Bookshelf: By Square-Rigger to Honolulu

I think the barque is the most beautiful thing I ever imagined as we sail along. She looks just like a great white swan. In the evening you feel like you are living in a by-gone age as you look up at those great white sails.—Shirley Hyatt

By Square-Rigger to Honolulu is a booklet which features Shirley Hyatt’s account of her 13-day voyage from San Francisco, California to Honolulu as a passenger on board the three-masted barque R.P. Rithet in 1908. In addition to general observations on the ship’s routine, she also provides brief character sketches of some of the ship’s crew and her fellow passengers.

The booklet features an introduction written by (the late) journalist Bob Krauss, which includes biographical information about Miss Hyatt.

Anyone looking for first hand accounts of voyages on board sailing ships in the early years of the twentieth century will find By Square-Rigger to Honolulu a quick, interesting read.

By Square-Rigger to Honolulu: The Log of Shirley Hyatt
Shirley Hyatt, with an introduction by Bob Krauss
Honolulu: Friends of the Falls of Clyde, 1983
28 pp.

Note: Due to the age of the publication, it may be difficult to track down. Maritime Hawai‘i acquired a copy at a local library book sale. The organization Friends of the Falls of Clyde is not the same as the current Friends of Falls of Clyde.

From the 7 July 1908 issue of the Evening Bulletin, here is a short announcement about the arrival of the R.P. Rithet that mentions Shirley Hyatt:

Transcript:
CAPT. DREW IS HERE
     Captain Drew of the R. P. Rithet is in town. He is not married. He did not bring his bride with him,[*] but he has hopes, and he is engaged to a charming young woman and therefore open to congratulations. Among the passengers on the Rithet this trip are Miss Shirley Hyat, professor of physics at the University of California, a daughter of Attorney Chickering of San Francisco and Miss Butzeke, a teacher of German on her summer vacation.

*Captain Drew’s finacée, Margaret Clauson, was a passenger on board the ship. They were married in San Francisco on 20 December 1908.

Shirley Hyatt returned to San Francisco on the R.P. Rithet. The ship sailed from Honolulu on 22 July 1908.

R.P. Rithet was part of Matson’s fleet of ships. She was purchased at the beginning of 1908 from Welch & Co. (the Planters’ Line).