1952 William Garden Trawler

[davidjamesrobinson]

Greetings, forum members. I am finalizing the purchase of the Alice Pearl, a 1952 William Garden Shrimp Trawler. I live in Portland, OR, US and I joined this forum to find my community of older, wooden-hulled, trawler owners. I'm interested in hearing your opinions about maintenance schedule, best products/equipment, good float plans/adventures, and making friends.

I am a sailor. I wanted to find a boat that had long range capabilities and was more comfortable to live aboard. I also plan on taking the OUV1 (6 pack) test and maybe starting a charter business. So, any input and advice on these topics is warmly welcomed.

Best wishes.

 

[Nomad Willy]

So David,
I'm not even going to attempt that mile long avatar.
What is your intent .... business or pleasure?
I don't think any pleasure boats were refered to as trawlers in 1952. Only recall "Heavy Cruiser" being used to call out what we now call trawlers.
This forum is mostly anti-wood. Quite a few owgners have wood boats but whenever someone mentions buying a wood boat 10 or 15 usually say "run like hell". But on the upside almost all admire the wood boats. So when you get your wood boat post pics and you'll probably get many Oooos and Awwws. One of them likely to be me.

Welcome to Trawler Forum.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

 

[sunchaser]

For wooden boat owners in the Seattle area may I suggest 3 sources of experience to tap:

• Port Townsend
• South Lake Union
• Sam Devlin

As Eric notes, several on TF have good experience. In my Marina a very nice wooden Bill Garden is just across the dock from me. Sure is nice looking. Next to it is a 1930s wooden 60 foot MV, again very nice. Wooden boats abound as does the fun of enjoying furniture repair.

 

[Diesel Duck]

Quite a history for this little ship... From a once burned out hull to a nicely restored live aboard.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Alice-Pearl-567855043305717/photos/?ref=page_internal


.

 

[78puget-trawler]

Looks like an ex Navy hull, Admirals Barge type.

 

[Nomad Willy]

78,
What Navy hull? Just clicked me into the Willard Facebook page.

 

[78puget-trawler]

?? Saying the boat on the link looks like one.

 

[jjorgenson3]

Welcome aboard and we love our Woody. I would be glad to speak to you regarding specifics on wooden hull maintenance. Feel free to PM me at anytime.

 

[jwnall]

I don't have a wooden boat now, but I have had a wooden boat in the past (an Egg Harbor, around 32' or so -- don't remember now). They require some extra maintenance to be sure, but there have been wooden boats around since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, and they have carried many stout sailors to far away places with strange sounding names. So it should serve you well.

Congratulations on the purchase.

And since you are announcing that you have a wooden boat (rather than asking advice on whether or not you should buy a wooden boat), I doubt you will get much flack on the Forum. Even if you do, it will be in good humor, so treat it as such.

 

[Bob Cofer]

I am particularly fond of wood boats. Lots of quality work happens in Bellingham, WA.

 

[Lou_tribal]

So David,
I'm not even going to attempt that mile long avatar.
What is your intent .... business or pleasure?
I don't think any pleasure boats were refered to as trawlers in 1952. Only recall "Heavy Cruiser" being used to call out what we now call trawlers.
This forum is mostly anti-wood. Quite a few owgners have wood boats but whenever someone mentions buying a wood boat 10 or 15 usually say "run like hell". But on the upside almost all admire the wood boats. So when you get your wood boat post pics and you'll probably get many Oooos and Awwws. One of them likely to be me.

Welcome to Trawler Forum.

If I had the time and money to maintain an old woody it would be my dream boat. When I look at boats like trumpy I see crafmanship, luxury and a lot of charm in them. These kind of boat have something that will never be reached with modern boat. Moreover when you consider how many man hours and sweat were needed to build them, it should be a law to maintain them just by respect to those who spent so many hours to build them.
Once I watched a video of a Trumpy crushed in pieces because it was not sold, I was so sad to see such a crime and such an history disrespect.

 

[Tad Roberts]

Alice Pearl seems to have pretty much the same hull as the 1968 California built Garden designed Anna D, originally Meridian, now sailing out of Tacoma.

 

[Lepke]

I've owned and worked on wood boats much of my life. The trick to maintenance costs is doing a proper job on paint, caulking, repairs and so on. Keep water out of the topside wood. Put salt in the bilges. Fresh water rots wood. Salt water preserves wood. I know of several halibut schooners still fishing the Gulf of Alaska. One built about 1900.
A good paint job can last five or more years with touch up. A bottom job properly done, can go 3 years or more. Zincs are the bigger issue. Once they're gone you start to loose your underwater metal. Read up on it.
Make sure the fasteners are good. If you're going to do your own work, don't fasten underwater planks with hardware store stainless steel screws.