❖ AN UNFORESEEN JOURNEY ❖ New Release for 2016 ❖

Decatur Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
3.524 square miles
Population ca. fifty full-time residents.
Click here to order online:

An Unforeseen Journey, 

Tales of Pioneering Spirit on Decatur Island

by Mary Stewart Van Valkenburg and Gail Dupar

After the Alaskan Gold Rush, and following the Great Fire of 1889, the islands and waterways of Puget Sound were opening to the curiosity of Seattle residents. Decatur Island, in the San Juan Islands, was regarded by schooner captains as a place so remote, it could only be populated by Indians, squatters or recluses. That is, until land speculators discovered the island's primitive beauty, and began a campaign to draw Seattleites north. Those same early settlers then became pioneers, facing dangers from isolation, storms, and lack of medical care.

      Visually spectacular, with many photos and images of historic documents, it is the only book written solely about the settling of this island in the San Juan group. After 110 years, it can be considered the first definitive study, an accurate and riveting history of Decatur and its residents. Colorful characters inhabit detailed stories that will find the reader engrossed, as well as charmed, by the writing style and the people.

      Dedicated to those living on Decatur Island, this high-design volume covering the years 1895 to 1935, will also be of interest to other Washington readers.

      Author: Mary Stewart Van Valkenburg, adopted at 3 months old, grew up on Decatur Island. She attended school in the one-room school house built by her grandfather in 1908. She has written for The Sea Chest journal, and is a member of the Washington State Historical Society and the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society.

      Artist: Gail Dupar, artist, and designer, contributed her artistic skills to the selection and arrangement of vintage photos and the artwork that surrounds them. Gail, Mary's youngest daughter, studied at Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle.

      Mother and daughter successfully collaborated on the design and completion of this historical non-fiction book.

 

Address:

Mary Van Valkenburg

5104 Sterling

Anacortes, WA. 98221

360-638-1749

❖ TATOOSH and CREW ❖ 1958

"Two of the girls rode in the dinghy astern.
The rougher it was, the better they liked it."
Photos by the team of brothers Bob and Ira Spring.
Original photos from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

"When Dr. Alexander Bill and Sally Bill wanted to go sailing, they didn't need to shanghai a crew. They had a willing and able crew in their own family of six children.
      The roster of the 40-ft ketch Tatoosh included Dr. Bill, a native of Massachusetts who had been sailing since he was 5; Sally; Molly, 11; Betsy, 10; Susan, 7; Peggy, 5; Jamie, 31/2, and Davy, 1 1/2. 
      It isn't often a busy doctor got three days off, so the cruise down the Sound was a rare threat.
      Drizzly rain and rough weather didn't dampen their enthusiasm. At the height of one storm a Coast Guard patrol boat circled the Tatoosh.
      The patrol crew must have been surprised at the sight of the little ketch bobbing along on the choppy seas, steered by a young girl, while the skipper and another girl hung onto the bow straightening some fouled lines on the storm jib.
      Tatoosh had a 3,500-pound keel. Her three sails total about 650 sq ft, supplemented by a 600-sq ft spinnaker. Auxiliary power was a 25 HP motor.
      Once out on the open waters of Puget Sound, the Tatoosh headed north in a light following breeze. The big red nylon spinnaker caught every breath of air."
Words Bob and Ira Spring published 27 July 1958, The Seattle Times.

❖ M. V. KITSAP ❖

M.V. KITSAP
Built Houghton, WA.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

"The KITSAP was a double end auto ferry constructed in 1925 for the Kitsap County Transportation Co. She was 158.9-ft long and fitted with a 600 HP Washington Estep Diesel engine by the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, WA. This vessel was first placed in service on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Harper route. She was designed to be an auto ferry, where many of the other vessels operating in the auto trade were made over former passenger vessels. Most of these vessels had a bow and stern; whereas, the KITSAP could run in either direction and had a pilot house on each end.
      She operated for many years on the Suquamish-Ballard fun, docking in Ballard where Ray's Boat House now stands. This run gave the north end of Kitsap peninsula a direct auto connection to Seattle. Prior to establishment of this run the nearest crossing was Bremerton to Seattle.
      In 1936 the Kitsap County Transportation Co sold out to the Puget Sound Navigation Co, who continued operating her. Later, [1951] the Washington State Transportation Department took over the running of the ferry system. The KITSAP continued on many of the lighter traffic runs including the San Juan Islands runs and Tacoma to the south end of Vashon Island.
      In 1962, the KITSAP was sold to the Oregon Highway Commission for the Astoria-Meglar run. After the construction of the bridge was completed, the KITSAP was sold to an Alaska cannery and it remained there on the beach. The level deck for cars with a full engine room below proved excellent to movable canneries in AK. This vessel was constructed of Douglas fir and gave many years of good service."
Above text from: About the Boats by Captain Ed Shields. Poulsbo, 1944.     
      
      Boatbuilder, Charlie Taylor, who worked for Lake Wa. Shipyard for many years, had the contract to lead the building of  the KITSAP, the BAINBRIDGE, and their big sister, the VASHON, the latter being the largest of all, launched in 1930. 

❖ UNDER FULL SAIL ❖ 1946

DANMARK 
Auxiliary steel, full-rigged, sail training ship.
Click image to enlarge.
7" x 9" original gelatin-silver photograph from
the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society©

The stately Danish square-rigger DANMARK, was built in 1932 for the Danish Ministry of Shipping and Fisheries for use as a training ship. 
      She visited Seattle on a training cruise in 1946, mooring at Pier 54 on the central waterfront and causing considerable tourist traffic for the month of December.

DANMARK

Wash Day on the training ship.

Getting cleaned up after Southampton, England

en route through the Canal to San Francisco

and ...... Seattle, below.

click image to enlarge.

Original gelatin-silver photograph from the archives 

of the Saltwater People Historical Society.©

SHIP DANMARK
Downtown Seattle, WA. 
at a familiar landmark onshore.
Original gelatin-silver photo from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society.©