R/V Heraclitus' Construction (1974-75)

Oakland sunrise seen through scaffolding and frame of the R/V Heraclitus.

Economy being the order of the day the group moved into a large three-storey redwood house located near the campus in Berkeley, provided by Bill Dempster's mother, Anna, which solved immediate accommodation problems. The Theatre of All Possibilities Bus provided transport for the crew to the selected site near the Fifth Avenue Marina in Oakland closely adjacent to the site where Jack London had built his ship, the Snark. In order to raise money to make ends meet, it was decided to set up a café - The Junkman's Palace - a site for which was located on the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Alcatraz. The café became a popular local eatery, known for its wholesome food and good atmosphere, and met a good deal of the project's operating costs between August '74 and March '75. Ship-building began in earnest with the construction of a scaffolding frame, the materials of which were recycled from an old house about to be demolished. Nails from the house were also recycled and building construction moved quickly forward with the laying of a frame of half-inch steel rebar to which wire netting was then attached.

The wire meshing takes on the shape of the ship's bow.