Sea Gal is known as a Tri-Cabin, Raised Fore Deck, Coastal Cruiser. She was built by the Stephens Brothers in Stockton, CA. Her keel (#933), was laid in October, 1953, and she was launched in March of 1954 as a “Spec” boat for the Badman Brothers Yacht Service, in Sausalito, CA. They brokered her until March 1955, when she was first sold to her new owners, for $46,000, Mr.and Mrs. George Sturtevant of San Francisco. They named her “Doll Lee.” The Sturtevant's owned Doll Lee until 1986, berthing her in Alameda, CA. The highlight of their ownership, was a cruise to Canada and her renaming to Sea Gal. Byron Notrey then purchased Sea Gal in 1986 and lived aboard her in Antioch. Two years later in 1988, he sold her to the Balls. It is rumored that the Ball’s liked her because she had a spiral staircase.

The Balls cruised around in Sea Gal for about a year then decided to pull her for a much needed rebuild. Doug Ball has a penchant for doing-it-right so in preparation for the Sea Gal overhaul, he took time out to attend a marine boatbuilding school in Seattle. After graduation he put Sea Gal on blocks and went to work dismantling the boat. The work went on for six years. With his wife at his side, together they completely reassembled the boat with painstaking care given to preserving the original character and design of the boat, all the while fortifying the ship's hull and superstructure. Essentially, they replaced all the worn out and rotted parts, then polished and restored the rest of them. The only thing that was worth saving Doug says, was the ships power plants, a pair of gasoline fed Chrysler Marine Majestic M49 engines. And those original engines are still going strong today. As far as can be determined no other extensive renovation work was ever undertaken prior to the Ball’s ownership.

In March, 2014 my wife and I began our purchase of Sea Gal after a timeiy received phone call alerted us as to her availability. A dream come true! We hope to re-invigorate our sea-legs, having left them long ago after years of living in Juneau, AK. Most of those days were spent enjoying the inland passages of SE Alaska. We will however, continue to berth the boat at Willow Berm, while training and conducting routine maintenance in preparation for our dream trip back into the great Northwest. We have a lot of work ahead of us, as we try to keep the lady in the shape to which she became accustomed under the Bail regime.