Ben Newlin (USCG - Guam) Klaraborg Remembrances

My Klaraborg story is pretty short, but probably represents that of the hundreds of people in the ports she visited who felt the excitement of seeing her anchored in the harbor and just had to get aboard. In the early '70s I was Executive Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Mallow in Guam. On return from one of our aids to navigation servicing trips in the Caroline and Marshall Islands, I noticed Klaraborg at anchor. Her historic significance was undeniable to anyone who saw her. I didn't waste any time heading to the commercial port after we tied up, and watched a couple of dinghy trips before asking if I could come aboard and pay my respects. Still in uniform, I wanted them to know I wasn' t acting in an official capacity, but it still might have been what got my foot in the door, or on deck. Well, I was delighted to find Ove and Ingmar and the rest of the crew to be as hospitable as they were fascinating. Here were people who had the determination and talent to breath life back into one of the last remaining relics of the age of sail and pursue an adventure that most of us only dream about. I wish I could have bottled the smell of that old wooden ship - a smell that would have been so familiar to seafarers a century before. Everything about Klaraborg was the real thing. 

Over the next few weeks I drove folks around the island, had them aboard for a Coast Guard meal and brought wine for some very pleasant story filled evenings at anchor. We even fired up the Klaraborg galley so I could cook pizza one evening. On an island where the odds seemed like 20 guys to every girl, I must admit it was a real treat to have the opportunity to play tennis with some of the international female crewmembers. By the time I had gotten to know everyone, the news of Klaraborg's visit had gotten around the island and it wasn't hard for me to get them invited to parties being thrown within the military community. It was great fun. 

I have posted a few Klaraborg photos. The slides I took them from were labeled with first names of some people who's last names I have forgotten. I'm glad to report having recently gotten in touch with Ove, Claes and Vic by email. It all just started out by Googling "Klaraborg." The photo of Klaraborg under sail was taken on a chance encounter as she was departing Guam for the last time when we were returning from another buoy trip in the islands. For the lack of a good shot of our cutter working a buoy, I have included a rather out of place Christmas card I did at the time that gives an idea of what Mallow looked like. When I get time to go through over a thousand slides, I may post something more representative of our operations. 

My own maritime adventure continued after my tour in Guam, and after such fun things as commanding four cutters, and working in the White House, I finished my 30 year Coast Guard career as Chief of Staff of the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans in 1996. I have a wonderful wife, three grown children and 6 grandkids, and still get to sea frequently in my job running the safety, environmental and regulatory programs for a major cruise line. The world has changed a lot since our tracklines crossed with that of Klaraborg, but I can still conjure up the smell of a proud wooden ship and what it felt like with a glass of wine in the hand watching a tropical sunset and telling sea stories at anchor in Apra Harbor long ago.

USCGC Mallow from 1972 Christmas card

Alby and friends with Klaraborg in Apra Harbor

Bud, Ove, Ingmar, Roy and Clara on Klaraborg at Apra

Klaraborg bowsprit, Apra

Jack rows to Klaraborg

Ove, Ingmar, Jill and Bill, Apra Jan. 1972

Roy, Ingmar and Jill, Apra Jan. 1972

Klaraborg arote Pt. Guam, Jan. 1972

Klaraborg leaving Apra under sail Feb. 1972