Ahoy! Nautical News (just in time for Father's Day)

The 1913 tall ship ADVENTURESS, Puget Sound's own "Environment Ship"   Photo courtesy of Sound Experience

Living in the Puget Sound area's maritime environment means plenty of interesting things to do, explore, and learn about, in connection with the sea. Today I have three items of nautical news to share with you that can enrich those experiences.

1.) Fyddeye Guide and Book Trailer

I love hearing from my friend Joe Follansbee, because he's always up to something exciting. I met this interesting man aboard the tall ship ADVENTURESS during a public sail on Elliot Bay. By that time he had already authored several books, including "Shipbuilders, Sea Captains, and Fishermen: the Story of the Schooner Wawona."  Next, he started a website called "Fyddeye,"  an online community for people interested in maritime history, including old ships, lighthouses, museums and much more.

Then it wasn't long before I found myself writing about Joe again, when he published the Fyddeye Guide to America's Maritime History. It's the perfect gift for any Dad who has an interest in maritime history (even if he doesn't know it, yet!) But wait. There's more. 

Just this week Joe told me about his new video trailer for "The Fyddeye Guide." I expected it to be informative, but it turned out to be funny too. When you watch it, you'll chuckle, but you can also learn how to get the useful free gift Joe has waiting for you. No purchase required. Enjoy!

2.) Help the historic tall ship ADVENTURESS on JUNE 23 through the Seattle Foundation's "GiveBig" program

I never would have met Joe Follansbee or learned about his books, if I had not gone sailing on the tall ship ADVENTURESS, owned by the non-profit organization Sound Experience.  I've written about this elegant old wooden schooner a number of times.

Here are a few earlier blog posts:

Adventure on ADVENTURESS: A Tale of Tall Ships

Setting Sail for the Future

Serving My Country With Sandpaper

Tall ship ADVENTURESS on Puget Sound. Photo courtesy of Sound Experience

It takes a lot of money to maintain a 1913 schooner and the important programs Sound Experience offers. This organization provides everyone, including about 3,000 children and teens per year, with the opportunity to sail on this historic vessel and learn about the environment of Puget Sound. If you're thinking of making a tax-deductible donation to Sound Experience during 2011, PLEASE do it on June 23, when the Seattle Foundation with match a portion of your donation if you make it through a link on their website.

FATHER'S DAY GIFT IDEA: How about treating Dad to a Sound Experience membership, with its many benefits, including sailing on the ship for free. You can do this right now, online here. If you your father is deceased, you might considered remembering him on Father's Day by making a donation in his name.

And last, but certainly not least:

3.) New Exhibit at Tacoma's Working Waterfront Maritime Museum

Photo by Jan Adams

If you've never been to this maritime museum, part of the Foss Waterway Seaport on Commencement Bay in Tacoma, you've missed out on a regional treasure. An afternoon spent there would make the perfect Father's Day gift. Kid-friendly and fun, this place will fascinate the whole family, and the new exhibit that opened last weekend is especially exciting. Come see "Wheels, Whistles, and Wonder: the Extraordinary Maritime Collection of Bill Somers."

How I wish I could take my father with me to see Bill Somer's collection again, but he passed away last year at age 96. He drove a freight truck back in the days when a man named Charles Somers and his son C.W."Bill" Somers started the St. Charles Winery on Stretch Island, just after Prohibition was repealed in 1933. At that time wine was "fortified," and that involved the addition of sugar which Dad picked up in Tacoma and delivered to the winery. Every time he arrived with his load, the two young men saw each other, and they became well acquainted.

Later on, when Bill used the old winery to house his vast collection of maritime memorabilia, Dad visited now and then, when out for a drive with my mother or friends. But the years passed and things changed. Mom died and Dad moved out of the family home and into an assisted living situation. He couldn't drive anymore. He missed that freedom to wander the roads and see people and places from his past.

On a sunny summer day that I'll never forget, not long before the end of Bill's life, my husband and I drove Dad out to Stretch Island again. I had never been there before. I remember the peaceful rural scene, the silent winery building and the old house on a hill overlooking the calm, blue waters of Hood Canal.


We were the only guests and enjoyed a personalized tour conducted by Bill himself, while the two old friends enjoyed each other's company. At one point, he pushed a button on a dusty old cassette player, and I shivered to hear what seemed like voices of ghosts, the actual whistle sounds of various vessels including the Mosquito Fleet steamers that once kept people, freight, and the local economy moving via the waters of Puget Sound.

Photo by Jan Adams

When I heard about the collection coming to Tacoma, I worried about that little cassette tape. Nothing else like it exists anywhere. What a relief it was to learn that those precious recorded sounds from the past are now safely preserved in digital format. You can hear them yourself when you visit this exhibit.

I will miss my father on this Father's Day. If you are lucky enough to still have yours, enjoy him while you can. Consider visiting the Working Waterfront Museum to create a memory you will savor in years to come, just like I do mine.

HOURS:Wednesday to Friday – 10:00 to 5:00 PM

Saturday/Sunday – Noon to 5:00 PM

ADMISSION: $7.00–Adults, $4.00–Children/Students/Military/Seniors 62+, $15.00–Family (up to 5 members)

A Tale of Stout Hearts and Strong Hands: 1922 schooner MERRIE ELLEN visits Tacoma

If ships believe in reincarnation, the old schooner RFM must have had a lot of good karma to end up as the MERRIE ELLEN in its new life. My husband first spotted the two masts in the glow of Saturday's early evening. We were driving south on Schuster Parkway, past Tacoma's Working Waterfront Museum, so only got a quick glance at the unfamiliar schooner and wondered about it during dinner at a restaurant. On our way home we decided to stop by.

The museum's doors stood open as we pulled into the parking lot, but it seemed surprising that no one crowded around the elegant MERRIE ELLEN moored nearby. Out on the pier, a couple of families with numerous, lively children, took more interest in the crabs they hauled up and dropped into plastic buckets. No one seemed to pay much attention to this noteworthy visitor on Tacoma's waterfront. The word hadn't gotten out yet.

Our footsteps echoed down the metal ramp as we walked over to where the schooner floated on calm water. On deck, a black and white dog picked up a rope toy and ran over to see if we wanted to play, just as Captain John Holbert noticed us and came over to the ladder to say hello. After a few words with him, we knew we wanted to come aboard and tour the boat, for a mere $5.00 each. It was the best value I've ever had from a five spot. Don't miss this brief opportunity to visit, before the MERRIE ELLEN leaves Tacoma about noon on Thursday, July 16, for the Waterland Festival in the city of Des Moines, Washington. Or go on a three hour sail for $50.00. You won't be able to do either when the ship is on view in Des Moines.


John and Jill Holbert, dreamed of buying and restoring a vintage schooner. When they found what would become the MERRIE ELLEN in 2007, in Victoria, B.C. they recognized it as "the one," but probably never imagined how much work awaited them. Accustomed to their 62' fiberglass ketch, just climbing aboard the 107' ship, with a 20' beam and a weight of 320,000 lbs., gave a new and literal meaning to the term "big project." Originally called simply "RFM" the ship had been built in Vancouver B.C. in 1922. She showed her age, inside and out.

"I tapped the hull on that first day," says John in his ship's log, "and it sounded odd, so I pushed the point of my knife against the hull and it sank in with no effort."

As it turned out, a large percentage of the planking and 42 frames had rotted. He hired expert ship surveyor Lee Earhart to examine the hull. Earhart declared it worth restoring, but the estimate for those expenses alone came to six figures. The work seemed endless. It included searching the forest for a Douglas fir long and straight enough for a mast, redoing the mechanical systems, hand forging ships spikes, acquiring specialty woods like Western Larch, Alaskan yellow cedar, and Brazilian Purple Heart, caulking and finishing work, and so much more. It's been a long adventure marked by both discouragement and elation. The Holberts estimate that during five months in 2008, 10,000 man-hours went into the ship's restoration, often during cold, windy, and rainy weather. Friends donated half of those man-hours. The Holberts' gratitude to these folks and the marine trades experts in the Port Townsend area can hardly be expressed, but they themselves worked as hard as anyone, on all kinds of tasks. Among other things, John designed and fabricated new halyard winches to look like vintage ones that would have been made of cast iron, and did exquisitely beautiful woodwork in the interior. Jill shared her talents and efforts in as many ways.

The work continues. If you visit the MERRIE ELLEN in Tacoma this week, you can see enough exposed below decks to appreciate the amount of work represented. At the same time what is finished will take your breath away. A modern cooking surface in the gourmet galley lifts to become part of a tiled wall, revealing the ship's original Lunenburg wood cook stove beneath. Charming light fixtures lend a glow to the Alaskan yellow cedar cabin walls, doors close with a perfect fit, and one table surface is built with an inlaid wood game board. There's even an all-wood shower stall that will be epoxied to make it completely waterproof.

Life aboard this schooner, when it is ready to work as a charter, will offer many comforts and much beauty. Jill came up with the idea of free form sinks of laminated wood in the heads, of which there are several, including a private one for each of the three guest staterooms. Each stateroom will hold a queen-sized bed and receive part of its illumination from from deck prisms installed above. In fact, the schooner's abundance of natural daylight in most areas made it exceptional.

Please visit the ship's website to see many photos of the restoration, read about charter trip costs, amenities, and more. John Holbert can be reached at mobile number 541-740-0053, or email him at john_holbert55@yahoo.com.

I'm glad my husband spotted those two masts as we drove by. We feel lucky to have met the Holberts and their crew, and to have a chance to see an amazing restoration project. Maybe one of these days soon, when their charter business is underway, we'll even take a trip on the schooner. You can too. But we'd all better get in line.


















A proud family models the MERRIE ELLEN merchandise.