When Western Towboat of Seattle started building its first Titan ASD long-haul tug at their base on the Seattle Ship Canal in 1995, owners Ric and Bob Shrewsbury were simply responding to the growth of barge service to SE Alaska. They could hardly have imagined that this demand for more powerful tugs would continue unabated… Continue reading 2015: Western Towboat Builds Seventh Titan-Class Tug
Author: seamarsh
North America’s First Hybrid LNG/Battery Ferry
This story is about hybrid boats, a subject that I have been following for many years. However, when I see the word “hybrid” I still think first of a really efficient, low-emission passenger car like the Toyota Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid. This breakthrough design happens to be 20 years old this year, and… Continue reading North America’s First Hybrid LNG/Battery Ferry
WW II Minesweeper Tradition Lives on in Seattle Yard
Wooden Hulls Still Restored at Pacific Fishermen Yard Almost every kind of boat imaginable has traveled up and down the Seattle Ship Canal and through the locks over the last 100 years, but few of the thousands of crew or passengers who enjoy that spectacle are aware of another part of local maritime history. It… Continue reading WW II Minesweeper Tradition Lives on in Seattle Yard
2016: 25 Years Since Gerard d’Aboville’s Trans-Pacific Row
How Astoria Made the National News–in France! It was 25 years ago at the end of November 1991 that a French adventurer arrived off the Columbia River after an incredible voyage from Japan. He was 46-year old Gerard d’Aboville and he had achieved one of the rapidly diminishing number of “firsts” left to claim in… Continue reading 2016: 25 Years Since Gerard d’Aboville’s Trans-Pacific Row
2015: Coastal Transportation Sets a New STANDARD
Coastal Transportation Pioneers TTS sideport loading system in USA After more than 30 years of weekly liner service to Western Alaska with a fleet of five or six small fish tender vessels specifically designed for service between Seattle and the ports of Western Alaska, Coastal Transportation’s president Peter Strong decided that the time was right… Continue reading 2015: Coastal Transportation Sets a New STANDARD
2016: Every Sailor is a Winner in the Vendée Globe
An Introduction to the 2016 Vendee Globe This Sunday, a one of sailing’s greatest challenges begins in Les Sables d’Olonne, France: the Vendée Globe. The Vendée is a solo, non-stop, unsupported race around the world. Pacific Northwest writer and photographer, Peter Marsh, is a serious enthusiast and was was in Les Sables d’Olonne to welcome one of the boats… Continue reading 2016: Every Sailor is a Winner in the Vendée Globe
Salmon Tender Duke–Oldest Boat on the Columbia River
After 112 Years Afloat, the Duke Retires to Museum in Astoria The older a wooden boat gets, the more work it takes to keep it seaworthy. That’s a lesson that many boatmen learned the hard way. On the lower Columbia River where there are still a handful of owners maintaining and using traditional wooden gillnetters.… Continue reading Salmon Tender Duke–Oldest Boat on the Columbia River
Ole Evinrude’s Outboard Engine is 100 Years Old
How Ole Evinrude Invented his “Detachable Rowboat Engine” It has been 100 years since the first successful Evinrude machine took the boating world by storm. Ole Evinrude was born in 1877 in Christiania, Norway, and his idea was so revolutionary that it really did have a name for a while—more of a description. It was… Continue reading Ole Evinrude’s Outboard Engine is 100 Years Old
An Introduction to Collecting Early Tools
An Assignment for the National Fisherman Yearbook in 1989 “If I only had the right tool for the job”- this is often the do-it-yourselfer’s lament. When you have áll the tools you need, another problem may threaten your workspace – where to put them all! If you have ever found your tool collection expanding beyond… Continue reading An Introduction to Collecting Early Tools
Gabriola Island—B.C.’s “Isle of the Arts”
Last fall, I described the pleasure of kayaking and hiking around Newcastle Island Provincial Park, within sight of Nanaimo B.C. The next day of my visit, my goal was Gabriola Island, the big island on the north end of the Gulf Island chain. While most American cruisers make a stop in Nanaimo on their way… Continue reading Gabriola Island—B.C.’s “Isle of the Arts”