The 74′ LOD schooner ASTOR was built for a client and friend of William Fife III who took her to Sydney, Australia, soon after her launching in 1923. In 1987, Richard and Lani Straman bought her in San Diego, California, and have been stalwart caretakers ever since.
We have a joke in my family,” says Richard Straman, who has been the owner, skipper, and maintainer-in-chief of the 74′ LOD schooner ASTOR, designed and built by William Fife III in 1923: “When we bought the old girl in 1987, we had a 14-page to-do list. We are still on page 1.”