George Duddy
I am part of the Nauticapedia project on western Canada. http://www.nauticapedia.ca/index.php
We are looking for a nice photo of the Wild Goose for our vessel data base. Would it be possible to use either of the above photos for this purpose. If so how should we attribute them.
This is the db item requiring the photo.
http://www.nauticapedia.ca/dbase/Query/Shiplist4.php?&name=La%20Beverie%20(I)&id=8598&Page=1&input=beverie
Thanks for your consideration.
Diane M. Byrne
The photos in our article are from the Facebook page for the yacht, https://www.facebook.com/thewildgoose. You can use any of the images there for your database, credited accordingly, due to Facebook’s terms of use. The terms state that users grant “a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License).”
Mark Alexander
My father Capt. Bob Alexander was Max Wymans skipper
Lynnea
I just ran into a photo of myself at age 20 in a swimsuit standing on the dock next to my aunt and uncle’s Chris Craft. Note on the back says: 1967 Big Bay BC. pic was taken by Ed Nydam of the “Trenora.”. Then in parenthesis (“owner of the boat, Max H. Wyman). Was that another of the Wymans’ yachts// a different skipper? I remember being taken in a seaplane to practice touch and go’s with Mrs. Wyman, but that might have been another trip, different owner’s wife. I always met so many interesting people! It’s a long time ago so I can’t quite remember for sure about the seaplane, but for sure it was fun! Grew up boating. Our last one was a 55’ American Marine trawler“Alaskan” (“Northwind”).
Diane M. Byrne
While we don’t know whether Max Wyman owned a yacht named Trenora, interestingly there was an 83-footer named Trenora that, like Wild Goose, was a converted former Coast Guard vessel, built by the Wheeler Shipyard in Brooklyn in 1942.
tony moran
I just read your post for the first time today. Why did you not call my phone number?
i still have the boat in Anacortes Washington. She is in very
tough shape, but floating well.
Im still at the same number, 907-518-0440, Tony.
Frank Arden
A fitting tribute from a true American icon and a much loved western film star.
CORKY WAYNE PALMER
My wife and I were given furnishing from the Yacht, I had been purchased be a man from Nebraska and came to San Diego where it was docked at Fraser Yachts in shelter Island
while doing upgrades and repair work. The Captain along with his wife who was the cook and the 1st mate became good friends with us. Eventually the owner sold the Yacht and built the Yacht MV Itasca, it was a ocean going tug from Holland and converted it to a Super Yacht
In Mexico and in Seattle., We had spent time on it with the crew, it was awesome.
Corky Palmer
Douglas
Good Morning Corky, I just read the story of your converted tug. I would love to see a picture of it if you don’t mind
I acquired two doors from a liberty ship from WWII named Zane Grey. Zane was an interesting man, he wrote many book and western movies. I also acquired a huge ships wheel that was made for a large sailing vessel that was never finished due to a fire. It was made in Canida around the turn of the 18 &19 century. I bought two cast pedistals and a glass top and put together an fantastic dining room table.
Douglas
[email protected]
Douglas
Douglas
That’s very interesting, really amazing that a wooden mine sweeper could make it through WWII and the stories it could tell.
Thanks for the story.
John Buckingham
I can see why John Wayne loved the boat so much. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL boat! If the rumors are true about John Wayne haunting his boat, it’s NOT because he is an unhappy spirit. The Wild Goose was simply his favorite possession. God bless John Wayne!