PORT TOWNSEND — When the schooner Adventuress returns to Port Townsend on Jan. 9, it will begin the fourth phase of a restoration program that will lead up to its 2013 centennial.
“This will be a yearlong celebration,” said Joshua Berger of Port Townsend, one of the tall ship’s two sailing captains.
“After this year, there will be ongoing maintenance operations, but we will be finished with the major restorative work that will prepare the Adventuress for another 50 years.”
The Adventuress was built in 1913 by John Borden with the purpose of sailing to Alaska but was sold to the Port of San Francisco as a pilot ship a year later.
It was sold again in 1952 and moved to the Pacific Northwest.
It has been used for instructional purposes since,with the nonprofit Sound Experience, based in Port Townsend, operating the Adventuress since 1989.
In recent years, an average of 5,000 people annually have participated in sailing programs, with that many again visiting the ship in port.
“We are a working vessel,” Berger said. “We are not just a museum piece.
“We have a mission as a school ship ,and help to keep the ship’s tradition alive and exciting.”
The centennial renovation program began in early 2010 with its first phase which included giving the boat a new fore chain plate, a new stem, new forecastle, or fo’c’sle, bunks and a new anchor and headrig configuration.
Phases two and three, taking place between November 2010 and March 2011, included the topside reframing of the bow area on the starboard side from the stem aft to the new frames installed in 2005-2006 and building new sails.
Additionally, it included removing and inspecting the transom, replacing the rim timber, the aft section of the horn timber, the starboard quarter fashion piece and associated planking and covering boards.
The fourth phase of the reconstruction includes replacing the ship’s tail shaft and forward mast.
The renovation has cost about $600,000 so far, with another $300,000 or $400,000 needed, although “we are still determining how much we can accomplish, how much it will cost and how much we can raise,” Berger said.
He said that fundraising is more difficult in a slow economy, but that the vessel has built a number of partnerships that keep the money coming in.
That the Adventuress placed first in a 2010 historical preservation contest sponsored by American Express gave the vessel a considerable financial and perceptual boost.
“My vision is that, when you walk into any convenience store in the Puget Sound area, you will see four pictures, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, Mount Ranier and the Adventuress,” he said.
“We used to call ourselves Puget Sound’s best kept secret, but we aren’t a secret anymore,” he added.
Aside from its educational benefits, the Adventuress gives Port Townsend an economic boost, having brought more than $500,000 a year into the local economy for the past several years, said Sound Experience Executive Director Catherine Collins.
While there are slight improvements in materials and techniques, wooden boat restoration is pretty much the same as it has been for the last 100 years, said Haven Boatworks owner Stephen Gale.
“Many of the people working on this are generalists,” he said.
“They can do a variety of things, but it is very specialized as it pertains to wooden boats.”
“You are trying to put something together that was first built 100 years ago and all the pieces are interconnected and rely on each other,” he explained.
“You actually find clues about how it was done before, layout directions and pencil lines on the wood.
“It’s very complex. It’s a bit of a puzzle finding out how to put it all together.”
The renovation strives for integrity and authenticity but sometimes uses more modern materials, such as Dacron instead of cotton sails and fiberglass arts.
“We replaced the rudder tube with fiberglass,” Gale said.
“It’s hidden away where no one can see but some of the traditionalists may have a hard time with that.
“Mostly we are dealing with something that was built 100 years ago, and there are methods you are stuck with.”
Berger said the Adventuress has integrated itself into the community, sponsoring one “volunteer weekend” each month during the winter where 30 people donate their time to “scrape, scrub, varnish and sand” the vessel wherever needed.
Berger said that people participate from around Puget Sound.
Those who are not local sleep and eat on the boat — even when it is out of the water.
“We have partnerships wherever we go and there are lots of ways for people to get involved,” Berger said.
For more information or to volunteer, phone 360-379-0438 or go to http://www.soundexp.org.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
