Saving the Big Ship
9/26/2003
Day Two: A Near Disaster, But Ended Well
Today was the second day of working on Wawona. But it nearly ended before it started. I was on the main deck and at the hatchway to the fo'c'sle. It's usually covered with some plywood to discourage homeless people. I lifted the plywood and stepped right into the hole. I fell, but only a few feet: I landed on my butt on the edge of the main deck. I could've broken my neck. I felt like a complete dolt.
Once I started paying attention again, I went to work moving the rest of the old lumber from the fo'c'sle to shore. Most of it is tongue and groove planking, with a few two by sixes and a two-by-twelve thrown in for good measure. Today was unusually warm for Seattle in September, in the 70s. Sweat was pouring into my eyes and the fo'c'sle was very dusty.
On shore, I sorted the lumber. Dave, who is supervising me, says "Those stacks of lumber are looking great!" I say, "I'm working damn hard on them." He says the same thing to me again later, but I don't answer. Once I moved all the lumber to shore, I swept up the dirt and dust. I put about a dozen rusted iron bolts on a five-foot long 12x12 beam cut from a single tree in the middle of the fo'c'sle. I didn't try to move that beam.
I met a middle-aged woman in a blue patterned shirt on the main deck who said, "You've been doing a lot of work lately on the bow in the last few weeks, haven't you." By "you," she meant the organization. The fact is, very little has been done on the bow for several months. I said, "Well, no. Not much has been done for a while." She said she was on her lunch hour from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center office nearby. It makes me wonder whether just the sight of somethone working on Wawona suggests that progress is being made on the repair/restoration. Of course, that's not the case.
I talked to a elderly, but fit man in a cloth cap visiting with his eight-year-old grandson. They came down into the hold while I was in the fo'c'sle. He said he was from Anacortes, where the Wawona was based for some years. He told me about another vessel similar to Wawona that was used as a breakwater. Instead of masts, trees were now growing out of the main deck. The boy said I should write about the "Keep Out" sign at the doorway to the fo'c'sle.
Contact the author: Joe Follansbee
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Once I started paying attention again, I went to work moving the rest of the old lumber from the fo'c'sle to shore. Most of it is tongue and groove planking, with a few two by sixes and a two-by-twelve thrown in for good measure. Today was unusually warm for Seattle in September, in the 70s. Sweat was pouring into my eyes and the fo'c'sle was very dusty.
On shore, I sorted the lumber. Dave, who is supervising me, says "Those stacks of lumber are looking great!" I say, "I'm working damn hard on them." He says the same thing to me again later, but I don't answer. Once I moved all the lumber to shore, I swept up the dirt and dust. I put about a dozen rusted iron bolts on a five-foot long 12x12 beam cut from a single tree in the middle of the fo'c'sle. I didn't try to move that beam.
I met a middle-aged woman in a blue patterned shirt on the main deck who said, "You've been doing a lot of work lately on the bow in the last few weeks, haven't you." By "you," she meant the organization. The fact is, very little has been done on the bow for several months. I said, "Well, no. Not much has been done for a while." She said she was on her lunch hour from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center office nearby. It makes me wonder whether just the sight of somethone working on Wawona suggests that progress is being made on the repair/restoration. Of course, that's not the case.
I talked to a elderly, but fit man in a cloth cap visiting with his eight-year-old grandson. They came down into the hold while I was in the fo'c'sle. He said he was from Anacortes, where the Wawona was based for some years. He told me about another vessel similar to Wawona that was used as a breakwater. Instead of masts, trees were now growing out of the main deck. The boy said I should write about the "Keep Out" sign at the doorway to the fo'c'sle.
Contact the author: Joe Follansbee
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9/19/2003
Day One: Gearing Up, Unloading Lumber
I've started this blog today to record my thoughts after doing volunteer work about the Wawona, a 106-year-old sailing ship in Seattle. I'm doing the volunteer work as research for a book on the Wawona and Northwest Seaport, the non-profit organization that owns it.
Today was my first day as a volunteer. The ship is 165 feet long with a 35-foot beam. She was built in 1897 as a lumber carrier, and then served as a fishing vessel. Her last working voyage was in 1947. Since then, she's been a barge and a hulk. She was purchased by a group of prominent Seattle businesspeople in the 1960s and local people have been working to restore her ever since. However, she is slowly deteriorating, and now the City of Seattle wants moved. It's unclear whether she'll have a home this time next year.
Today was my first day as a volunteer. I want to get a better feel for the vessel by actually working on her. I have no boatbuilding or sailing skills. But I have two hands and strong back, and so I offered to do pretty much anything. The shipwright, Bill White, put me to work clearing some old lumber out of the fo'c'sle, the forward part of the vessel just under the main deck in front of the foremast. (She has three masts.)
Much of the lumber was good fir, some of it very heavy and dense. Maybe old growth. There were a lot of tongue and groove planks about 1/2 inch think and in very good condition. Some 4x4s and a few 2x4s. I don't know if this is original lumber or not.
To get the wood to shore, I tossed it through a hatch onto the main deck. Then I slid it down to the shore via ramp made of three long pieces of scrap lumber. Once on shore, I tried to sort the good lumber from the obvious scrap and made a couple of piles. I tried to put one pile on a kind of two-wheeled cart with solid rubber tires. The cart's wooden frame was falling apart. When I tried to move, the lumber shifted and I couldn't move the cart! I'll try again next week.
Contact the author: Joe Follansbee
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Today was my first day as a volunteer. The ship is 165 feet long with a 35-foot beam. She was built in 1897 as a lumber carrier, and then served as a fishing vessel. Her last working voyage was in 1947. Since then, she's been a barge and a hulk. She was purchased by a group of prominent Seattle businesspeople in the 1960s and local people have been working to restore her ever since. However, she is slowly deteriorating, and now the City of Seattle wants moved. It's unclear whether she'll have a home this time next year.
Today was my first day as a volunteer. I want to get a better feel for the vessel by actually working on her. I have no boatbuilding or sailing skills. But I have two hands and strong back, and so I offered to do pretty much anything. The shipwright, Bill White, put me to work clearing some old lumber out of the fo'c'sle, the forward part of the vessel just under the main deck in front of the foremast. (She has three masts.)
Much of the lumber was good fir, some of it very heavy and dense. Maybe old growth. There were a lot of tongue and groove planks about 1/2 inch think and in very good condition. Some 4x4s and a few 2x4s. I don't know if this is original lumber or not.
To get the wood to shore, I tossed it through a hatch onto the main deck. Then I slid it down to the shore via ramp made of three long pieces of scrap lumber. Once on shore, I tried to sort the good lumber from the obvious scrap and made a couple of piles. I tried to put one pile on a kind of two-wheeled cart with solid rubber tires. The cart's wooden frame was falling apart. When I tried to move, the lumber shifted and I couldn't move the cart! I'll try again next week.
Contact the author: Joe Follansbee
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