We went to Fort Flagler State Park last week. This scene on Marrowstone Island greeted us. Taken in the tiny town of Nordland, the view is of Mystery Bay.
Category: Boats
Local history
In May, 1792 English Captain George Vancouver led an expedition with the yawl Discovery and cutter Chatham through the region now known as Puget Sound. He and his men were the first Europeans to explore the area and in the course of charting the waters names of his crew were affixed to local landmarks.
Vancouver’s crew used longboats for many of their voyages and two replicas are currently used by the Northwest Maritime Center in youth leadership and maritime training programs. Shown under sail, these boats also have eight rowing stations.
On Monday of this week divers retrieved off the coast of Whitbey Island an anchor they contend was one lost by the Chatham during the 1792 expedition. In several weeks it will be sent to Texas A&M University for verification of its age. Until then it will be on display at the Maritime Center. I hope to take a look at it before it goes. Stay tuned!
The Vikings
We went to Victoria B.C. last Sunday to visit “The Vikings,” a new exhibit at the Royal B.C. Museum. In particular, DH and I are both drawn to the beauty and utility of Viking boats. And this one, Krampmacken, greeted us at the front door. Its form based on boat remnants from an archaeological discovery, Krampmacken proved that Viking boats could handle both the waves of the Baltic Sea and shallow rivers in eastern Europe. With a crew of 10-11 and four rowing stations, this boat journeyed from Gotland, Sweden to Istanbul, Turkey in two stages between 1983 and 1985.
Krampmacken uses a braided square sail, something I’d not seen before.
A second, smaller boat was on exhibit inside the museum.
The boats in Victoria reminded me of the most spectacular Viking ship I’ve had the pleasure to see. This is Sea Stallion, a ship that we saw on display in Dublin in 2007. Its lines are based on a Viking ship, Skuldelev 2, that was excavated in Denmark in 1962. Scientists traced the oak in its timbers to Ireland in the year 1042. Sea Stallion was reconstructed from a survey of the excavation, then built as closely as possible to match materials that the Vikings had used, including paint on the hull. After a variety of shorter sailings, Sea Stallion was sailed 1,000 nautical miles from Roskilde, Denmark across the North Sea, around the Atlantic coast of Scotland, down the Irish Sea to Dublin. As you can see, this is a big ship, with room for 60 oarsmen. Click here for more information about the Sea Stallion.
The Vikings knew what they were doing. This and the others I’ve seen are truly beautiful vessels.
Dorjun
Dorjun caught my eye during a visit to Port Townsend this year and became even more interesting as I learned her history. She was built in 1905 for the U.S. Lifesaving Service, the precursor to today’s Coast Guard, until she was retired in 1937. After that this 26 foot wooden boat was documented by National Geographic as she sailed through the Straits of Magellan at the tip of South America.
In 1946, like many historic working boats, she sank and was abandoned for several years on a mudbank. She was eventually rescued and has since been restored a couple of times. As you can see, she looks pretty good for a lady of 109 years.
Cruise season
The 205-foot American Spirit was docked in Port Angeles the other day, one of 20 Puget Sound cruises that include the Olympic Peninsula this spring and fall. Passengers from these cruises will disembark for excursions to Olympic National Park’s Hurricane Ridge or Lake Crescent or walking tours of Port Angeles.
Larger ships carrying an estimated 1800 passengers from the Holland America line will also visit Port Angeles this summer.
Many large cruise ships pass through the Strait of Juan de Fuca on their way to and from Alaska. Businesses in the region are pleased to be included on the itineraries of Holland America and American Spirit.
[In case you’re wondering, American Spirit doesn’t have a cap atop its red, white, and blue stack. That is the roof of an observation tower on a nearby pier.]
Scamp update: the tiller
It’s been a while since I’ve shown any progress with the Scamp sailboat that my husband is building. Today is an example of why the progress has been slow and the updates infrequent. You see, my husband has wanted to build his own boat for a long, long time. And he has definite ideas about what he wants. The tiller, above, is an example.
You see, first he wanted to put the motor in an inboard well, a custom location. It’s usually off the stern. That created a barrier to using a simple, typical tiller. So DH created a custom version, which he’s modeling above.
You may have noticed that the tiller is curved. First he designed and fabricated a mock-up that suited the conditions. The final tiller wasn’t a single cut from one piece of lumber. It is the result of laminating together 11 strips of 1/8″ thick mahogany. And he didn’t just glue them together. The process required bending the wood into the shape he wanted. If this isn’t labor intensive I don’t know what is.
Here’s a closer view. The final result in the top shot still needs more sanding and a few finish coats. Labor of love? I’ll say!
By the way, the boat has a new name: “Pumpkin.”
Boat trivia
We’ve driven past FV Quaker Maid in Port Townsend a number of times in recent months and she looks better each time. Each time we’ve passed her DH has commented that she was a sister to Confidence, the vessel he fished with out of Seattle in the 1970s. Now that she’s looking good, it seemed time to take her portrait. And DH is no longer convinced she’s a sister…but they look like they could be…and they’re the same size and are from a similar era. Is this another fish story? Confidence fished for Whitney Fidalgo Seafoods; her captain was part of that well known family.