was converted back into a gaff-rigged schooner. She has carried passengers for hire as a charter vessel since then and has never fished a day in her life. I ask John why he went to all this
Owners John and Jullie Holbert
worked with David Thompson in Port Townsend did much of this contracting work.
The long hull planks were softened
for 3 hours in a steam box and then bent to fit the frames. Then the planks were clamped in place before they could cool—with only five planks broken during this process. The hull was finished with caulking, bunging, and fairing. This process and materials have changed very little for several hundred years. John recalls the laying of the final hull plank, the “whiskey plank”, and that he does not seem to remember much past that. The wooden anchor guard, blocks
and throat halyards were built of Brazilian cherry wood, turned on the lathe and milled for final assembly. The mast needed replacing, so John logged a 100 feet tall Douglas fir from the Olympic Peninsula forest. The mast measures 24 inches across the butt. The Merrie Ellen’s solid hull and
87 ton scale weight (including 60,000 pounds of pig lead ballast) soothes you into believing she could withstand a direct hit from anything smaller than an aircraft carrier—this schooner is as steady as a rock! The Merrie Ellen dates back to
1922, when Arthur Moscrop built her, in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a fishing schooner. Halfway through its construction, Moscrop learned that some World War I surplus boilers and steam engines were available from England, so he converted her into a steam tug. She was ballasted aft for a tug waterline and a tug pilothouse was plunked on her deck. Launched as the steam tug RFM, she worked as a tug for 55 years, and then in 1979
expense and time to restore an old schooner, and he explains that he had his epiphany, “while I was standing on a dock at Port Townsend at a wooden boat festival, watching the Ragland move away from the dock. I saw her sails go up, and that was it.” John recalls the time when he was standing on the scaffolding at the transom with one of the shipwrights when an onlooker
said, “Wow, somebody has too much money!” The shipwright didn’t even look up when he answered, “Well, he used to”. Since the restoration of the Merrie
Ellen, John Holbert has become a walking encyclopedia of all things schooner. Name a book about schooners and he’s read it—he’s enthusiastic about these boats and their history and hopes to infuse his charter passengers with a love of these grand dames of the sea.
48° N
NEWS FROM SEAVIEW
Winner of AWB 2011 Environmental Excellence Award Now featuring Martyr Cadmium Free Aluminum Anodes
SEAVIEW WEST
At Shilshole Bay Marina
206-783-6550
west@seaviewboatyard.com
SEAVIEW NORTH
At Squalicum Harbor Marina
360-676-8282
north@seaviewboatyard.com
www.seaviewboatyard.com 48° NORTH, JUNE 2011 PAGE 51
SEAVIEW YACHT SERVICE FAIRHAVEN In Bellingham’s Fairhaven District
360-594-4314
fairhaven@seaviewboatyard.com
Dear Valued Seaview Customer, This spring brings a couple of major changes to Seaview Boatyard.
We are very excited to announce a significant expansion at Seaview Yacht Service Fairhaven in Bellingham. We’re adding a 30,000 square foot repair and storage building to our existing site. This will enable us to offer more enclosed work space as well as also heated and secure storage space to customers looking for inside dry storage during the off season.
The multi‐year expansion of Seaview West at Shilshole Bay Marina continues as well. Over the years we have added more stalls, constructed a state‐of‐the‐art paint building and mechanics shop, built a new travelift pier, purchased a new 55 ton travelift, increased the size of our yard store, installed a storm water treatment system and now we’re making room to accommodate additional shop and office space.
Additionally, we are in the planning stages of an expansion of Seaview North at Squalicum Harbor Marina in Bellingham. To go along with our 165 ton travelift we are designing a paint and repair building modeled after the facility at Seaview West. It will be the only building of its type in the area that is capable of meeting the tough environmental standards for air quality.
And finally, after 25 years of service to Puget Sound boaters, Seaview East will be closing on June 30th, 2011. We were not able to come to mutually agreeable terms with our landlord. As a result, we have decided to close the yard and will be transferring personnel and equipment to our other Seattle and Bellingham facilities. It was a difficult decision but we believe that the expansion of services and staffing at our Shilshole location will enable us to continue to provide excellent service to our Seattle customers.
We are looking forward to the upcoming boating season and hope that we can provide the help you need to make it enjoyable for you and your crew.
Sincerely,
Phil Riise President, Seaview Boatyard
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