Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Boat with an interesting history
Here's some background information on a boat I visited and photographed this
week. Anybody with an appreciation for well know yacht designers might find this interesting. This is the first portion of a magazine article, the second portion will be a descriptive "walk thru". I'll share the second portion when its done, in the next day or so. ************* "Nan" Steve Hemry and Diane Anderson wanted to fulfill a dream of living aboard a boat. They had made an offer on a sailboat, but decided to do a bit more looking around before finalizing the deal. Steve recounts how they drove past a boatyard and noticed an old, 50-foot, wooden motoryacht hauled out for some major refitting. Steve recalls commenting on the amazing amount of space the boat appeared to offer. Diane recalls saying, "We're not going to buy that!" Something about the vessel intrigued them. As they walked around to check her lines, they noticed a hand-scrawled "for sale" sign propped up in a dusty cabin window. Hemry and Anderson made a fateful phone call. "The previous owners were carnival people," said Steve. "They would travel around the country much of the year and then come home to Everett and live aboard the boat for the winter. I don't think they used the boat all that often, but they did say they used to run up to Victoria once a year and stock up on Canadian cigarettes." Steve and Diane were smitten with the boat, and made an offer subject to sea trial. "Our first experience in the boat was certainly memorable," said Steve. "The battery was so dead, we had to get a jump start from the Travel-Lift when we launched. I was down in the engine room removing the jumper cables from the batteries. All of a sudden, I realized that we were in gear and underway. We weren't far from the slings when I noticed what seemed to be an alarming amount of water flooding the bilge. I went up to the helm and told the previous owner that he might want to check on the amount of water we were making, it seemed like it might be abnormal. The previous owner said he'd take a look, and he gave me the wheel and said, 'Here, you steer." "After the previous owner went into the engine room," said Diane, "Steve looked over at me as he was steering the boat and said, 'You know, this is the boat for us!' Just then, the owner came scrambling back from the engine room and said we had to get back to the dock right away, as it looked like we really were about to sink!" The extended period spent on the hard had dried out the hull. After soaking for a few days the planks swelled up and became seaworthy once again. Hemry and Anderson enjoyed a less dramatic sea trial, and negotiated a final price. "Once he was sure we wanted to buy her, the previous owner became a little bit hard to deal with. We wound up paying his repair bill, for instance, as well as some other unexpected items." Even when the deal was closed, Hemry and Anderson couldn't be sure exactly what they had purchased. "We took so much junk off this boat that the water line rose about six inches as we unloaded it. The previous owners just walked away and left almost everything aboard. The deeper we would dig through drawers and lockers as we cleaned things out, the further we would discover we were going back in time." Steve and Diane knew that they were the fourth owners of the boat. The carnival operators had purchased the boat from a family living on Hunt's Point. "The second owner of the boat, who lived on Hunt's Point, was an executive with a first aid and pharmaceutical company," said Steve. "I think it was pretty much just a party boat during that era, with a lot of card playing, cigar smoking, and rowdy partying at the dock. The third owners never did much to clean her up after they got her, and you could still write your name in the cigar smoke on the walls. When we dug deep enough back in the drawers, we found old Band-Aids and other items that the second owner had left aboard." Hemry and Anderson explored their new boat like a pair of archeologists, amazed and surprised at the trash and treasures they uncovered as they cleared truckloads of accumulated gear. As they reached the bottom layers, they began encountering evidence of "Nan's" first owner. "We found the original Seattle Yacht Club burgee used by her first owner and builder, Ed Monk. It's now in a frame in the aft companionway" said Steve. Ed Monk, one of the most highly renowned naval architects of the 20th Century, built "Nan" as a cruising vessel as well as a home for his family. She was almost absurdly beamy in an era of "skinny" boats, with a 14'6" beam and a 50-foot LOA. When she was launched in 1934, the Monk family moved aboard. "We had heard of Ed Monk when we bought this boat," said Steve, "but we weren't prepared to appreciate his genius until we had owned it a while." Steve pointed to a small, flat table area in the aft port quarter of the salon. "Ed Monk actually started his career drawing boats at that exact spot. The Monk family had been shipwrights almost forever, and Ed had been running a boatyard in California. He decided to relocate to the Pacific Northwest, and to make a career change from shipwright to boat designer. Ed and his brother built this boat. The Monk family lived aboard at the Seattle Yacht Club. The number on his business card was the payphone at the end of the dock, and when a client would call whoever answered the phone would run down the dock to let Ed know he had a phone call. This office area is fairly open today, but when the boat was first built there was a partition that created some privacy here." "We've had the privilege of having Isabel Monk aboard," said Steve. "She's the last surviving daughter of Ed Monk's first marriage. Isabel told us how she and her sister used to sit here and watch their father design his boats." "The Monks lived aboard for about seven years, if I recall correctly," said Steve. "Eventually Ed's first wife, Blossom, passed away. Maybe because of all the memories associated with the boat, Ed finally sold it to the second owner- also a member of the Seattle Yacht Club." "So the boat went from the Monks, to the family from Hunt's Point, to the carnival people, and finally to us," said Steve. "And thank goodness she was left pretty much untouched. When we went out for our second sea trial with the previous owner he invited me to climb up to the cabin top, where he pointed out what a great location that would be for a flying bridge! The boat is just so graceful, it would have been a shame if anybody had done major modifications to her lines." "In the years since we first became caretakers of this boat," said Steve, "Diane has made her look really nice and I've made her work well. I think that if we knew what we were actually getting into when we bought the boat, we wouldn't have, but we enjoy sharing her with people. She's such a good looking boat, we often notice that we can be moored next to a million-dollar yacht and all the people passing by are ignoring that boat and looking at 'Nan.'" |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Chuck,
Well written, goes to show that there's always something to be said about a LADY. Paul "Gould 0738" wrote in message ... snipped She's such a good looking boat, we often notice that we can be moored next to a million-dollar yacht and all the people passing by are ignoring that boat and looking at 'Nan.'" |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Thanks for the post. I really enjoyed reading it.
"Gould 0738" wrote in message ... Here's some background information on a boat I visited and photographed this week. Anybody with an appreciation for well know yacht designers might find this interesting. This is the first portion of a magazine article, the second portion will be a descriptive "walk thru". I'll share the second portion when its done, in the next day or so. ************* "Nan" Steve Hemry and Diane Anderson wanted to fulfill a dream of living aboard a boat. They had made an offer on a sailboat, but decided to do a bit more looking around before finalizing the deal. Steve recounts how they drove past a boatyard and noticed an old, 50-foot, wooden motoryacht hauled out for some major refitting. Steve recalls commenting on the amazing amount of space the boat appeared to offer. Diane recalls saying, "We're not going to buy that!" Something about the vessel intrigued them. As they walked around to check her lines, they noticed a hand-scrawled "for sale" sign propped up in a dusty cabin window. Hemry and Anderson made a fateful phone call. "The previous owners were carnival people," said Steve. "They would travel around the country much of the year and then come home to Everett and live aboard the boat for the winter. I don't think they used the boat all that often, but they did say they used to run up to Victoria once a year and stock up on Canadian cigarettes." Steve and Diane were smitten with the boat, and made an offer subject to sea trial. "Our first experience in the boat was certainly memorable," said Steve. "The battery was so dead, we had to get a jump start from the Travel-Lift when we launched. I was down in the engine room removing the jumper cables from the batteries. All of a sudden, I realized that we were in gear and underway. We weren't far from the slings when I noticed what seemed to be an alarming amount of water flooding the bilge. I went up to the helm and told the previous owner that he might want to check on the amount of water we were making, it seemed like it might be abnormal. The previous owner said he'd take a look, and he gave me the wheel and said, 'Here, you steer." "After the previous owner went into the engine room," said Diane, "Steve looked over at me as he was steering the boat and said, 'You know, this is the boat for us!' Just then, the owner came scrambling back from the engine room and said we had to get back to the dock right away, as it looked like we really were about to sink!" The extended period spent on the hard had dried out the hull. After soaking for a few days the planks swelled up and became seaworthy once again. Hemry and Anderson enjoyed a less dramatic sea trial, and negotiated a final price. "Once he was sure we wanted to buy her, the previous owner became a little bit hard to deal with. We wound up paying his repair bill, for instance, as well as some other unexpected items." Even when the deal was closed, Hemry and Anderson couldn't be sure exactly what they had purchased. "We took so much junk off this boat that the water line rose about six inches as we unloaded it. The previous owners just walked away and left almost everything aboard. The deeper we would dig through drawers and lockers as we cleaned things out, the further we would discover we were going back in time." Steve and Diane knew that they were the fourth owners of the boat. The carnival operators had purchased the boat from a family living on Hunt's Point. "The second owner of the boat, who lived on Hunt's Point, was an executive with a first aid and pharmaceutical company," said Steve. "I think it was pretty much just a party boat during that era, with a lot of card playing, cigar smoking, and rowdy partying at the dock. The third owners never did much to clean her up after they got her, and you could still write your name in the cigar smoke on the walls. When we dug deep enough back in the drawers, we found old Band-Aids and other items that the second owner had left aboard." Hemry and Anderson explored their new boat like a pair of archeologists, amazed and surprised at the trash and treasures they uncovered as they cleared truckloads of accumulated gear. As they reached the bottom layers, they began encountering evidence of "Nan's" first owner. "We found the original Seattle Yacht Club burgee used by her first owner and builder, Ed Monk. It's now in a frame in the aft companionway" said Steve. Ed Monk, one of the most highly renowned naval architects of the 20th Century, built "Nan" as a cruising vessel as well as a home for his family. She was almost absurdly beamy in an era of "skinny" boats, with a 14'6" beam and a 50-foot LOA. When she was launched in 1934, the Monk family moved aboard. "We had heard of Ed Monk when we bought this boat," said Steve, "but we weren't prepared to appreciate his genius until we had owned it a while." Steve pointed to a small, flat table area in the aft port quarter of the salon. "Ed Monk actually started his career drawing boats at that exact spot. The Monk family had been shipwrights almost forever, and Ed had been running a boatyard in California. He decided to relocate to the Pacific Northwest, and to make a career change from shipwright to boat designer. Ed and his brother built this boat. The Monk family lived aboard at the Seattle Yacht Club. The number on his business card was the payphone at the end of the dock, and when a client would call whoever answered the phone would run down the dock to let Ed know he had a phone call. This office area is fairly open today, but when the boat was first built there was a partition that created some privacy here." "We've had the privilege of having Isabel Monk aboard," said Steve. "She's the last surviving daughter of Ed Monk's first marriage. Isabel told us how she and her sister used to sit here and watch their father design his boats." "The Monks lived aboard for about seven years, if I recall correctly," said Steve. "Eventually Ed's first wife, Blossom, passed away. Maybe because of all the memories associated with the boat, Ed finally sold it to the second owner- also a member of the Seattle Yacht Club." "So the boat went from the Monks, to the family from Hunt's Point, to the carnival people, and finally to us," said Steve. "And thank goodness she was left pretty much untouched. When we went out for our second sea trial with the previous owner he invited me to climb up to the cabin top, where he pointed out what a great location that would be for a flying bridge! The boat is just so graceful, it would have been a shame if anybody had done major modifications to her lines." "In the years since we first became caretakers of this boat," said Steve, "Diane has made her look really nice and I've made her work well. I think that if we knew what we were actually getting into when we bought the boat, we wouldn't have, but we enjoy sharing her with people. She's such a good looking boat, we often notice that we can be moored next to a million-dollar yacht and all the people passing by are ignoring that boat and looking at 'Nan.'" |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Essentials of a Marine Boat Alarm System | Electronics | |||
Interesting boat ride...... | General | |||
wanted: live-aboard boaters | Cruising | |||
Bush Resume | ASA | |||
Interesting history on a pretty neat boat..... | General |