Expanding the Fleet: F/V Tordenskjold

The Log of Northwest Seaport
March 2016
Expanding the Fleet: F/V Tordenskjold
By Nathaniel Howe, Executive Director
The halibut schooner F/V Tordenskjold unloading fish in Seward, Alaska
in 1982. Photo: Marvin Gjerde.
Northwest Seaport is growing! After more than fifteen years
since we last acquired a ‘new’ vessel, Northwest Seaport is
fundraising to take on a genuine icon of our maritime past; the
1911 halibut schooner Tordenskjold.
Built in Ballard by John Strand in 1911, Tordenskjold is
now one of the oldest halibut schooners remaining. In its
century of fishing it has worked up and down the West Coast
catching not only halibut, but also crab, shrimp, tuna, and even
sharks—a catch highly valued by the US armed forces during
WWII. Fishing with dories, long-lines, pelagic trawl nets, and
bottom trawls, Tordenskjold worked in more fisheries than any
other halibut schooner and is believed to have the rare
distinction of being the only boat in the fleet to have never lost
a man at sea.
After the 2012 fishing season, Tordenskjold’s owner, Marvin
Gjerde, decided it’s time to retire from fishing. He had cared
March 2016
for the boat and operated it since 1979 and had
succeeded in seeing her complete a full century
of fishing. The boat still has a lot of years left in
her and the rest of the halibut schooner fleet
continues to carry on the tradition, but finding a
buyer who wants to put in the time, cash, and
effort to keep a vessel like Tordenskjold in prime
fishing condition is hard to find these days.
Today’s fishermen typically want bigger, more
powerful boats with less demanding maintenance
needs. Gjerde wanted to find a new owner to take
on Tordenskjold and give it the care and devotion
it needs and deserves—just as he has for the past
38 years. He found the devoted caretaker he was
looking for in Northwest Seaport.
We are now raising $140,000 to take on the
vessel and begin the needed surveys and
modifications to get it certified to carry
passengers. As an operational museum ship,
Tordenskjold will have a cushy retirement, free
of violent gales and cresting seas. Its principal
duty will be to serve as a mobile education
platform, carrying school children and interested
tour groups on short excursions along our city’s
one-of-a-kind working waterfront, visiting
Fishermen’s Terminal, the locks, and teaching
about the innovation and sustainable practices
that enable these amazing 100 year-old vessels—
designed and built here in Puget Sound—to keep
on fishing for over a century.
Please join us in this community effort to save
Tordenskjold as an icon of our maritime city by
donating today, by mail or online at
www.nwseaport.org. Thank you.
Page 1
The Log of Northwest Seaport
2016 Board of Directors
THE PORTOLAN
Charting the Future: Vessel Master Plans
Northwest Seaport has established Vessel Master Plans for the
restoration, maintenance, and interpretation of its historic ships.
The project, carried out by Cutwater Archaeology, was funded
through a Preservation Projects grant from King County
4Culture. Each vessel now has a structured plan including
sixteen chapters covering everything from interior paint schemes
to visitor safety and routine deck maintenance practices.
Perhaps the most significant part of the Master Plans is the
chapter examining the vessels’ histories and recommending the
best period for the restorations to recreate. Like most old ships,
both Arthur Foss and Lightship No. 83 have undergone many
changes during their long years of service. Arthur Foss started
out as a steam tug named Wallowa, only assuming its current
Staff
appearance and illustrious name in 1934—more than 45 years
Nathaniel Howe
after it was launched. Similarly, the lightship had a very different
Executive Director
configuration in its early days when the beacon lights were oil
lanterns hoisted up and down the masts and the wheelhouse was
Saxon Bisbee
a small booth on the deck. After the 1934 to 1937 refits, the
Nautical Archaeologist & Vessel Manager
lightship boasted a modern wheelhouse, an advanced radio
house aft, and had all electric lighting systems.
Adrian Lipp
Senior Engineer
Restoring the ships to their original configurations is both
impractical and unethical as it would require removing
Philip Cole
irreplaceable historic material from the vessels’ later decades of
Chief Engineer
service, including the giant 1934 diesel engine aboard the tug.
Consequently, the Master Plans recommend restoring
the ships to periods that are both historically significant
and yet do not call for destruction of surviving material.
For the Lightship, the report recommends that any time
a medieval navigation chart that maps the routes to
from 1937 to 1960 would be very reasonable to
foreign ports with compass bearings, realistic
recreate. Not much changed aboard the ship during
descriptions of coasts, waterways, and bays derived
those years. Similarly, Arthur Foss underwent very few
from the Italian word portolano, meaning "related to
alterations after 1934, but the oldest detailed
ports or harbors."
information dates to 1940. The Northwest Seaport
Board will review the recommendations and decide on
Published quarterly by Northwest Seaport, a nonprofit
the target years for the ships’ restorations to bring back
organization dedicated to the preservation and
to life.
interpretation of the maritime heritage of Puget Sound
Special thanks are due to King County 4Culture for
and the Northwest Coast, and to the development of
providing the funding to develop this important
maritime-based educational programs and opportunities
proactive planning tool that will guide the long-term
for the broad community.
preservation of our historic ships.
Andy Bennett (President)
Jim Flies (Vice President)
Shannon Fitzgerald (Treasurer)
Colleen Browne (Secretary)
Joe Shickich
Barbara Klee
Chad See
Diane Spaulding
Flo Lentz
Steve Sewell
“p o r t – o - l a n”
Northwest Seaport
PO Box 9744 • Seattle, Washington 98109
(206) 447-9800
info@nwseaport.org
www.nwseaport.org
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March 2016
The Log of Northwest Seaport
THE PORTOLAN
Arthur Foss Heading to Drydock
Planning is in full swing for drydocking the 1889
tugboat Arthur Foss at a local shipyard in late
summer. It’s been nine years since the tug was last
hauled out for a survey and a coat of fresh paint. This
time, however, the project plan calls for more than
just “a shave and a haircut,” as they say on the
waterfront.
The 2016 Arthur Foss drydocking will focus on
careful documentation of the hull and the collection of
critical information for restoration. Data will be
collected for two major purposes. First, nautical
archaeologists will collect data on the hull shape since
no plans are known to exist. Using high-tech and lowtech methods, the team will create an accurate 3D
computer model of the hull. Second, marine surveyors
will conduct an in-depth survey of the hull that will
assess the condition of each plank and its dimensions
to provide Northwest Seaport with a detailed picture
of what planks will need to be replaced in the coming
years and exactly what we need to order from the
sawmill.
These projects will require crews to remove the
hull’s protective ironbark sheathing. Ironbark
(Australian eucalyptus) is an extremely dense and
durable wood that is fairly common on wooden tugs
and fishing boats in the Northwest. Fastened along the
waterline, it protects softer Douglas fir and cedar hull
planks from ice, drifting logs, and other hazards. Tugs
in the log towing business need even more protection.
Nearly half of Arthur Foss’s hull is sheathed in
ironbark. It’s a great first line of defense, but it
prevents surveyors from looking at the Douglas fir
planking of the actual watertight hull behind the
ironbark. This year’s drydocking project will remove
the sheathing and get us a good look at the entire hull.
Funding for the 2016 drydocking is coming from
both Federal and state resources. In 2015, Northwest
Seaport was awarded $87,000 by the National Park
Service and the Maritime Administration. Another
$167,000 was obtained through a grant from the
Washington State Historical Society’s Heritage
Capital Projects Fund. Combined, these funds, as well
as numerous cash and in-kind donations from
individuals and local companies, make this project
possible. Thank you to everyone who has contributed
—and to those who wish to donate today!
March 2016
Arthur Foss in drydock at Northlake Shipyard in 2007. Although
the shipyard for the 2016 haul-out has not been selected, it will
look much the same.
Seafaring Adventure Camp Enrollment Open!
Embark on a seafaring adventure this summer at Lake
Union Park. This week-long camp takes place on land
and in boats on the waters of Lake Union. Campers
explore life on board a ship, the science of steam
powered engines, navigation, model sail boat building,
and more. Don’t miss the fun!
Northwest Seaport is proud to be partnering with
MOHAI, the Steamer Virginia V Foundation, and the
Center For Wooden Boats to produce this summer camp
program again. The camp is for kids entering 3rd, 4th, or
5th grade and runs August 15-19, 9am-4pm each day. The
cost is $325 if you register before April 30th.
To register or learn more, visit www.mohai.org and
click on Programs, youth programs, and then summer
camps.
Page 3
The Log of Northwest Seaport
THE PORTOLAN
Major Grant for LV-83 Swiftsure
Northwest Seaport has been awarded a prestigious $125,000 C. Keith
Birkenfeld grant to complete the replacement of the lightship’s deck.
Matching funds are required and as soon as those are raised,
shipwright Brian Johnson will be returning to the ship to instruct
students in our shipwright apprentice program in the complicated
nuances of laying an entire wooden deck.
The Lightship’s new deck will be 130 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 3
inches thick. In all, it will require over 11,000 board-feet of lumber.
The new Douglas fir planking was purchased in 2009, air dried, and
installation began in mid 2014. Two apprentices in the Boatwright In
Residence program we run with The Center For Wooden Boats, Kent
Gorham and Michael Faircloth, trained under Johnson during the first
part of the project. They focused on the skills of patterning and
fitting, managing a complex job schedule, and milling planks and
fitting the most difficult ones bordering the deck and smoke stack.
Both students went on to find jobs in the maritime industry.
Numerous other student groups have participated in the deck
project including the Puget Sound Skills Center, Ballard Maritime
Academy, and Seattle Central College’s Wood Technologies program.
Shipwright Brian Johnson teaches a
Ballard High School student about calking
the deck.
Follow the restoration on Facebook!
The lightship’s new Douglas fir deck.
Students not only get a tour of the ship and see the deck replacement project
up close, but all of them get a chance to pick up tools and try their hand at
‘corking’ the deck with cotton and oakum. These hands-on programs are the
kinds of experiences that make lasting impressions and allow everyone to be
a part of restoring our community’s largest museum ship.
In 2015, work focused on installing additional structural support beneath
the smoke stack with a generous $22,000 grant from the Seattle Office of Arts
& Culture while volunteers have taken on the exciting project of restoring the
officers’ quarters, one cabin at a time. By summer, the wardroom and
officers’ cabins will be almost totally repainted in its US Lighthouse Service
livery of white with gold trim and red decks.
In the coming weeks and months, the focus will be on raising the
$250,000 needed to match the Birkenfeld grant. Major contributions are
welcome, as always.
The Lightship is open
to visitors on Sunday
afternoons this spring
with expanded hours
starting in June. There
are lots of volunteer
opportunities for anyone
who wants to get their
hands dirty, have fun,
and pick up some new
skills.
LV-83 after the 2013 shipyard project.
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March 2016