2009 Week 10 in Review
March 1 to March 7, 2009
Work starts on the Maris Pearl
I started working on the Maris Pearl this week, starting at the top of Jay's checklist. I serviced two of the generators; changed the oil filters, and looked at the belts and impellers. This is all really basic maintenance - just like what you get when you go to Grease Monkey, but it's important to keep on top of. Next up will be working on the bilge pumps and oily water separators.
Wawona moves
The Northwest Seaport moved its old lumber schooner Wawona on Wednesday. I won't go into all the emotions and relationships that I've had with the Wawona over the years, but its departure from South Lake Union was a very moving event. The city, which was the driving factor behind the move, hired Global Dive & Salvage to stabilize it for the move, and they in turn subcontracted with Western Towboat to do the actual pulling to Lake Union Dry-Dock Company, where the boat will be taken apart. There's been a lot of speculation in the old boat community about whether or not the boat is stuck in the mud (it's not) or will break up during a tow, and a lot of blah blah blah from people who don't know what they're talking about (read the comments on these articles for a taste).
Anyway, after a lot of delays, the move was finally scheduled for 8 am on Wednesday. There was a press conference (with coffee) at 7:30 AM, where the Seaport's press guy and president spoke for all the news cameras in Seattle. The Western tugs Wasp and Flyer showed up right at 8, stuck a hook-line right into the chain bobstay, and pulled the boat out, just like that. Ric, as usual, made the process look easy, and the Wawona went out into the waterway just like did hundreds of times before it became a museum boat.
I won't say that I was unhappy to see the boat go, but I do want to defend myself from all the people pointing their fingers and saying that I wanted it to go to the scrapper because I hated it, and I just didn't understand that they loved the boat.
Well, a boat that I did love went to the scrapper, and old tug in Kingston, New York called the K Whittlesey. It was powered by an old Rathbun-Jones diesel - the last in the country. I don't know much about these engines except that they were later bought out by Ingersoll-Rand, but the K Whittlesey's was giant - way bigger than the Arthur Foss's Washingtion on the same size tug - with at least a 20-inch bore.
Just like the Wawona, the K Whittlesey became a local eyesore. A town eccentric raised it from the canal with the usual idea that "if you raise it, they will come," and then got mad at the world for not following through with the second part of the plan - that is, when everyone gives him lots and lots of money for an old boat museum. There's a news article on Zwire that talks more about the owners' dream of a floating tugboat museum.
I was really sad to hear that the K Whittlesey was finally scrapped. I remind myself, though, that during its few years tied up in Kingston, a bunch of people got to see it. From the news conference, the Northwest Seaport seems to feel the same way about the Wawona: it's sad that she's gone, but wasn't she great during those years that people got to see her?
CWB benefit auction
Saturday was this year's auction benefiting the Center for Wooden Boats, and OTM Inc attended in style. It was a great party - they had the Armory all dressed up with spinnakers hung from the overhead, and a fair number of people dressed up in the Gilligan's Island theme. We sat at the Northwest Seaport table and had a good time.
What I love about the CWB auction is how many of the boat people donate items that only other boat people would love. Deputy director Jake donated his yearly Lake Union tugboat trips, when he uses the Mighty Isswat to pull floats around the lake for romantic dinner cruises and photography. Jensen Boatworks also donated a haul-out (painting and washing not included), and all the local big sailboats donated a cruise or two. There was also artwork and canoe vacations and wine-tasting - something for everyone. It was good to see the community come together like that, especially considering how nervous everyone is about money these days.
Drink like a sailor party
Later Saturday, we shanghaied a pile of sailors from the CWB auction and immediately put them to work drinking heavily at the "Drink Like a Sailor" party at Jenny and Kate's. The party was a great time, and afterwards we oozed back to the boat like jellyfish stuck on the beach at low tide.
