Few nautical sights inspire as


much as a beautiful, 127-foot schooner with her enormous 12-story high main mast and 7,000 square feet of canvas billowing overhead. But, as the crew and passengers on the historic schooner Zodiac found out last September 25, it’s not much fun when the mainmast breaks. At 1:01 pm, while sailing on a


starboard tack southbound from Echo Bay, one mile west of Village Point on Lummi Island, the mainmast came crashing down, injuring two people. Captain Tim Mehrer ran forward to check for injuries, and then returned to


the helm while ordering all sails to be dropped immediately. Within an hour two Coast Guard


boats from Bellingham station had transported the injured to emergency medical services onshore, while the remaining passengers, a group of junior high school students, were transferred to a nearby “good samaritan” boat that returned them to Bellingham Bay. Fortunately, it was a warm, clear day, with waves less than one meter high, so all went smoothly. Now the Vessel Zodiac Corporation


was faced with the problem of replacing the mainmast, no easy feat when you


Above: After being squared off, the log was loaded onto the giant lathe. The lathing process then took about two weeks to whittle it down from 123 feet to 117 feet with a 18” diameter base. It was the longest single solid piece of wood ever turned on a lathe.


Below: The selected, second growth Douglas Fir for the mainmast arrives at Seaport Spar Shop in Aberdeen, Washington.


48° NORTH, AUGUST 2011 PAGE 35


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