PORT TOWNSEND — The launch of a two-story floating home, the first built by Port Townsend’s Little & Little Construction, became a major spectator event Tuesday night as the crew of Monroe House Moving struggled to get the 400,000-pound structure more than 20 feet toward the shore of Port Townsend Bay at low tide.
Work to wench and push the building, destined for Lake Union in Seattle, into the bay using a heavy-duty crane truck and small tractors was suspended at about 8 p.m. Tuesday until later Wednesday afternoon so the structure’s launch could be timed with the outgoing tide.
About 100 people, from babies to seniors, came and went during the slow-moving process, some cheering as progress was made.
The floating home needs to be pulled far enough into the bay’s mud flat so it can float once the tide rises, said Bob Little, president of Little & Little Construction.
Little said that once in the bay, the home will be floated to the Port of Port Townsend’s Point Hudson Marina, where it will be moored for a week’s worth of finish work.
“Then we’ll just wait for the right conditions to take it to Lake Union,” Little said Tuesday before the attempted launch.
Little waited aboard the home, where he periodically stepped out of the second-floor door to observe and take photos.
Little said his company has already accepted a contract to build a second floating home at the shipyard.
The home’s design will be modified somewhat so Little can use the Port of Port Townsend’s 300-ton marine lift to launch it, he said.
Jeff Monroe, owner of the third-generation family house-moving business based in Carlsborg and formerly of Quilcene, orchestrated his crew, which managed to wench the home on steel beams that have 48 tire wheels attached, 24 on each side of the structure.
The system gives it the stability to roll down a slight incline of sandy, driftwood-filled shore at the edge of the Port of Port Townsend shipyard, where the three-bedroom home was built.
The crew installed wooden blocks to support steel rails upon which the floating home could roll down to the water’s edge.
The home was designed by Seattle architect Barry Burgess and will be towed to Lake Union, where a family who outgrew its other boathouse will take residence in the new home.
The family, which has a home in Port Townsend, contracted with Little to build the floating home.
Like other floating homes, the building is pre-plumbed and wired for hookup at the dock.
The home’s launch may remind some Port Townsend boat yard old-timers of the launch of the Evviva, a 161-foot yacht built in 1993 before the Port of Port Townsend acquired its 300-ton marine lift to serve the yard.
At least one old-timer remembers Monroe saving the day by coming in to help launch the Evviva after another crew gave up.
Monroe, owner of Monroe House Moving in Carlsborg, originally based out of Quilcene, teamed up with D.B. Davis House Moving of Everett to move the floating home into the water.
Davis provided the specially engineered moving roller system installed under the home to move it into the bay.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
