Watercolors & Oils by Sandra Smith-Poling
For availability of originals, please contact us. Matted print sizes are: 11x14, 16x20. Additional sizes may be available on request.

Alcyone and America Sailing off Port Townsend with Mt. Baker
Alcyone and America Sailing off Port Townsend with Mt. Baker
W/C The ALCYONE and AMERICA were sailing together off Port Townsend. Mount Baker is in the background. It was just a gorgeous day watching those two ships sail.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Arthur Foss Towing the Wawona in Leaving for Alaska
Arthur Foss Towing the Wawona in Leaving for Alaska
W/C "Arthur Foss" Towing Wawona". Leaving for Alaska approximately 1933, at Point Wilson Light House; painted for the WOODEN BOAT CENTER FOR THE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL, Sept 2004. The Wawona was built in 1897 at the Bendixsen shipyards in Fairhaven, California. She was strongly built with Douglas fir, some planks were up to 120 feet long. She was at the time the largest three masted sailing schooner built in North America. She is 165 foot long, 35 foot beam, 11.5 foot draft. She carried lumber between West Coast ports for Dolbeer and Carson Company until 1914. In 1914 she was bought by Robinson Fisheries of Anacortes, Washington, and became a fishing schooner. Every year she would sail to the Bering Sea for six months, and return with salted cod in the hold. Cod fishing was done by long lining, the dories hung at the sides of the schooner would go out, set the lines, bring up the fish, and return to the schooner, which would unload the cod using the booms at each side of the masts. Thirty six men operated the dories and lived in the foc’sle on these voyages. In 1933 Charles Foss was captain, of the same family that ran the Foss tug company. The Wawona and the other fishing schooners used tugboat towing in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound, due to the uncertain wind and strong currents. Woe betide the skippers of large sailing ships that did not take a tow, often they wound up on the beach or worse! Wawona continued as a fishing schooner until the end of 1947. She is now owned by Northwest Seaport and is under restoration. The Arthur Foss was built in 1889 as the Wallowa, 112 feet long, 24 foot beam, and 15 foot draft. The hull is heavily built of Douglas fir, with a 15 inch thick keel. The original engine was a 122 horsepower double cylinder compound marine steam engine manufactured in 1887 by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco. The Wallowa operated for nine years as a Columbia bar tug, a very demanding and dangerous task. In 1929 Wallowa was sold to the Foss Launch and Tug Company of Seattle, Washington. In 1933 the Arthur Foss (ex Wallowa) was employed as a towing tug on Puget Sound, at that time it was still operating with a compound steam engine. Note that there are no bumpers on the bow or sides, this was typical of tugboats used for towing. In 1933 it became a star as the “Narcissus” in the movie “Tugboat Annie”. The movie was based on the life of Thea Foss, who established the Foss Tug Company. After the movie was made, the Arthur Foss was converted to diesel. In January, 1942, she was the last vessel to escape Wake Island, just days before the Japanese captured Wake. Arthur Foss remained in service with the Foss Company until 1970, and is now one of the historic vessels operated by Northwest Seaport.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Battle for Port Townsend
Battle for Port Townsend
W/C The LADY WASHINGTON and the HAWAIIAN CHIEFTAIN are in a mock battle off Port Townsend, Washington. The LADY was used for the filing of the Pirates of the Caribbean. My daughter, Victoria was the engineer on the LADY and now has a Tall Ship’s Captain’s License.
Size:
$ 50.00
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California and Star of India
California and Star of India
W/C The Star of India, formerly Euterpe, is seen here sailing off San Diego, California where she is a museum ship. She functioned for years as an immigrant ship from Britain to New Zealand (22 round voyages) and brought back sugar from Hawaii, jute from India, lumber from Puget Sound, canned salmon from Alaska. She was sailing with the California, a revenue schooner, during this delightful spring day and I couldn’t resist painting her. She had her final survey 1864 at Ramsey, Isle of Man of Ireland. Overall length 205 ft. keel 202 ft, beam 35 ft, draft 22 ft, 2 decks, 2 bulkheads; 1246 tons, mainmast 124ft 8 in.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Cuahuatemoc
Cuahuatemoc
W/C The Cuauhtemoc was named for an Aztec emperor who became a symbol of Mexican roots because of this courage, sacrifice, and perseverance in defending his country against the Spanish conquistadors. She represents the Mexican Navy. She is one of 4 barques built for Latin American nations to serve as goodwill ambassadors and training schools for their respective navies. She was built in the Spanish yard Asilleros y Talleres Celaya S.A. of Bilbao in 1982. She is 90.5 meters long, with a maximum sailing speed of 17 knots. She has a complement of 190 crew. She is an all male, training ship. She is seen here in a race with the Eagle and Sedov during the Tall Ship race in the Baltic in 1996. I was a physician/crew member aboard the Eagle for this race and had an excellent opportunity to study/paint the Tall Ships and to meet the crews. The Captain and Medical Officer graciously offered her services to 2 of our injured crew. The dentist repaired my medical technicians tooth and their orthopedist set/casted a 5th metacarpal fracture sustained by one of our cadets. They had a dental x-ray machine just large enough to see the hand fracture. They are very well manned with 5 physicians on board. My medical technician who speaks fluent Spanish, not only arranged the services, but she and I enjoyed dining in the Cuauhtemoc ward-room with the Captain and officers. The ward-room is all ebony/teak and quite striking.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Barque Eagle, USCG
Barque Eagle, USCG
W/C Barque Eagle The United States Coast Guard Barque Eagle is America’s Tall Ship. She is the only square-rigged ship in the U.S. government service. The ship was built in 1936 by Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany and commissioned as Horst Wessel, a sail training ship operated by Nazi Germany. Following WWII she was taken as a war prize by the United States and a Coast Guard crew-aided by a German crew still on board —sailed to New London, Connecticut.* I had the fortune to sail aboard her for 6 weeks in 1996 as ship surgeon in a race from Rostock, Germany to St. Petersburg, Russia. I then donated a painting of the Eagle and was invited back the following year as ships artist. The donated painting was reproduced and prints are given to visiting dignitaries. While on board I learned all 200 lines, general maneuvering, celestial navigation as well as performing physician duties. Yes, I climbed the yard arms (only in very calm seas!). Here she is sailing with the Shabab Oman and theSedov. *courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard poster
Size:
$ 50.00
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Esmeralda
Esmeralda
W/C The Esmeralda is a 4- masted schooner-barquentine built in 1946-1952 at Cadiz, Spain. Designed by Camper & Nicholson, she is a near-sistership of the 1927 built Juan Sebastian De Elcano, the school ship of the Spanish Navy. Then named Juan D'Austria, she was intended for the Spanish Navy, but she was sold before commissioning to the Chilean Navy, which renamed her Esmeralda. She measures 370.9 ft total; 308.5 ft hull; 42.7 ft beam, 19.7 ft draft, displacement of 3673 tons. She has a complement of 350 men including 99 cadets. She is seen here at the dock in Seattle, WA.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Sagres II
Sagres II
W/C This barque was launched at Hamburg in 1937 for the German Navy under the name of Albert Leo Schlageter. She is the sister ship to the USCG Barque EAGLE (formerly the Horst Wessel). She was commissioned the following year as a school ship. She was one of 5 quasi-sister ships built in the 1930’s at the Blohm & Voss yard. These were all built for the German Navy except for the Mircea, which was, and still is owned by Romania. All these sisters, except one, are still in commission under the names of Sagres, Mircea, Tovarich, and Eagle, as well as the newest sister ship the German Federal Navy’s Gorch Fock, which was launced in 1958. The missing sister ship is the HERBERT NORKUS. She was launched in 1939 but was never completed because of the war and the allies scuttled her, just after it. The ALBERT LEO SCHLAGETER only made a few voyages before the war and was laid up for the duration. She was then seized by the USA who passed her on in 1948 to the Brazilian Navy who recommissioned her under the name of GUANABARA. In 1961 she was sold to the Portuguese Navy who renamed her SAGRES. She was the replacement for the old SAGRES, ex-RICKMER RICKMERS (1896), which was being retired, and in 1982 returned to her original homeport of Hamburg. She reverted to her original name and was restored and preserved as a museum ship. The SAGRES II, measures 293.7 ft total; 266.7 ft hull, 39.5 ft beam, 24.9ft draft; 1784 gross tons and 1869 ton displacement. She has a complement of 250 men, including 90 cadets. She is seen here off Nova Scotia, during the 1984 Tall Ship race.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Sedov
Sedov
W/C Sedov is an impressive 4-masted barque. She is the world’s largest sailing vessel. She was launched in 1921 at Kiel under the name of Magdalene Vinnen, for the German F.A. Vinnen’s company. She was a cargo carrying school ship, but she was fitted from the outset with an auxiliary diesel engine. She was engaged in the Chilean nitrate trade and later in the Australian grain trade. In 1936 she was bought by the Norddeutscher Lloyd Company, which renamed her Kommodore Johnson and kept her in the grain trade until the war. During the war she only made a few voyages in the Baltic. In 1949 she was handed over to the British authorities and subsequently ceded to the Soviet Union. She was renamed Sedov, after the Russian polar explorer Georgiv Y. Sedov (1877-1914) and was at first operated by the Oceanographic Research Society. She was laid up at Kronstadt in 1965 and refitted in 1980. In 1981 she was put back into service as a school ship for the Ministry of Fisheries. She measures 385 ft total; 357.5 ft hull, 48 ft beam, 3476 gross tons. Her 232 sails total 45,122 sq ft. She carries 250 crew and cadets. She is seen here during a race with the Eagle in 1996 from Germany to St. Petersburg, Russia.
Size:
$ 50.00
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Star of India
Star of India
W/C The Star of India, formerly Euterpe, is seen here sailing off San Diego, California where she is a museum ship. She functioned for years as an immigrant ship from Britain to New Zealand (22 round voyages) and brought back sugar from Hawaii, jute from India, lumber from Puget Sound, canned salmon from Alaska. She was sailing with the California, a revenue schooner, during this delightful spring day and I couldn’t resist painting her. She had her final survey 1864 at Ramsey, Isle of Man of Ireland. Overall length 205 ft. keel 202 ft, beam 35 ft, draft 22 ft, 2 decks, 2 bulkheads; 1246 tons, mainmast 124ft 8 in.
Size:
$ 50.00
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