Douglas Mason Duane

1927 - 2014

Douglas Mason Duane March 2, 1927 - August 31, 2014 Legendary former Corte Madera resident, Doug Duane, passed away on August 31 following a brave battle with pneumonia. A celebration of his life was held on September 4th at the Panmure Yacht Club in Auckland, New Zealand. Born on March 2 1927 in the town of Otahuhu, near Auckland, Doug lived a storied life in New Zealand and later settled with his family in Marin County. He was a man of the sea. In the late 1940s, he and his brother Mac built their first boat, the Evelyn (named for their mother) behind their grandmother's house. In the early 50's, he restored the Rewa which is now berthed in the Auckland Maritime Museum. In 1953, he sailed with his Kiwi mates on Blue Water to Rapanui islands and Tahiti and surrounding Polynesian islands. In 1960, he left New Zealand as crew on the 32 foot sloop, White Squall, arriving on the Sausalito waterfront in 1961. Soon after, he went ashore and resided at the Post Residence Club in San Francisco where he met Eileen Wright of London, England. They were married in 1962. In 1963, they welcomed their eldest daughter, Jenefer Gail. In early 1964, they bought Lazy Jane, a 38 foot cabin cruiser and moved aboard in Sausalito. In 1965, at Marin General Hospital, Doug and Eileen hailed the arrival of triplets: Lisa Caroline, Douglas Arthur and Margaret Mary. In 1966, the growing family went ashore to west Corte Madera where Doug proceeded to build his "magnum opus" the 48 foot, 20 ton, Ferro cement cutter, "Hinano" in the back yard of their home. In 1981, Doug orchestrated a the dramatic "dry launch" with a 125 ton crane to lift the boat over the family home. However, the crane company tried to cut corners and sent a 90 ton crane that was too small for the job. The lift was quickly aborted after the small crane started to tip. The job was finally accomplished a few days later by a house moving company who rolled the huge vessel out the back between the homes of two neighbors on Lakeside Drive and then on to a flat-bed trailer. After a several nail-biting moments of driving the rig under the 101 freeway overpasses, with just inches to spare, she was placed at the Sausalito Yacht Harbor where, a few days later, she was christened and launched. The long-awaited day to "get the boat out of the backyard" made the front page of the Marin Independent Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle. Following Doug's retirement after nearly 30 years working as a metal fabricator with Trayer Engineering in San Francisco, he took "Hinano" on her maiden voyage to Hawaii with his son "young Doug" as first mate. Jenefer met up with them on the big island of Hawaii and sailed across the channel in raging 12 foot seas to neighboring Maui. In 1992, after sailing her for years on the San Francisco Bay, he set sail to New Zealand again with "young Doug" as first mate. After cruising the South Pacific, he arrived home to New Zealand in 1994. He lived aboard for several years while moored off his beloved Panmure Yacht and Boating Club on the Tamaki River. In his later years, he moved ashore to a house in Panmure and sold Hinano. Throughout his storied life, he was well-known and appreciated for his sense of adventure; love for the sea; quick wit and wonderful sense of humor; legendary craftsmanship skills; engaged storytelling; and his very kind and generous nature. He is survived by his wife Eileen, of Corte Madera, and his son and three daughters. He is also survived by his brother Mac and wife, Mavis of Takanini, Auckland, NZ, and a large family of nieces and nephews. He also will be sorely missed by his best Kiwi mates: Leo Vitali, Keith Kirkland and Colin Sherlock. He was cherished as a loyal and devoted father, brother, uncle, best mate and dear friend to so many people of all ages and walks of life. A gathering of his family and friends will be held on October 4th from 2:00-5:00p.m. at the Tiburon home of his best Bay Area mate, Bob. For information, call 415.297.5814.