Creole

[Jim Bow]

With significant influence by the *Ted Geary design group, this fantail luxury yacht was designed for the author Stewart Edward White by the Lee and Brinton Naval Architectural firm of San Francisco and Seattle.

Built in 1930 by the Lake Washington Ship Yard in Houghton, WA and equipped for long range cruising with a party of eight aboard, the main deckhouse features separate cabin spaces for the wheelhouse, dining salon, galley, and a cozy main salon with a wood burning fireplace. Covered port and starboard promenade decks and an aft deck lounge at the fantail provide excellent walk-about space and an ideal setting for alfresco dining and evening cocktails.

I took this pic yesterday
P3272197.jpg

[Hugh MacD]

Sad to see. Salvageable?

[Jim Bow]

I don’t know. It showed up at the city’s short term dock a few days ago. Maybe enroute to a boatyard, perhaps. The stern name says “Creole, Sitka”. Thats a long haul from Tacoma.

[Nicholas Carey]

The CYA page for her.

https://classicyacht.org/boats/creole

Better times, 10 years ago:

[skuthorp]

That's a long way down for 10 years, but she should still be sound. Still floating and is she under her own power?
The cost of fixing? Million?

[Garret]

Darn galvanized fasteners. I get that bronze is expensive, but seeing what iron/steel does to beautiful boats makes me really sad.

If let go too far, they are also a PITA to get rid of & can cause a whole lot of damage to the wood around them. Yes, I speak from experience.

Hope she gets restored - she's a pretty boat!

[ron ll]

Pffft. A little ospho on those rust stains she’ll be good as new.

[Jim Bow]

the former owner

[Jim Bow]

Took a closer shot:
P3302220.jpg

[ron ll]

Looks pretty straight.

[skuthorp]

The taste, if you can call it that, in motor yachts has moved on, or down if you like.
It'd be a labour of love, or someone very wealthy indeed to finance the restoration.

[Jack Loudon]

I often wonder why more old boats with rotting hulls but nice interiors aren't turned into something like this:

[schlaboatnic]

She doesn't look hogged but dang,sure went south in a hurry

[Nicholas Carey]

She doesn't look hogged but dang,sure went south in a hurry

Looks eminently restorable to me.

Almost certainly lay iron-sick, though. Whole lotta new frames and refasten in bronze. Since you'll probably need to remove the interior to get at the frames (those steel fasteners aren't just going to unscrew just because you asked them to), you might as well replace all the frames.

Needs somebody with a deep checkbook.

[cstevens]

I was just looking for Creole in her usual spot at Fishermen's Terminal a couple of days ago as I was driving over the Ballard Bridge. I saw she was gone and I figured that was not a good thing but she is looking so much worse than I thought. I expect that she is restorable but the word has always been that the current owner refuses to sell despite some real interest by people with the resources to do the job. Now I think the only way this ends is when she sinks or breaks loose from her mooring and is washed up on a beach somewhere, like Argosy.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/after...re-in-tulalip/

It's easy to blame the fasteners but the real problem is an owner who can't keep up on the maintenance that a boat this size needs, and who refuses to pass her on to someone who can. People can buy large old wooden boats for very little money because they have expensive maintenance needs, and then they just run them down until they are too far gone.

[Garret]

Hey Chris - how do you maintain a ferrous fastener other than replacing it? Removing the bung & painting with ospho or the like only stops the surface bleed - and that's only for a while in my experience.

[cstevens]

Hey Chris - how do you maintain a ferrous fastener other than replacing it? Removing the bung & painting with ospho or the like only stops the surface bleed - and that's only for a while in my experience.

Oh, I don't disagree Garret. I just mean that there is a lot more going on with Creole than just the fasteners. I expect that wooding and repainting the hull will be a bigger project than refastening. Is she iron sick? Maybe, but no way to tell without a survey. And I agree that the only permanent fix for a rusty nail (I'd bet that she is fastened with iron boat nails) is to remove it but that's not an easy task as you know. It might be better to just try and encapsulate them as much as possible. Although I have imagined ways to remove the nails in Skookum Maru that would preserve the wood since I may need to do that at some point in the future.

My point is just that old wooden boats do need to be cared for in order to survive and big old wooden boats even more so. Iron or galvanized fasteners are just one of the things that can cause them to deteriorate. And bronze is not a perfect solution either. I've pulled out plenty of pink and crumbling bronze screws. The thing that really bugs me though, is that if someone had taken Creole in hand a decade ago and had spent all the money needed to keep her in that condition, it would have cost only a tiny fraction of the amount needed to purchase and keep a modern yacht of equivalent size. But of course the people with the money to buy modern yachts aren't interested in old things. Sigh.

[Garret]

Oh, I don't disagree Garret. I just mean that there is a lot more going on with Creole than just the fasteners. I expect that wooding and repainting the hull will be a bigger project than refastening. Is she iron sick? Maybe, but no way to tell without a survey. And I agree that the only permanent fix for a rusty nail (I'd bet that she is fastened with iron boat nails) is to remove it but that's not an easy task as you know. It might be better to just try and encapsulate them as much as possible. Although I have imagined ways to remove the nails in Skookum Maru that would preserve the wood since I may need to do that at some point in the future.

My point is just that old wooden boats do need to be cared for in order to survive and big old wooden boats even more so. Iron or galvanized fasteners are just one of the things that can cause them to deteriorate. And bronze is not a perfect solution either. I've pulled out plenty of pink and crumbling bronze screws. The thing that really bugs me though, is that if someone had taken Creole in hand a decade ago and had spent all the money needed to keep her in that condition, it would have cost only a tiny fraction of the amount needed to purchase and keep a modern yacht of equivalent size. But of course the people with the money to buy modern yachts aren't interested in old things. Sigh.

Yup.

I too have run into pinkish bronze - but at least they can be drilled out, and the surrounding wood is not destroyed. However, I'm quibbling - but I still hate iron fasteners except in special circumstances.

[cstevens]

Yup.

I too have run into pinkish bronze - but at least they can be drilled out, and the surrounding wood is not destroyed. However, I'm quibbling - but I still hate iron fasteners except in special circumstances.

Definitely. I wish Skookum Maru had been fastened with monel as Ed Monk originally specified. She'd last forever.

[Garret]

Definitely. I wish Skookum Maru had been fastened with monel as Ed Monk originally specified. She'd last forever.

Have you priced monel screws??? Redoing the bottom of Neoga (all from the w/l down) in bronze was 3k just for the screws!

[cstevens]

Have you priced monel screws??? Redoing the bottom of Neoga (all from the w/l down) in bronze was 3k just for the screws!

Oh I have no doubt. I just wish the first owners hadn't gone with the cheap option! I'm not complaining though. She's fine as she is.

[Jim Bow]

P3302222.jpg

[Jim Bow]

What a wonderful read this is:http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...6-Skookum-Maru

[cstevens]

What a wonderful read this is:http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...6-Skookum-Maru

I'm glad you enjoyed it Jim! It's a bit rambling but does occasionally stray back to the original topic.