Wallingford Neighborhood Advice on North Lake Union Snubbed

Metro staff cold-shouldered the Wallingford neighborhood and maritime heritage last month when it called for more study of options for the "waterfront parcel." You'll remember that a "stakeholders working group" of citizens put together by Metro recommended in August that the county dedicate the waterfront property it owns next to the Seattle Harbor Patrol dock to historic ship preservation. On September 8, Metro staff, the people who asked the working group for advice, said the county "does not have a vested interest" in the waterfront parcel and recommended further study. Most importantly, it called for the study after someone looks into a potential Lake Union water taxi. I think this suggests that staff is predisposed to the taxi. If the water taxi study comes up roses, and Metro has property on the water, what's the point of studying other uses, such as historic preservation?

The Wallingford neighborhood, Seattle Parks & Rec, 4Culture, and maritime heritage supporters back historic preservation as the best use of the property. Why is Metro staff ignoring us? Tell Metro and the County Council's Transportation Committee to follow the recommendations of its own citizen advisors. Here's the website for the North Lake Union Properties and the Transportation Committee. Both contain contact information.

Contact: Pat Cleary, Senior Community Relations Planner, 206-684-1142, pat.cleary@metrokc.gov

Groups To Nominate Task Force Members; "Star Power" Recruitment Continues

4Culture has invited 10 maritime heritage organizations with major collections to nominate one person to the upcoming 15-member independent maritime heritage task force. Everyone's been asked to keep the whole community's interests in mind, not just their own organization. The nomination deadline is Oct. 18. 4Culture is also recruiting some "star power" for the independent maritime heritage task force. They met with a number of people last month, all of whom have names which would bring instant credibility to the task force. (I've been asked to keep the names confidential.) They would also raise the visibility of maritime heritage and have the persuasive power to effect change. I'm hoping for a public announcement soon.

Contacts: Charles Payton, 206-296-8693, charles.payton@4culture.org, or Flo Lentz, 206-296-8682, flo.lentz@4culture.org

4Culture Announces Grants to Maritime Heritage Orgs

Three King County maritime heritage organizations and one individual (me) were awarded $16,300 in grants last month to complete some very exciting projects. Here's the rundown:

Virginia V Foundation: $6,000 for an elementary school curriculum with Valley View Elementary School in the Highline School District

Center for Wooden Boats: $3,000 for self-guided walking and boating guides of local maritime heritage sites

Northwest Seaport: $3,800 for historic interpretive displays for the schooner Wawona

Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center: $2,000 for a walking tour map of the Seattle waterfront

Joe Follansbee: $1,500 for completion of a manuscript on the history of Wawona

Congratulations to all the recipients!

NWS Debates Acquisition of Halibut Schooner; Is This the Right Time?

Northwest Seaport may be taking on a fifth vessel, the halibut schooner Yakutat. Board member Craig Webster tells me that NWS has been offered a grant of $55,000 spread over two years to purchase, repair, renovate, and operate it. Alaska Ocean Seafood of Anacortes has offered the money. The father of Jeff Hendricks, owner and general manager of AOS, once skippered the schooner. AOS has also offered an annual endowment of $4,500 if NWS demonstrates progress and success. Yakutat is currently owned by a Lopez Island not-for-profit. The 1913 wooden vessel is currently in drydock at Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes. DCI is doing some needed repairs for free. Deer Harbor Marina on Orcas Island in the San Juans has offered moorage to Yakutat when she returns to the water, meaning it won't be based in Lake Union. Craig says supporters hope to create environmental education programs over the winter.

Yakutat clearly has historical value. I ran across a reference to it in the 1945 novel Great Son, by Edna Ferber, an important Seattle writer. But people inside and outside NWS who care about historic preservation are baffled. Why is Northwest Seaport considering taking on a major new project when its current vessels are in serious jeopardy? Wawona is under threat of eviction. Is NWS lobbying the county for a favorable decision on North Lake Union, just in case Seattle Parks prevents Wawona from mooring at the Historic Ships Wharf? Swiftsure may lose state funding. And even if it doesn't, the ship faces months of repair work. Twilight is half-finished. Arthur Foss needs work on its hull.

Can NWS manage a major new project? Let's look at the organization the way a major funder would, starting with the financials. NWS operated in severe deficit in 2002 and 2003, according to a grant application filed with 4Culture (see next story). The value of its assets are falling, according to a review of its IRS 990s. (BTW, almost all other heritage orgs at SLUP show significant growth over the same period.) It reported no membership income last year. And projected earned income next year is 40 percent less than 2002. What about experience and long-term plans? NWS has never managed a vessel or its programs and volunteers "long distance." And it's not clear what happens to Yakutat after the two years, even if the endowment is won. The vessel is mentioned in just one section of NWS' strategic plan (see below) and not after 2004.

It's a sad fact that NWS has almost no credibility in the maritime heritage community at large. Acquisition of Yakutat would damage its credibility even more. Some in the community believe an acquisition would further threaten the vessels it already owns. The project is worthy, but the timing is tragic. NWS should not burden itself with another major responsibility.

Contact: Joe Shickich, NWS board president, jshickich@Riddellwilliams.com

$25K Requested for Wawona; Companion Strategic Plan Misses the Mark

Northwest Seaport has requested $25,052 from 4Culture, King County's arts and heritage agency, for the first major restoration project on Wawona since work on the bow in the late 1990s. The project includes replacing worn or temporary rigging on all three masts, conditioning the wood of the masts, and installing/replacing the masts' foundations. The total budget for the project is $51,632. The grant says "work will occur at the current location at South Lake Union Park."

The most interesting part of the grant application, which is on file at 4Culture's offices downtown, is NWS' strategic plan. Although the plan was written in haste to meet grant application requirements, the board should be praised for its comprehensiveness, detail, and ambition. Unfortunately, I found almost nothing significantly new in it. Some of the language nearly duplicates Seaport minutes I've read from the 1960s. At best, this codifies old plans in the context of new times. An opportunity has been missed.

The problem with most of the maritime heritage community is the inability to dream on the scale of grand opera, not the high school play. To use a financial metaphor, everyone needs to think in seven and eight figures, not the pocket change of $25K and $50K. Maybe we should ask whether small, clubby organizations run by volunteers have the strength to achieve these kinds of goals.

What Should We Do With Wawona? Vote Now!

I've received yet more feedback suggesting Wawona should be broken up, with pieces saved for some future exhibit. I'd like to gauge the entire community's feeling about this. In the spirit of the election season, let's vote Wawona's fate. Should she be preserved/restored whole? Or should she be broken into pieces? Go to this online survey form and vote. Only one question. It takes one minute. All votes are confidential; I'll have no idea who voted what way. No registration required. I'll report the results next month.

Click Here: Vote Wawona's Fate!

PSMHS Booth Spotted at Fishermen's Fall Festival

Kudos to the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society for setting up a booth at September's Fishermen's Fall Festival at Fishermen's Terminal. My family attended and we spent many hours learning about the fishing industry and chowing down on salmon. If you're looking for potential donors or sponsors for your event, here's a complete list of the Festival sponsors:

Trident Seafoods, Arctic Storm, ABD Services, American Seafoods, NW Fisheries Association, Shoreline Bank, Ocean Beauty Seafoods, North Pacific Longline Association, Yardarm Knots, Viking Bank, City Ice Cold St0rage, Western Pioneer, Glacier Fish Company, Alfa Tech, Delta Western, Hampidjian USA, Ildhuso Fisheries, At Sea Processors Association, Spartan Ltd., Puget Sound Salmon Commission, Fisherman's News, International Guild of Knot Tyers, Washington Sea Grant Program, Port of Seattle, Norquest Seafoods, Fish Expo, Work Boat Northwest, Alaska Fishermen's Journal, National Fisherman, Afishionado Gallery, The Bay Cafe, Carlson Insurance, Chinook's at Salmon Bay, Diversified Communications, Fishing Vessel Owners Association, Fishermen's Terminal Barber Shop, United Catcher Boats, and Wild Salmon Seafood Market.

They sponsored this event. They might sponsor yours!

Contact: Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society website

Six SLU Orgs Put On Maritime Heritage Open House, Meet Regularly

The leading maritime heritage organizations sponsored an open house at South Lake Union Park on Sept. 25 & 26, focusing on educational materials for teachers. The organizations were Center for Wooden Boats, Northwest Seaport, Discovery Modelers Education Center, Sailing Heritage Society, Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, and Northwest Schooner Society. One of the items offered was a new CD-ROM of educational materials. The working group of South Lake Union Park "tenants" organized the event under CWB's leadership, and I'm told the group continues to meet regularly to coordinate activities.

Wawona Benefit Reading

A group of six maritime writers, including myself, will host a benefit reading for the schooner Wawona at the Center for Wooden Boats boathouse on October 14 at 7:30 p.m. The other writers are Barbara Sjoholm, author of the recently published The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, as well as Joe Upton, Holly Hughes, Migael Scherer, and Clyde W. Ford. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $5.00 seniors/students. All proceeds benefit restoration of the Wawona.

Contact: Joe Follansbee, joef@speakeasy.net, 206-932-7578

Shameless Self Promotion

I've already mentioned the Benefit Reading for Wawona on October 14 above. I also had an article published on Wawona in this quarter's Maritime Life & Traditions.

Maritime Heritage Calendar

Regular Events

Work parties every Saturday on Wawona, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Info

Reading Tuesdays for children at OMDC, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Info

Puget Sound Ship Modelers Monthly Meeting, every third Thursday, Discovery Modelers Education Center, Armory Building, South Lake Union Park, 7 p.m. Info

Third Friday Speaker Series, 7 p.m., CWB Boathouse. Info

Monthly Chantey Sing, every second Friday, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., aboard Wawona, FREE (donation requested). Info

Selected Special Events

Nautical Film Series, "Mutiny on the Bounty", starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, Oct. 2, 7:45 p.m., aboard Wawona, chantey singing until dark. FREE (donation requested). Info

Salvaging the MS Diamond Knot, Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society Monthly Dinner Meeting, Oct. 6, 7 p.m. Info

ROV's and Hunting for Treasure, Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center, Oct. 9, 10 a.m. & 1 p.m., Info

Tool Making Workshop, Center for Wooden Boats, Oct. 9 & 10, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Info

Benefit Reading for Wawona, Center for Wooden Boats, Oct. 14, 7:30 p.m. Info

Tall Ships 2005, (Lecture), Center for Wooden Boats, Oct. 15, 7 p.m. Info

Annual Wawona Winter Cover Work Party, Oct. 16, South Lake Union Park, 10 a.m. to completion, lunch provided. All hands needed to put up Wawona's winter cloak to keep the rain off. Info

Music Concert Series, Shanghaied on the Willamette with Sanger & Diddle, Oct. 16, 8 p.m., Center for Wooden Boats, $10 general, $7 seniors/students/maritime heritage organization members. Info

The Virginia V celebrates her Scandinavian heritage along with the Scandinavian Language Institute, the Nordic Heritage Museum. Proceeds benefit V5, SLI, and NHM. Oct. 16. Info

Half Model Workshop, Center for Wooden Boats, Oct. 16 & 17, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Info

Sandcasting and Foundry Techniques, Center for Wooden Boats, Oct. 16 & 17, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Info

Wet Pets - Fish Tanks at Home, Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center, Oct. 23, 10 a.m. & 1 p.m. Info

How to Make a Ship Model, Discovery Modelers Education Center, Oct. 30 10 a.m. - Noon. Info

Chesapeake Bay Flattie/Swift Pilot Boat Workshop, Discovery Modelers Education Center, 12:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Info

The Virginia V visits some old “haunts” on Halloween! Tricks-n-treats and activities will make this a fun family event. Oct. 30. Info

Send calendar items to Joe Follansbee.

Calls for Volunteers

Wawona needs volunteers to scrape paint, reef decks, caulk seams, greet visitors, staff the gift shop, write grants, manage cookie sales at events, and just about everything else a non-profit organization needs done. If you'd like to volunteer, contact Alice Winship, 206-448-0707, walice1@qwest.net.

The 1889 tug Arthur Foss needs your help for a variety of projects, including scraping/sanding in prep for painting, diesel engine work, grant writing, program development, sign making, even sewing. Contact Lois Jerden, letloisdoit@juno.com.

Send calls for volunteers to Joe Follansbee.

Maritime Heritage Classifieds

Send job postings, items for sale, and announcements to Joe Follansbee. Postings to "Saving the Big Ship" are free. Please limit to 25 words. Don't forget contact info!

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