Tracking the Wild Goose

Alex Coolman

Since it was launched by the Navy in 1942, the minesweeper Wild Goose

has grown in size like a loaf of particularly yeasty bread.

What was once a relatively sleek vessel with lines that betrayed its

military function has gained layers over the years as each owner has

customized the craft according to his needs.

The most famous owner of the Wild Goose, as most Newport boat

enthusiasts know, was John Wayne, who bought the boat in 1965 and kept it until his death in 1979.

But Wayne didn’t gussy up the boat that much, and he didn’t make many

structural alterations to the vessel. Photographs from the years under

his watch show a relatively unadorned craft that, except for a civilian

paint job and a few bunk beds for the kids, wasn’t that far removed from

the original.

It was only when Wayne died and the boat began to change hands between

various charter yacht companies that it began to swell.

A large section was tacked on behind the children’s room, a space that

is now called “the library,” but which looks like it’s mainly a place to

play poker.

Then another floor was put down on top of what was already there as

Hornblower Cruises & Events, the company now operating the boat, made an

effort to accommodate larger groups for weddings and corporate event.

So now the Wild Goose looks like a cross between a minesweeper and a

wedding cake. It’s not a bad look, really, particularly if what you’re

looking for is a place to hold a somewhat funky on-the-water event.

But it’s a much more practical kind of aesthetic -- more like a

floating hotel, really -- than the Wild Goose once had.

It’s only down in the engine room where things are still the same.

Chief engineer of the Wild Goose, Elser Morales, showed visitors

around down there on a recent morning, pointing out the pair of massive

eight-cylinder Cleveland diesel engines that power the ship.

All the dials that monitor the operating conditions for the engines --

water temperature levels, oil pressure and so on -- are strictly analog.

They look the same today as they did decades ago, because this isn’t the

part of the boat where most people go.

“We just added a few things for Coast Guard regulations” over the

years, Morales said. “Nothing else.”