Historic sailboat runs aground, people aboard
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. – The Washington state ferry Sealth helped remove 27 people from a 133-foot historic sailboat that ran aground off Orcas Island on Monday, the Coast Guard said.
No injuries were reported when the Adventuress ran aground at about noon in Wasp Passage in the San Juan Islands while sailing on a school trip. The ship was scheduled to participate in the Victoria, B.C., Tall Ships festival Thursday through Sunday and the Tacoma Tall Ships Festival July 3-7, where it would also celebrate its 95th birthday.
The Coast Guard was investigating the cause of the grounding, said Petty Officer Tara Molle.
Washington State Ferries diverted both the Sealth and the ferry Evergreen State from their San Juans routes to aid the sailboat after the Coast Guard asked for assistance. Both returned to service early Monday afternoon.
“She’s a tough old ship,” said Catherine Collins, executive director of Sound Experience, the Port Townsend nonprofit educational operation that owns and manages the Adventuress, a two-masted schooner.
The sailboat had 15 passengers and a crew of 12 on board when it went aground, Collins said.
The vessel was later towed to Friday Harbor in the San Juans, mooring there shortly after 6 p.m. Monday, Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Damren confirmed.
A diver’s initial inspection showed that hull damage was minimal, said Elizabeth Becker, special projects director for Sound Experience.
Once the Adventuress was moored in Friday Harbor, a second diver’s inspection showed no damage either, Collins said, adding the vessel had been “leaning over on her keel on a flat rock.”
Becker said she hoped it would still be possible for the Adventuress to sail to both of the tall ships festivals.
Collins said the sailboat had previously run aground in the 1960s and came out of the experience without a scratch.
According to the company’s Web site, the wooden sailboat was built as a pleasure yacht in 1913 but was quickly transformed into a working boat, serving as the pilot boat for San Francisco Bay for 35 years. The Coast Guard used the boat to patrol off San Francisco during World War II.
After years of neglect sitting on the beach near Sausalito, Calif., the ship was brought to Seattle by new owners, participated in several youth education programs and eventually was bought by the nonprofit Sound Experience for educational and other trips in Washington’s marine waters.