M/V Pelican

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Marin

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The ex-Bureau of Fisheries boat Pelican is on an end-tie near our boat in Bellingham. She was built to work for the BOF in Alaska. She's for sale, I have no idea for how much. A for sale sign in one of the windows says "Call Walt." If you read the history you'll find out who he is.

Sorry about the photo quality--- I took them with my wife's iPhone 6. I hadn't expected to take photos today so didn't have a proper camera with me.

Here are some excerpts from her history.
----------------------------

The 78-foot Pelican was built specifically for the Bureau, launching in the summer of 1930 from the Boat Harbor Marine Railway yard at Newport News, Virginia.


Leading naval architect, Harold Cornelius Hanson (Seattle, Washington), designed about a dozen of the various vessels used during much of the century by the Agency for fisheries service in Alaska. The plans he drew for the Pelican satisfied the BOF's requirement for a boat capable of doing the off-shore work of the U.S. eastern seaboard continental shelf at depths up to 100 fathoms.

The Pelican was heavily planked, built with East Coast longleaf yellow pine on white oak with Douglas fir decking. Atop four huge 12- by 20-inch wood timbers sat her 150-horsepower direct-reversing Winton diesel engine, which was started from an air compressor.


Sometime around 1947-48, she received a 200-horsepower, 6-cylinder, direct-reversing Joshua Hendy Iron Works (Sunnydale, California) diesel engine, which was installed at Seattle. The new engine required a discharge of compressed air to start and burned about one gallon of fuel per mile. It provided a cruising speed of 8.5 knots (700 rpm) and a maximum speed of 10 knots (900 rpm). By 1957, the vessel was based at Juneau, Alaska, and used for management operations.

By 1972 she was removed from federal service and, with only 800 operating hours on her engine, was purchased for about $16,000 through a sealed-bid auction in Seattle by Mr. & Mrs. Walt Masland. The Maslands then spent thousands of hours over almost 40 years working to restore and maintain nearly all of the vessel's originality. As of 2010, the Pelican was at Port Angeles, Washington, still operated by her only private owners, the Maslands – powered by the 60 year old Hendy engine.
 

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Wow.

That is just Beautiful, I know what I want for christmas. This would look great cruising the east coast of Au.

David
 
I'm still amazed how there's always something new to learn about boating....

I never knew that the big twin bollards on tugs and big barges were used to reduce the shock on the ropes before being led into the deck cleat.

Here in Ireland and on the Thames in London they twist the ropes around the big bollards as if they were cleats, but it just looks wrong because of the big gap between the bollards, and there's no way of getting the tight 'locking action' you get on a smaller cleat.

Beautiful boat; a true classic.:)
 
Holy smokes! What a gorgeous thing.
 
That is an outsatnding example of a wooden boat. Like this, around the world exist many other examples.
It is a work of art. I love wood
 
That is a beauty . Thanks for posting pictures .
 
I went and spent a couple of hours talking with Capt. Walt and touring Pelican. What a piece of floating history! 78' long, 150 tons, 52x30 wheel spun by a 200hp 6 cylinder diesel and 2:1 gear. I will post more photos later.
 
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ImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1427640279.622702.jpgImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1427640299.292593.jpgImageUploadedByTrawler Forum1427640311.989334.jpg

She is on Yatchworld. Listed at 299,000. The photos both here and there do not do her justice.
 
The bane of all men....getting too old.
 
Well, I hope someone buys her who will continue to maintain her.
 
Peter,
I wonder about the line handling on this vessel. Do you think the lines are pulled tight by hand? Looks to me like the vertical capstan could be used to take up slack and the bollard used to hold the line while it's made fast to the cleat by hand. Then of course the bollard and cleat work together spreading the load over more of the deck. Or something similar to that. Perhaps one spring line could be typically made fast by hand and the fwd spring tightened w the winch. Same w bow and stern lines. Make the stern fast by hand and pull up the bow line w the winch.
Perhaps Salior of Fortune or someone w experience on bigger vessels could explane it.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=38686&d=1427609514
 
Peter,
I wonder about the line handling on this vessel. Do you think the lines are pulled tight by hand? Looks to me like the vertical capstan could be used to take up slack and the bollard used to hold the line while it's made fast to the cleat by hand. Then of course the bollard and cleat work together spreading the load over more of the deck. Or something similar to that. Perhaps one spring line could be typically made fast by hand and the fwd spring tightened w the winch. Same w bow and stern lines. Make the stern fast by hand and pull up the bow line w the winch.
Perhaps Salior of Fortune or someone w experience on bigger vessels could explane it.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=38686&d=1427609514

that makes sense, They would have to use the winch to control a big boat like that.

It's also common to see a bollard with a cross rod on the top being used Like a cleat: they wind the rope around it at the top which creates at lot of leverage on the bollard, and it is very easy for the rope to fall off because the bollard shape does not 'bind' the figure of 8 pattern.

Apparently the correct procedure is to use a loop over the bollard which then falls to the base of it, or a lightermans barge type knot which raps around the base of the bollard and is self tightening.
 
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Amazing

I've had the opportunity to get a personal tour of their boat while it was docked next to use in Quartermaster Harbor. She is an amazing vessel and it is restored so well it almost feels like you'r in a vintage movie. Her new owners are also very nice, great people.
 
What a beautiful boat! I love the lines of old tugboats with their high bows and rounded sterns.
 
Beautiful shot, beautiful boat. Hope we cross paths one day.
 
I love that boat! Been aboard several times and almost bought her once. Good to see she is in capable hands. Commercial docks in Bellingham are empty, come on in!
 
We enjoyed them in Deer Harbor this weekend.
 
Greetings. Can anyone confirm that MV PELICAN is for sale as of this date? There is an oblique (meaning, not show on the Yachtworld site directly) reference to a Yachtworld listing on the WWW, but that listing's blocked by something called a "robots.txt". Which I'm unable to crack.

Also, there is a reference by matmkaw in June 2017 in this forum to "new owners".

Regards,

Pete
 
Hey Peter,
How many boats are w the name Pelican?
And then there are the variations .. Grey Pelican .. Pink Pelican. Haven’t heard that one but it sounds like a natural.

Edit;
I see the post. Punpkin Pelican?
 
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I can confirm the ex Fisheries patrol boat Pelican sold recently. I went to see her in March to make an offer but was too late by a day. I don't know when the sale finalized but it wasn't too long after that.
 
I can confirm as well, as myself and a buddy purchased her. We are in Deer Harbor for the winter.
 

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