MAYAN's History - The Crosby Years

David Crosby Sailing MAYAN

As MAYAN settled into her 45 year relationship with David Crosby, she began one of the more interesting boat histories we've come across. As David put it, "MAYAN became my rock. She was always there and I could always get away from the crazies in my business." Many of us have followed David's career through his early successes with the Byrds and then the amazing success of CSN&Y. But David found a sanctuary aboard MAYAN that let him live a more normal life when he wanted it. Despite being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, aboard MAYAN he was just the skipper.

After sailing MAYAN through the Caribbean for a few years and then sailing from Florida through the canal and up to San Diego, David was checking in to US Customs in San Diego. While tied to the dock, with the Customs inspectors aboard, an 8-meter sailing past lost control and crashed into MAYAN's bowsprit. Lead by David everyone charged up on deck to find a badly damaged 8-meter sloop and MAYAN's bowsprit broken and dangling from the stays.

"Hey, you broke my F***ing bowsprit!" David says he shouted at the 8-meter's crew. "I sailed this boat all the way from Florida without putting a scratch on her, and you guys break off the bowsprit!" he was furious. The 8-meter crew could only respond with: "You're David Crosby. WOW, that's so cool!" They financed the repair of the bowsprit and got to meet David. "MAYAN had always had more weather helm than I liked." David recounts. "This gave me a chance to do something about it. So, we made the bowsprit two feet longer. It's the only thing we ever changed about Alden's design."

David & Jan Crosby at sea aboard MAYAN

Despite incidents like this, most of the time David could retreat to MAYAN and just be a sailor if he wished to be. In the shelter of MAYAN he could work and relax. Over the four and a half decades he owned her, David says he wrote numerous songs aboard including "Wooden Ships" for which MAYAN served as his muse. "I always figured if everything really went to hell, we'd just leave on MAYAN and head for the islands. Back then a lot of us thought everything was going to collapse pretty soon. I'm sure glad it didn't."

During these years MAYAN sailed to Hawaii a number of times to hang on the anchor in Hanalei Bay where his friend Graham still owns a home. She sailed to Tahiti and through many of the S. Pacific islands. David, an expert SCUBA diver, loved taking MAYAN into the shallow reefs which deeper draft boats simply couldn't reach. (MAYAN has a centerboard and when the board is pulled up she only draws five feet.) "I could just jump off my boat and dive on some of the most beautiful reefs in the world. It was very cool." David recounted to us while explaining the air tank rack build into her cabin. 

David & Graham Nash

For a number of years MAYAN was berthed in Sausalito, CA where she received the set of Peter Sutter sails she still flys. (New sails are on order.) David had lived in Marin on and off for much of his life and enjoyed the sailing community of the north Bay. Eventually, she was moved to Santa Barbara where David had grown up and still lives. "I learned to sail right here." he said as we stood on MAYAN's deck. "I got a little dinghy when I was a kid and I'd sail for hours. I'd go up and down the coast and out to sea until it got too windy. I'm amazed my folks let me get away with it."

Santa Barbara remains a "home town" for David and the folks around the Harbor greet him as one of their own. The best dive Mexican restaurants know him well and it's a town that leaves him alone to just be a sailor, one of the guys.

We had the good fortune to be able to land tickets to David's kick off concert in Santa Barbara last spring. He had just released his first solo album in over 20

David and Beau in front of MAYAN

years, and had the courage to play that entire album front-to-back as the first set of his concert before retuning to play his classics in the second set. The new album, just titled "CROZ", is terrific and stood up to the difficult test of being the first set amazingly well. But, when David kicked into Eight Mile High, Wooden Ships and Guinnevere the place rocked to tunes they knew.

It was difficult for David to part with his muse. There were months of emails and phone calls, conversations about what we intended to do with MAYAN, tests to see if we were the right folks to care for her. Eventually, David was gracious enough to select us. He knows he's always welcome aboard and he knows MAYAN will always be known as "David's Boat".  Sailing into Newport Beach a few weeks after buying MAYAN the Harbor Master commented: "It's great to see her back in our harbor, it has been too long. Will David be showing up?"

David and Jan in the cockpit heading south