Kirsten Anderberg/Seattle's Center for Wooden Boats Page
Seattle's Center for Wooden Boats
The Wawona sailing the waters of Puget Sound...
The Wooden Boat Center: A Floating Museum
I visited the Wooden Boat Center (http://www.cwb.org) on South Lake Union in Seattle, WA today. The docks of the WBC wind around historic boats to create a floating museum. There are canoes, wooden sailboats, salmon trollers, rescue boats, steamboats, wooden boats made by students at the WBC in 7 days, and more, tied to the docks, with museum descriptions posted in front of each boat. I have lived in Seattle for decades, have heard only wonderful things about the WBC, and I actually regret not going there earlier now that I have gone there!
La Nina The first thing I saw at the Wooden Boat Center dock was a replica of Columbus' favorite ship, La Nina (www.thenina.com). I can only imagine that this has caused some rightly deserved political protest and the people promoting this display avoided political commentary, which could have been an educational opportunity, in my opinion. Anyway, from a boating heritage point of view, the boat is a caravel type, which was used by explorers during the Age of Discovery. The boat is a replica of the one Columbus sailed over 25,000 miles during the mid-1400's into the early 1500's. It has four masts, and was the smallest of his ships. The original La Nina and the replica, both, are 93 feet long, with a 66 foot deck. The replica was built in 1988, in Brazil, by an American engineer and maritime historian, John Patrick Sarsfield, and is being used as a "sailing museum," going port to port on display. (The boat looked burnt out, all black, missing a lot of wood, missing a top deck, etc. and it looked like a very poorly funded "display," collecting money at the plank going up to the boat, with lots of merchandise, and it seemed more like the boat just docked there at the end of the dock, rather than it being sponsored as an exhibit by the WBC, and I saw no ads or promo about this display at the WBC or in town.)
The first thing that struck me about this boat was how much *rope* it had! It made me stop and think how important *rope* must have been to sailors in the 1400's. Nowadays we have metal masts, with metal attachments, but this boat was basically wood held together with rope, and it really looked different than most sailboats I have seen. The promotional materials about this boat say that the original vessel carried large groups of people, such as 120 from the West Indies back to Spain in 1496. Looking at the boat's replica, I cannot imagine 120 people on that boat, even while in port, much less on the open sea! It really did not have a very big hull at all, and even with several layers of space, the deck and under the decks, it still was a small space for that amount of people and made me think that the conditions must have been horrific on that ship during much of its time out on the sea.
The Arthur Foss, Last Wooden 19th Century Tugboat in the U.S. Next to the replica of La Nina, was a very large wooden tugboat named the "Arthur Foss" (http://www.nps.gov/history/maritime/nhl/foss.htm). This tugboat was originally named the "Wallowa" and was built in 1889. It has a huge deckhouse that takes up 2/3 of the deck and is approximately 112 feet long. The ship was originally steam powered but in 1934 shifted to diesel fuel. The Arthur Foss is the only known wooden-hulled 19th century tugboat still afloat and in operating condition in the U.S. This boat was made in Portland, OR and towed lumber and barges full of grain through the Columbia River and NW waterways, and also transported people and goods to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. This boat also worked the Pacific Ocean waters around Hawaii. The Arthur Foss was the star of Hollywood's 1933 movie, "Tugboat Annie." This boat was also the last boat under U.S. Navy control to escape Wake Island in January 1942 before the Japanese captured the island in WWII.
The Virginia V Floating next to the Arthus Foss is the Virginia V (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_V). This handsome green and white vessel is 125 feet long. It is a wooden hulled steam boat built in 1922. This boat is the last known working example of a Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet steamer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puget_Sound_Mosquito_Fleet). The Mosquito Fleet was a local transportation link in the Pacific Northwest during the late 1800's and early 1900's.
Fireboat Duwamish Also floating amongst the relics on South Lake Union is a steam-powered, steel-hulled fireboat built in 1909 named the Duwamish (http://www.fireboatduwamish.org). The deck was originally covered in teak wood, which must have been beautiful. This boat has no keel as it was made for flat, shallow waters around the Seattle waterfront. This boat stood out from the others due to the odd equipment on its deck, painted red. I have seen this boat spraying water from its decks as a display, out on the Puget Sound, when I was a child, but I never saw it up close before. Like other ships on display here, this ship made one think of times gone by, with wooden planked piers and harbors, and wooden ships that could set afire not only ships nearby but waterfront cities as well. This ship not only put out fires on ships, but it also had a ram rod that could sink ships to stop uncontrollable fires on ships threatening harbor cities. This boat has also extinguished fires in waterfront areas on land.
The Twilight: A One Man Troller The Twilight (http://www.maritimeheritage.net/attractions/attraction_select.asp?id=88) really intrigued me. It is a small wooden troller boat. This boat was built in 1933 and was an active fishing vessel into the 1980's. This boat is 36 feet long and has rigging to troll and net fish, and was most often used to fish for salmon. The signs attached to this boat said it could be run by only one person. As I stood on the dock looking at this ship, I could imagine a solo fisherman, going out under the Northwest's cloudy skies, to troll the waterways. I thought about my own father, a fisherman and Navy sailor from Boston and how he used to say we girls were "trolling" for boyfriends in our teens. I thought about how he would love such a troller, and the freedom of being able to go out and net fish by himself at will. I also thought about the economic freedoms owning such a boat might afford someone in the 1940's. It made me take a moment for fantasy as I looked at this boat, and I think that is part of the intrigue of this floating museum, it makes you fantasize of olden days when ships and boats played a more important role in the Pacific NW. You can see how cars and trucks have replaced many of these ships' original purposes.
The "Relief" Rescue Ship One of the bigger boats on display was the old rescue boat once named "Relief," and then "Swiftsure," now renamed "Lightship 83" (http://www.nwseaport.org/swiftsure.html). This ship was different from the rest due to the things on deck. It had very sturdy looking metal masts with many large searchlights, fog whistles, and other rescue equipment on board. This ship was made in 1904, in New Jersey and steamed around the tip of South America into CA, and is credited with saving people in maritime emergencies for 56 years. During WWII, this ship was decked out with guns and defense equipment and used as a patrol ship in the San Francisco harbor. After the war, the ship moved up the West Coast, and was a lightship, guiding ships from the Pacific Ocean into waterways on the Columbia River, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, etc. This ship is one of the oldest lightships in the country and is the only one still in existence with its original steam engines.
Wawona The Wawona is one impressive wooden sailboat/schooner. It is *huge.* It overshadows the entire moorage of the center. I have never seen such a large wooden ship up close and honestly, it was quite intimidating, like a very gigantic whale may impress someone swimming next to it. It was just so large compared to the other ships. I would say that the Wawona was 10 times the size of the replica of Columbus' La Nina. The Wawona is a 3 masted schooner built in 1897 to serve as a lumber ship and you can see a large door in the back of the ship where they could load large, heavy, long trees into the hull for shipping. Over time, it also served as a codfishing ship, and during WWII, the Wawona brought wood to Boeing to help fuel the building of its bombers. After the war, in the 1950's, the ship was owned by Gary Cooper, the movie star, and various other owners followed.
For years preservation efforts have gone on, but inevitably, the ship is suffering from overwhelming dry rot. Organizations explored various scenarios for the boat's future from full or partial restoration (yet funding is not forthcoming), to displaying it on land, building a replica, sinking it to allow it death with dignity (which has environmentalists raising a red flag), or recovering parts for public display. In a local article by Knute Berger
(http://www.crosscut.com/mossback/14971/Sailing+into+oblivion/), he points out the Wawona is a problematic historic landmark as it is "big, expensive, unsafe, unseaworthy." Finally, it was decided that part of the ship will be dismantled and displayed permanently at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry, and that there will also be a memorial placed where the ship was housed for a few decades at the WBC, yet those plans are reliant on things like the dry rot not having ruined the remains they are trying to save, and there is still some consternation about whether the ship remains will be on display at the Museum of History and Industry or at the Armory, which is next door to the WBC. Scientists, historians, and people in academia are flying in from around the country to study the Wawona before it goes into dry dock. (Recently, a beautiful ferryboat named the Kalakala, which was the world's first art deco ferry has been the center of much controversy, and has had horrible problems finding a home and sponsors in the Seattle area as well, and its future is in jeopardy too.) San Francisco owns the only other surviving wooden schooner from the Pacific Coast Fleet that the Wawona is from, and that city has accomplished a successful restoration project which may help guide Seattle's end projects with the Wawona. You can read more about how San Francisco rehabilitated the C.A.Thayer, Wawona's sister ship, at http://www.nps.gov/safr/historyculture/ca-thayer-history.htm.
Many decades ago, I used to get invited to moonlight sea shanty singalongs on the Wawona and did not go. I now regret that, as the ship is now closed to the public and getting quite old. As a matter of fact, the Wawona is about to be sent to dry dock in July 2008, so I saw it just before it was taken away. Knute Berger
(http://www.crosscut.com/mossback/14971/Sailing+into+oblivion/) reports that "the national and city landmark ship is about to meet her end. Next month, she will be hauled to the Lake Union Drydock Company and dismantled." The WBC still offers sea shanty singalongs every second Friday of the month, from 8-10 pm, as it has for decades. And I am sure the WBC looks differently at night (during the sea shanty sing-a-longs) and I would like to visit it at night just to see the difference in ambiance when the city lights and moon sparkle off of the water and boat masts and decks.
Canoe Pavilion and Artist in Residence There is a canoe pavilion along the shores at the WBC, in a place that was historically a spot that Native Americans came to trade and sell canoes. The pavilion now houses several canoes on permanent display hanging from the ceiling, including a Nootka canoe and a Salish hunting canoe from the late 1800's. There is an artist in residence from the Haida Nation, who is carving a canoe in a traditional style from a 54 foot long and four foot wide cedar log at the canoe pavilion. There was also an Umiak canoe replica in the water, made by students at the WBC in 7 days (quite impressive!). The Umiak canoe is a sailing canoe, basically, and was a traditional boat in the Arctic. The Umiak canoes held large loads for their small size; at 26' long and 6' wide, they could hold up to 15 people and 10,000 pounds of cargo! The canoe pavilion also displays a Bering Sea kayak, a seal and walrus hunting canoe from Greenland, and other canoes and paddle boats.
Sailboats of All Sizes Besides the historic large ships and canoes, there is also a wide variety of larger (24' - 40') wooden sailboats on display at the floating museum area of the WBC. I do not know enough about sailboats to fully appreciate what I was seeing, but the exhibited sailboats included boats used for fishing, racing, oystering, flat bottomed excursions and water taxis, lobstering, etc.
Medium sized sailboats (16'-23') are also displayed, including the "Mercury Class," which was one of the first "one-design boats specifically designed for plywood construction" (http://www.cwb.org/BoatDatabaseSailMed.htm). There are also 12'-15' small sailboats on display. They have a wonderful Beetle Cat on display, a small sailboat built by local community college students, and other small sailboats.
Rowboats I found it interesting that they even had rowboats on display with museum explanations posted next to them. They have a replica of a 60 year old rowboat, a replica of a 1900's Acme skiff, an original 1930's Grandy Skiff, a replica of an 1880's PeaPod, used for lobstering and stable enough to stand up in to gather lobster pots, a replica of a classic Alaskan Davis Skiff, and more.
Classes and Events at the WBC The WBC is truly an asset to the Seattle area. The classes they offer are not readily available in most cities, and the skills taught there are extremely useful. Their low costs and willingness to trade volunteer hours for free classes, free sailing lessons, free sailboat rentals, and their "pay what you can" sailing lesson program make watercraft activity accessible to all income brackets. (They also host "footloose sailing" programs for disabled sailors.) The wealth of class topics is stunning. These are some of the classes currently offered at the WBC: Oar making, boat building, steam bending, Bring Your Own Boat classes to refurbish your own boat, kayak building, canoe building, Aleut Ikyak kayak building, family boat build (where a family builds its own small sailboat together), sail making, knot tying, rigging, sailing lessons, celestial navigation course, introduction to steam power, diesel engine theory, hull repair, cedar rope making, cedar hat making, Haida canoe carving, native style canoe paddling, and more!
The WBC hosts several free community monthly events. Every second Friday of the month, from 8-10 pm, the WBC hosts free family sea shanty sing-a-longs. Every Sunday, at 2 pm, the WBC offers a Public Sail, where people can sail on one of their exhibit boats, either helping sail it, or sitting back and enjoying the ride. The third Friday of every month the WBC offers free lectures by boat builders, craftspeople, adventurers, etc. Every second and fourth Thursday of the month the WBC hosts a "tug boat story time" which shares stories about boats and the sea and allows kids the opportunity to explore the Arthur Foss tugboat. There is also a free Wooden Boat Festival at the WBC from July 4-6, 2008. The WBC is also working with the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation to build a Northwest Native Canoe Center at the WBC site due to be open to the public in 2011. The WBC is also teaming up with Sidewalk Cinema to offer "float in" movies (like drive in movies) shown on the side of buildings around the waterfront where boats can float in to watch them from their boat decks!
Rent an Historic Wooden Sailboat by the Hour The "boat livery" at the WBC rents out rowboats, canoes, pedal boats, and even historic wooden sailboats. Anyone can rent out the rowboats, but to take out the sailboats you need to pass a minimum sailing skills test given to you at the WBC by their staff. The WBC has expressed an interest in making small craft use a part of daily city life in Seattle and also say that boat liveries have a history on Seattle's Lake Union. There are also internships and volunteer positions at the WBC, and you can trade volunteer hours for free sailing lessons and sailboat rental fees.
The experience of visiting the WBC was really nice. Much as the article "Biophilia and Emotional Well-Being" by P.Flanagan and G.C. Flanagan, suggests, natural surroundings make people feel better, and it felt good to be outside, on the docks, surrounded by water and boat culture for the day. I have been to inside maritime museums and was bored, frankly. This experience really brought boating and water culture to life and I think part of what made it so moving was the boats being in the natural setting of water under the sky. The article talks about past imprints on our psyches, using an example of people's wiring still reacting more to spiders and snakes than guns, and I wonder if seeing all of that boatcraft did not also reawaken olden connections to the sea and water in me. Also in that article, the authors speak about Native people feeling that many European houses were an unnatural shape and I can see some of that same thinking in the differences between the large wooden sailing ships and the Native people's simple, yet very effective, Umiak canoes.
I would say the funnest part of the experience was the fantasy involved. As you stood looking at these old and beautiful boats, you imagined the lives of those who used them. You imagined a time gone by when water crafts held many of the duties now held by cars. It was a slower time, a simpler time, and these boats made you stop and fantacize about being that lone fisherman leaving port in your small troller, about canoeing up the inlets of the San Juan Islands when the lands were barely populated, or even just about sailing in wooden schooners to Hawaii or Alaska...there is an element of fantasy involved as you look at such grand old ships with such spectacular histories.
The experience changed me as it reminded me of my childhood sailing with my father and made me realize that I could still sail. It made me realize sailing is within my reach, even if I am low income. It made me a little scared to realize that, as it put it back on me. It is not lack of money that is keeping me from sailing, it is not from lack of sailboats to use, etc. It is me, and me alone keeping me from sailing. And it made me want to challenge myself to go back to something I loved doing with my father as a child. Often I avoid such things as they make me sad and make me miss my father, who is estranged. But I am getting older, and want to share these types of things with my son, so I have begun to take seriously my desire to learn to sail again, so that I can expose my son to more things. And the way to that dream is slowly unfolding in front of me. Hopefully the next time I visit the WBC I will have the courage to at least rent a rowboat for an hour to get out on the water. I have not done watercraft and boating activities in decades, thus it is still a bit intimidating to me.
I found after the visit to the WBC that I wanted to think more about sailing and boats. I was impressed that so many boats on display were made via the WBC's boat making classes, and it made me think that even boat ownership was not completely outside of my income bracket. I seriously would love to take the family sailboat building class with my son to build our own sailboat we could then sail! I called a friend of mine to go out in a rowboat at the WBC with me asap. I would recommend the WBC to anyone, child and elder alike. I think anyone can enjoy this floating museum and I also plan to use its facilities much more now that I have experienced them. I think Seattle is much richer for the WBC's existence and I hope the WBC can continue on for many decades to come.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.
Kirsten Anderberg. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint/publish, please contact Kirsten at kirstena@resist.ca.