The Death of #59

By Joe Geck, Fleet 13

Spring of 2004 I was searching the web for information about yard costs at the Port of Everett, and under their Marina Management section there was a link to a page called “auctions.”  Curiosity grabbed me, and upon my next click, I was presented with a picture of a T-Bird held in a cradle.  Not needing another T-Bird, I thought I would at least look at it and see if it was worth trying to interest someone else in it.  A quick phone call and I had an appointment with the Marina Maintenance Supervisor to see this T-Bird in the impound yard. 

It was a typical spring day with a drizzle and standing water.  Due to Port safety policy, I was not able to get into the boat, but…it looked alright, and I remembered it as the T-Bird which disappeared from a neighboring dock the previous fall.  The guy who was living on board, had been talking about continuing repair work he was doing after he cleaned the interior with a pressure washer.  Hmmmmm - my brain was flashing warning, but the wooden mast appeared to be in good shape, the bottom did not have any really soft sounds and the price was right.  With my offer of  $50 accepted, I figured after the travel lift costs to put it on a trailer, I could at least break even if I had to scrap it out and at minimum keep the ol’ Bird from being crunched into a dumpster.

Rounding up the Fleet 13 trailer, we headed down to the port yard to meet the Travel-lift crew.  Taking another look at the boat, there appeared a small de-lamination and a soft spot at the water line just below the aft cabin bulkhead.  We poked a knife in and started a little leak.  We poked again to see a nice stream of water spout out.   Less gentle, the next poke opened up a good-sized hole and water cascaded out.  By the time the Travel-Life guys had the ‘Bird in the air and heeled over, the water had changed to a color which reminded me of our old milk cow urinating.  The travel lift guys were amazed the keel stayed attached when lifted as they thought the boat was ready to fall apart.

On to the trailer and strapped down, the boat was ready to be hauled away to our work yard.  With my buddy ahead hauling the boat and trailer down the freeway, I began to wonder if I should be following so close as at any moment the boat might disintegrate.  Luckily we parked without too much trouble and then came my first real excursion into the boat.  Rain water had been gathering in the boat for at least nine months, and some sort of slime had grown and covered everything.  It became apparent that the boat had been abandoned and all the personal belongings the guy had were left behind and were now covered in the slime.  1500 pounds of garbage later the boat was empty.  Delaminating frames and weak decks made it obvious there was no hope to bring this bird back.  Out came the Saws-all and within five hours the boat was separated into salvageable materials and manageable sections to be hauled off.

We were able to use some of the cabin top winches and boom gooseneck for #262 Kalua.  The keel was taken by Jeff Ames (Fleet#1 and Phoenix fame).  The mast ended up as a nice flag pole and the sail cover was donated to another T-Bird in the Port of Everett.  Old sails were used as temporary tarps, SS fasteners were salvaged where possible, and teak boards were kept for miscellaneous projects.  With the goodwill and the swing-set I got on trade for the gooseneck, I nearly broke even with the purchase and disposal costs.  Out of this adventure my crew and the rest of Fleet 13 got stories for many years and I learned a lesson on getting old boats for nothing. 

Prior to breaking her up, we named the boat Tycoon as a reminder to my venture in cornering the market on T-Birds in Everett, even if it was just for a short while.  To send off the spirit of #59, this past summer we took some of the teak scraps and burned them in Viking fashion.