Virginia V Question for RGM

[Jamie Hascall]

Howdy Roger, I have been checking out the Virginia V's progress while driving on I5 and noticed the shelter off and her movement to a different location. I got to wondering if she's reaching completion and when she might be back at work. Are there plans for her for Opening Day?

She Looks Great! :D

Jamie

[RGM]

Hi Jamie, It's about 9:20 (Pacific Time) right now, I just got online and found your inquiry. Thanks. It's been a long haul and we're almost done with her. I'm glad you asked about the V-5. It's going great, we took the boat out on "sea trials", actually Lake Washington, exactly one week ago today. I rode along on a friends tug that was the chase boat in case something went wrong. But nothing did! The weather was great and I was able to take a ton of digital pictures. I actually started a photo documentation of the restoration in 1996. I just have to figure out how to post them. The boat has a ways to go before it's totally complete. However, we've been working real hard to get her presentable for not only Opening Day (May 4th) but also an "open house" that is scheduled for the afternoon/evening of May 1st at Chandler's Cove at the South end of Lake Union. Everyone is welcome. She'll look a little incomplete in some areas, heads, galley, passenger cabin interior but she'll be very complete where it really counts. The big push is for Opening Day, the plan is for her to lead the parade. She'll be a real crowd pleaser. Following Opening Day the boat will return to LUDD for completion. They already have some parties and weddings lined up for the boat this summer. The steam whistle sounds great too. You can listen to it on their website www.virginiav.org (http://www.virginiav.org) . Additionally, the Coast Guard is real pleased with how the vessel has turned out. I'm going to miss her when she's finished, wish we had a few more like her lined up to restore. Come on down to the yard anytime Jamie. Hell, everyone's welcome that can make it. Custom Skiffs visited the V-5 on Easter Sunday, he and his son had a good time.

[Jamie Hascall]

Hot Dog! :D I've got the Open House on the calender and will see you then. I'm glad to hear she'll be out for Opening Day. I'll have Victoria out there with a bunch of other boats from the Center for Wooden Boats for the Mark Mayer race.

Now, the question is, Whadda ya do for an encore?

[Kermit]

The WAWONA?

Hey, Roger, what about a PSEBS private tour followed by some lubrication? Possible? I'd love to see the ol' V-5. Many of my generation had post high school granulation parties on the old gal back in the '60's. :D

[RGM]

WAWONA, yeah, I'ld like that. Be easier to build a new one instead of try to restore her. Alot of people don't realize that when those things were originally built they were disposable. They weren't built to last a long time. They were built to be used up then replaced. Little different mind set back then. Besides, we'll never run out of shipbuilding lumber, right?
PSEBS get together timed with a V-5 tour? Sounds great. On Thursday afternoons/evenings the V-5 Foundation runs the boiler, engine (while tied to the dock) and blows the whistle and has the boat available for tours/visits. Or perhaps the Open House on May 1st would work? It's fun to watch the engine run. If it was up to me and a few others involved in the project we wouldn't be doing an open house May 1st. It's actually pretty disruptive to our May 4th Opening Day work effort. Oh well, we'll try to have her looking as good as possible.

[ 04-25-2002, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: RGM ]

[Dave Fleming]

RGM, hit it right on the head about the lifespan of a working vessel.
Never meant to be everlasting just built well enough to do the job and then be burned on the beach bye the shipbreakers to recover the metal work.
Once they start going downhill ie: Wawona, Thayer, Wapama it is really a race against time and most times we loose. RGM was fortunate to have some owners willing to spend the money and commit the vessel to a lenghty re-build. The San Diego Maritime Museum just re-launched the Pilot boat originally built at the turn of the century.
That was a 3 year project and $300.000 USD cash plus uncounted man hours of volunteer labour and material donations including my little bit.
Rehabs or rebuilds or restorations are very labour intensive and huge gobblers of money. And that is the other factor good competent shipwrights are not long on the ground either.
Nice job Roger!

[Jamie Hascall]

I'm afraid that all the volunteer hours in the world can't stay ahead of the wood eating small life that's inhabiting the Wawona. In times of limited resources I wish we could look to projects that at least have a snowballs chance in very warm places than to have the hubris to feel we can outdo a gazillion microbes all happily munching away. Can't we find a nice spot to make a new diving destination?

A PSEBS get together sounds like a great idea. Roger, thanks for your efforts in getting the open house happening. I'm sure it impacts the work a lot.

Jamie

[Kermit]

Them's my feelings about the poor old WAWONA too. I don't know how many folks have said too me that for the $$$$$$$ they've invested in trying to save that poor thing, they could have had a replica sailing by now. But if they scuttled it, where would that happen? Think they'd risk letting it be towed through the canal? Can you imagine the EIS problems with sinking it in Lake Washington? I think the bugs will carry on right there in Lake Union.

Reminds me that somewhere in the book CUTWATER, about classic wood boats, there's a comment about wooden vessels something like this: Wooden boat owners regard the bits of wood in their boats rather like automobile owners regard their tires--if you replace them, it's still the same boat/car.

[Ed Harrow]

Thanks to Rodger, some pictures.
This one, I don't know why, but all I can think of is Scuffy the tug boat...
http://home.fiam.net/eeharrow/harrowhtm/2002/portbow.jpg

http://home.fiam.net/eeharrow/harrowhtm/2002/starquarter.jpg

I really like this one:

http://home.fiam.net/eeharrow/harrowhtm/2002/starbow.jpg

But this one, heading to the horizon...

http://home.fiam.net/eeharrow/harrowhtm/2002/glorious.jpg

What a beautiful vessel smile.gif

[Tom Jackson]

Rodger, were these pictures taken during the sea trials you mentioned? Man, it's going to be great to see VIRGINIA V back in the Mountlake cut again!

[Jamie Hascall]

Great Pics! Thanks Roger and Ed. I'm looking forward to seeing her up close tomorrow.

Jamie

[RGM]

Hi Tom, yes the pictures were taken during "sea trials", April 17th. I think I took a total of 95 pictures that day. Thanks Ed for posting the pictures. I wish we had a little more time before this Open House event that the V-5 folks scheduled for tomorrow. We still have a fair amount of work to do on the boat prior to Opening Day.

[Dave Fleming]

She looks good RGM, I hope you feel pleased with all your and your crews efforts!

Geeze, I hate seeing grafitti on the walls of the 'cut', grrrrr.