When I was first contacted about this and looked at the survey I thought it was a really cool boat but that I would not be able to find crew. It was as “un-yacht-y” vessel as I could imagine but after looking at the additional pictures I realized that there was one person who could appreciate it.
Doug Simmons checkin out our ride for the next week.
I met Doug and came to know him during the pandemic when I saw him on his boat out on Griffin Bay when we were not supposed to leave the dock. He was in his 70s Islander 28 sailing out of Fisherman’s Bay on Lopez Island and I was on my Moore 24 and we both were flying our yellow Q flags as a quiet protest of the lockdown. I instantly recognized a fellow feral scallywag who would not be kept from sailing on Sunday. We have since gotten to know each other over many Sunday raft ups off Turn Island half way between our home ports. Doug used to run a piledriving crew who were responsible for building many of the piers and ferry docks in the Salish sea. The fact that this was a work scow was probably more appealing to Doug than if it had been a yacht. Doug hadn’t cruised the waters north of the San Juans so it wasnt hard to get him aboard. I do feel a little bad though because I promised a scenic summer cruise through waters of the Great Bear Rainforest, Broughton Archipelago, and Desolation Sound but it turned out to be a week of working in an engine room.
I dont know many sailors that could have started this old 2 stroke Evenrude.
Its whats on the inside that counts sometimes.
The other crewmember was David Engish who I’ve known my whole life was the older kid that lived next door when I was little. Dave is a brilliant engineer and adventurer had also never done this passage. I figured these two would get each other and be good for conversation but also good with comfortable silence..and if it came to it.. be a very handy team if we had to fix something in remote waters.
The new owner was planning to live aboard the boat on Lake Union in Seattle part time. Kind of like a apartment in the city. Quite a different life than the boat had seen with its former owner where it served as a platform for Bear Hunting Business. This may sound very strange but it isn’t as unusual as you might think. I was once hired to deliver a boat to Valdez Alaska for a guy who had a similar business.
I asked if the owner wanted to go before I agreed to do the job and he said no but then invited himself aboard at the last minute when he met us at the boat.
Its hard to explain why this is frustrating. He was a nice guy on the phone but it changes the dynamic and although the crew said they were okay with it we had to share a cabin and after days of not cooking or helping work on the boat it was beginning to test my patience. When he originally said he wanted to go I asked him if he was going to participate with shipboard duties and he said yes he did not..
Ketchican is a wonderful Alaskan town and well stocked as remote towns go. We provisioned and looked at the route ahead to nagoiate weather and tides. The low freeboard and flat bow necessitated we avoid rough stuff and the boarder crossing would require that we head quite a way out of our way to Prince Rupert.
