Century-old vessel to go up for auction Monday

PORT TOWNSEND — If the Elmore could talk, oh, the stories it could tell.

Like starting out in 1890 as a steamer hauling cargo out of Astoria for Samuel Elmore, “the canner king of Oregon,” before being transformed into a tugboat in 1922 by the American Tugboat Company of Everett with a new deck house and a diesel engine built by Washington Iron Works.

Almost being scuttled in the 1980s only to be rescued and lovingly restored as a liveaboard craft. Participating in the 2012 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

Then there was the time in May 1900 while on one of its frequent trips to Ketchikan transporting people, fish and freight that it rescued two Swedish miners who were injured when the 25 sticks of frozen dynamite they were thawing on a stove exploded.

Today, the 70-foot, 150-ton wooden vessel that hauled, carried, towed and traversed the waters of Puget Sound, Oregon and Alaska for nearly 135 years is sitting on the hard at Port Townsend Boatyard, waiting for the next chapter in its long and eventful life.

That chapter begins at 10 a.m. Monday, when the Elmore will be put up for public auction by the Port of Port Townsend at the Boat Haven moorage and yard office, 2740 Washington St. in Port Townsend. Starting bid is $10,000 with a required derelict deposit for it to remain in the yard for repairs.

The port is hoping to recoup some of the $26,627.10 in unpaid fees that have been accruing since February 2023 when it was towed to the boatyard leaking oil and hauled out for repair. Its owner, Henning Heinemann, died on Feb. 8.

Vessel history

Blocked ashore for the past 18 months, the Elmore is a long way from its days transporting prospectors to the Klondike and pulling oil barges around Puget Sound.

After the American Tugboat Company sold it around 1970, the Elmore went through a series of hands: Dunlap Towing, Puget Sound Freight Lines, Washington Tug & Barge.

Keith Sternberg briefly worked on the Elmore in the 1970s when it was owned by Washington Tug & Barge and called the Kiket.

“Washington Tug & Barge was delivering gasoline and diesel fuel to Port Townsend and Port Angeles and many other communities by barge,” Sternberg said. “I was quite familiar with that vessel, and then when Puget Freight Lines bought her, I kind of kept an eye on her.”

Sternberg praised Dee and Sara Meek, who purchased the vessel in 1990 after it had been retired and gave it back the Elmore name.

“Dee took really good care of the old boat,” Sternberg said. “He was on the boat all the time and maintained her, and that’s what it takes with a wood boat. You can’t slack off on the maintenance.”

On weekends, the Meeks would drive from their home in Tri-Cities to Bainbridge Island, where the Elmore was moored, to work on the boat. They replaced its upper and lower decks and the beams in the cabin. When the Elmore’s crankshaft broke in 1993, they replaced the 500 horsepower Caterpillar engine it had been outfitted with as a tug with an Atlas Imperial four-cylinder, 1110 horsepower, 325 rpm diesel engine.

Around 1998, the Meeks moved the Elmore to Port Hadlock and again in 2012 to Port Ludlow. Throughout their ownership, the Meeks continued taking care of the boat. In 2011, they asked students in the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding to rebuild its forepeak storage areas and crew quarters.

Shipwright Clint Thompson repaired the Elmore’s bow stem for the Meeks about 15 years ago and corked its back deck in 2016.

“They were really great for the boat. They went above and beyond,” Thompson said. “They did a beautiful job remodeling the interior.”

Thompson said that, along with the Arthur Foss, which is owned by the nonprofit Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center, the Elmore is one of the last wooden tugboats in existence to have played a role in the Klondike Gold Rush.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind boat, it really is,” Thompson said. “I’ve worked on lot of old boats over the years, and they have a feeling about them the more time you spend on them.”

State law requires ports to recapture any lost revenue from delinquent accounts. That includes impounding vessels and selling them at auction.

Port of Port Townsend harbormaster Kristian Ferrero said the port would prefer to see a boat like the Elmore repaired, restored and back on the water rather than picked apart and crushed. But it also understood the financial reality of someone taking on such a venture.

“It’s a passion project for somebody who loves tugs and loves their history,” he said.

If the Elmore doesn’t find a buyer Monday, anything of value from it likely will be sold, what remains will be demolished and the debris taken to a landfill.

Fixtures — brass hardware, glass portholes, cast iron mooring bollards, wood cabin doors, a 50-inch propeller — likely will be scooped up by maritime salvage hunters for resale.

The port already has been approached about the Elmore’s engine.

Adrian Lipp, who repairs and services Atlas-Imperial diesel engines for his company, Old Tacoma Marine, said the 14,700-pound engine, although not original to the Elmore, is one of no more than 100 left in existence.

The engines have a small but ardent band of collectors, he said.

Its working parts are exposed, allowing one to watch the push rods and valves do their work. Every valve opening, closing, the intake, the exhaust.

“It’s fun to watch and listen to them,” Lipp said. “They’re very fuel efficient; the marine motor runs the propeller, there’s no gear box.”

Lipp said he wants to see someone who has the resources buy the Elmore and take care of its engine so it doesn’t deteriorate.

“Henning loved the Elmore, but he didn’t have the means,” Lipp said. “He had big dreams, but it takes more than wanting to fix something and love to take on something like that.”

Wooden boats like the Elmore that have been out of the water for a long time dry out, creating complications for restoration.

Nonetheless, Thompson said the 134-year-old vessel can definitely be rehabilitated.

“I’ve seen and saved much, much worse than the Elmore,” Thompson said. “Old boats come close to death so many times in their life, and here she is again, right on death’s doorstep.”

Thompson estimated the cost of returning the Elmore to its former glory might range from $100,000 to up to $1 million, depending on the level of craftsmanship.

“It’s a labor of love and it’s a piece of history, and it’s keeping something alive until the next person comes along and will continue to do the same thing,” he said.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.