Father Joseph McGranaghan
wanted a schooner  . . .

On June 4, 1939, the Duluth News-Tribune printed this article with a half page photo of the schooner Bluenose superimposed in front of the lift bridge.

You are welcome to ignore this section if you have
no interest in things historical.

But please read the last portion.

Adventure Ahead - - 4,000 Miles Of It!
          ***       ***       ***        ***      

Proctor Priest, Duluth Crew To
Sail Racing Schooner Back From
Nova Scotia

There's 4,000 miles of adventure ahead for a Proctor Priest and a crew of three Duluthians who are to sail a 35 foot Bluenose racing schooner from Nova Scotia to Duluth next month.

At Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the schooner is being built for the Rev. J. J. McGranaghan, rector of the St. Rose church of Proctor, and on June 25 he will leave with members of his crew to bring his craft back to Duluth.

It will be a course filled with adventurous sailing, for along some stretches of the way tidal conditions affect the water depths as much as 19 feet. To gain a complete chart of the channels from Nova Scotia to Duluth, Father McGranaghan has obtained special maps from the hydrographic services of both the United States and Canada.

The schooner will be christened at a ceremony in which the four will participate at Lunenburg. On the trip back, which will take the craft down the Atlantic, the St. Lawrence river and up the Great lakes, she will be skippered by K. M. Brook, commodore of the Duluth power squadron. On the crew also will be Roy Brainerd and Harry O'Donnell

Mr. Breinerd, amateur camaraman, will take more than 4,000 feet of colored motion pictures and 300 "stills" of the trip. Mr. Brainerd will have a small outboard motor boat with him so that occasionally he will be able to get away from the schooner to take pictures of the ship in action.

The boat, the only one of its kind in Duluth, will have a 45 foot main mast and her mizzen mast will be 37 feet, "which is a lot of canvas," Mr. Brainerd explained. It will sleeping quarters for four. The craft also will have an auxiliary motor.

Father McGranaghan and his party will leave here June 25 and go to Nova Scotia in an automobile and trailer. These will be driven back to Duluth by a friend. They expect the trip to take between four and five weeks.

On July 14, 1939, the Duluth News-Tribune brought this news.

McGranaghan, Crew
Inspect New Schooner

Six Duluth men got their first look yesterday at the trim, 36 foot schooner "Huloa" in the harbor of Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, from where they will sail her down the Atlantic seaboard and up the Great Lakes to Duluth.

Built for Fr, Joseph McGranaghan, Proctor Catholic Priest, the schooner will put her sails to the wind either Saturday of Sunday, after being outfitted by the crew.

The crew, headed by Father McGranaghan, inspected the ship late yesterday after traveling to Lunenburg from Duluth by motor and trailer.

"Canadian roads from Soo east largely in blueprint stage," wired Roy Brainerd, official photographer for the trip. "This necessitated rerouting from Montreal through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Roads across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are very good and traffic is heavy from the states. Our heavy travel equipment is taking the bumps nicely, in fact better that some of the crew. Father "Mac" is a fast driver so we should all be in shape to take almost anything the Atlantic has to offer after this ride."

Besides Father McGranaghan and Brainerd, the crew includes K. M. Brook, first officer and navigator; H. J. Brook, first mate; Harry O'Donnell, second mate, and Crumpton Farrell, steward.

On August 20, 1939, the Duluth News-Tribune brought more news

Surprise Guests Board Schooner

Crew Of Huloa Is Anxious
To Reach Home Port Here

Delayed by adverse weather, heavy river traffic and other setbacks, the Duluth crew returning the schooner Huloa to this city from Nova Scotia is anxious to reach home, now that it is reaching the Great Lakes, writes Roy L. Brainerd, a member of the crew.

The crew is headed by Rev, Fr. J. J. McGranaghan, Proctor Catholic priest, for whom the schooner was built.

Writing Wednesday, Mr. Brainerd said:

"We had some distinguished company board us upon our arrival at Montreal Monday. Father Mac's father, W. J. McGranaghan, and his brother Rev. Fr. Hubert F. McGranaghan of Carbondale, Pa., met us as we docked. We had expected to pick them up at Oswego, N. Y., but they took us by surprise. They were induced to stay aboard for a day and night and in order to avoid crowding three of the crew went ashore and motored to Morrisburg, Ont., where we planned to rejoin the ship upon its arrival.

When we got to Morrisburg, we found Dr. A. J. Huderlie of Duluth awaiting our coming, he having arrived Sunday night. He will join our party and continue with us.

"For three days we have been slowed down coming through the St. Laurence canals which extend from Montreal to a point below Prescott, Ont., a distance of 100 miles, 47 of which are canalized. Traffic is heavy over this route and pleasure yachts are not permitted to impede free movement of traffic, so we were held back some in various places.

The misfortune and miserable weather that accompanied us for so long seems to have left since our arrival at Montreal. All hands hope for favorable winds and good going from now on because we are getting anxious to reach home. All are in good health and have put on extra weight and a lot of tan." .

On August 31, 1939.

Boat Ends 5 Week Trip Today

A five week trip from Nova Scotia aboard a 36 foot schooner is scheduled to terminate in Duluth with the arrival of the Huloa this morning.

The Huloa, owned by the Rev Fr, Joseph McGranaghan, Proctor, and manned by a crew of six Duluthians, was scheduled to be on its way early today from Bayfield, Wi., to Duluth, with arrival set at 9 a. m.

The ship, which followed the south shore course from the Soo, is designed similar to the Bluenose schooners. It will be the only one of its kind in the Duluth region.

Finally, on September 1, 1939.

Ends 34 day Trip From Nova Scotia

Schooner Huloa Joins
Duluth Pleasure Fleet

Duluth had a new ship in its fleet of pleasure and commercial craft yesterday with the arrival of the 36 foot fishing schooner Huloa - fresh from a 34 day voyage from the Atlantic coast.

The craft, under full sail, brought its owner Fr, J. J. McGranaghan, Proctor priest, and its crew of six Duluthians through the Duluth ship canal and to the government dock on Park Point.

HAVE MANY EXPERIENCES

Experiences in fogs, storms, high seas and low tides were related by the crew to the welcoming group at the dock.

Roy Brainerd, who kept the ship's log, said the ship left Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the night of July 19, and the Atlantic fogs were encountered the first day. The ship proceeded cautiously on the ocean and once had to make a wide detour from its charted course to avoid a school of whales.

The gulf of the St. Lawrence was entered Aug. 5 and while off St. Felice, in a heavy fog, rip tides and cross currents caused the ship to drift, and the Huloa went aground for the first time.

BALLAST REMOVED

Booms were stripped from the main and foresail and used as sampson posts for release with the high tide four hours later. Later the ship grounded again and its 4,500 pounds of ballast had to be removed before it was floated.

In Lake Erie a heavy sea was encountered which pitched and rolled the ship, but the schooner weathered the storm and kept its speed on schedule.

In one instance on the Great Lakes, Father McGranaghan recalled, the Huloa made 13 miles an hour and passed up several upbound lake ships.

HAS 10 FOOT BEAM

The schooner has a beam of 10 feet, a draft of six feet and a displacement of six tons. It was built in Lunnenburg by Russel M. Langell, prominent builder and sailor who for two years was first mate on the famous Bluenose schooner.

Skipper of the Huloa was K. M. Brook. The crew included Harry E. O'Donnell, H. M. Brook, Crumpton Farrell, Dr. A. J. Huderle, Mr. Brainerd and Father McGranaghan. Dr. Huderle joined the party Aug. 14 at Morrisburg, Ont.

  If you skipped the above articles, this is a good time to start reading again.  
It is reported that in the crowd that welcomed Huloa to Duluth was Father McGranaghan's boss, one Bishop Welch. No one will ever know the actual conversation that later took place between a conservative bishop and a liberal priest. But before the year ended Huloa was sold to Dr. A. J. Huderle, a dentist by trade.

Joseph McGranaghan was a parish priest for just eight years, leaving without warning one Saturday night, February 8, 1943.

Some of the more sad words I have ever read appear at the end of the official history of Joseph McGranaghan's time at the St. Rose parish.

Even though he left the priesthood for many years, the parishioners were happy to hear that he later returned to the Church and spent his last years in a monastery in California "doing penance."

He died a few years ago and none really know what it cost to try to fulfill his love of adventure while also attempting to be a dedicated priest. In the end he couldn't do both.

 
Each summer for twenty years, Huloa and
Dr. Huderle set sail for the Apostle Islands.

At the Raspberry Island dock in August1997, an old man stepped off his big wood motor boat and looked down at me as I sat waiting for my crew up at the lighthouse.

"That the Huloa?"

I replied that it was.

He smiled and nodded his head. "I used to sail with Huderle. If those cabin walls could talk the world would be blushing. You did a good job on her."

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In 1960 Robert Wilson bought Huloa and for 21 years sailed her inside the Duluth harbor when the family was aboard, venturing out into the open lake and sometimes as far as Knife River when an all male crew felt the urge.

There were tears in Bob's eyes the night he sold me Huloa. I promised him that within a year Huloa would sail again, that she would always be a family boat - and I would never let her go to the charter trade.

     

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Promises
and history
can be a heavy load . . .

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