A CHIEF BOATSWAIN MATE to the PHILLIPINES

Tug LT 218
155'  Uniflow steam tug

Bob Schoen's first vessel for his 
USCG war-time duty
in the South Pacific.
Click image to enlarge.

A photo from his estate.
Donated to the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

"War Years" by Robert Schoen

In 1946 he was married and sailing Chantey to a new home on Orcas Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA. He lived the rest of his life with a home base of Clam Harbor, West Sound, Orcas Island, San Juan Archipelago, WA.

"My name is Robert F. Schoen, pronounced Shane. I lived in Seattle at 10th and Ravennna Blvd. I went to University Heights grade school, John Marshall Jr High, and Roosevelt High School, graduated 1936, and the University of Washington (the war intervened.) When I went to high school we were living in the Kirkland area of the east side of Lake Washington, Holmes Pt. Drive. I was boat CRAZY. 

        During high school I met John Adams and Anchor Jensen, we all had a love of sailing. Bill Garden was our mentor and teacher. Jack Kutz, John Adams, and I, all had 28 ft. boats. Kutz had a gaff-headed cutter, John had a clinker double-ended teak lifeboat schooner, and I had a v-bottom John Hannah ketch, gaff main, marconi mizzen.
        We were out cruising every moment we could get away, winter and summer. We learned to sail our boats well. I joined the Coast Guard on August 1, 1941. Kutz went into the Navy, and Adams finished his architecture at the U of WA, then entered the Navy as an officer.
        My boating experience served me well. I went into the Coast Guard because I wanted to work in small boats. I was stationed in West Seattle after 7 December 1941. I was made Chief Boatswain Mate before I was transferred from Seattle to California, 1942. From Government Island, Oakland, CA., we were sent to Borneo. Several weeks later we arrived at Hollandia for our assignment vessel, a 155-foot Uniflow steam Tug, LT 218.
        We were in the invasion of the Philipines, towing three barges of aviation gas to White Beach, near Tacloban.
        I had never seen so many ships of every kind, over 10,000 boats, rather exciting. Our tug broke down when we returned to Hollandia. It looked like it would be a long wait. I opted to take a transfer and went to Samar and duty on a U.S. Army F, boat at a P.T. base. We followed behind the P.T. boats as they strafed the Japanese-held islands. We supplied fuel and ammo and at times carried Japanese prisoners back to the base at Samar.
        We stopped at Iloilo, where the Army was mopping up the Japanese soldiers in the village. We were across a river away from the fighting. From there we went to Zamboango and waited for an escort to take us to BallyPan, Borneo.
        I met Jack Kutz in Hollandia. He was on a seaplane tender there. It was great to see him, someone from HOME, an old friend.
        From Hollandia I went to Manilla where the Philippine sailors took over the boat. In Manilla we boarded a transport for San Francisco, and then home by train to Seattle. November 19, 1945, I was discharged from the Coast Guard. It was a great experience to be in the Coast Guard and I am proud of it."

A SALTY BIO BY ROBERT F. SCHOEN LATE OF CLAM HARBOR, ORCAS ISLAND, WA.

CHANTEY 
Sailing the honeymooners,
Bob & Mary Schoen,
to Orcas Island,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
1946.
Click image to enlarge.
From the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

"My name is Robert F. Schoen, pronounced Shane. I lived in Seattle at 10th and Ravenna Blvd. I went to Univeristy Heights grade school, John Marshall Jr. High, and Roosevelt High School, graduating in 1936, and the U of W in 1943. (The war intervened.)
        When I went to high school we were living in the Kirkland area on the east side of Lake Washington, Homes Pt. Drive. I was boat CRAZY. During high school, I met John Adams and Anchor Jensen, and we all had a love of sailing. Bill Garden was our mentor and teacher.
        Jack Kutz, John Adams, and I all had 28-foot boats. Kutz had a gaff-headed cutter, John had a clinker double-ended teak lifeboat schooner, and I had a V-bottom John Hannah ketch, gaff main, Marconi missen.
        We were out cruising every moment we could get away, winter and summer. We learned to sail our boats well. On the first of August 1941, I joined the Coast Guard. Kutz went into the Navy, and Adams finished his architecture at the U of W, then entered the Navy as an officer.
        My boating experience served me well. I went into the Coast Guard because I wanted to work in small boats. I was stationed in West Seattle after 7 Dec 1941. I was made Chief Boatswain Mate before being transferred to California from Seattle in 1942. From Government Island, Oakland, CA, we were sent to Borneo. Several weeks later we arrived at Hollandia for our assignment vessel, a 155-foot Uniflow steam tug, L T 218.

Bob's first ship in the South Pacific.

As he inscribed verso.
From his estate papers for the 
archives of the Saltwater People
Historical Society. 

     

         We were in the invasion of the Philippines, towing three barges of aviation gas to White Beach, near Tacloban.
         I had never seen so many ships of every kind, over 10,000 boats, rather exciting. Our tug broke down when we returned to Hollandia. It looked like it would be a long wait. I opted to take a transfer and went to Samar and duty on a US Army F. boat at a P.T. base. We followed behind the P.T. boats as they strafed the Japanese-held islands. We supplied fuel and ammunition and at times carried Japanese prisoners back to the base at Samar.
         We stopped at Iloilo where the army was mopping up the Japanese soldiers in the village. We were across a river, away from the fighting. From there we went to Zamboanga and waited for an escort to take us to Balikpapan, Borneo.
         From Hollandia, I went to Manilla where the Philippine sailors took over the boat. In Manilla, we boarded a transport for San Francisco and home by train to Seattle. Nov. 19, 1945, I was discharged from the Coast Guard. It was a great experience to be in the Coast Guard and I am proud of it.
        My sailboat, 29' Marconi cutter, W.H. Dole design was at the Tony Jensen Boat Yard and I stopped to check in and told Anchor to get her ready for me to take her north for a few days and then continued to mother's house with all my gear and shared that I was going for a short cruise in Chantey. She responded with "Haven't you had enough boating?"
         I got hold of a couple of buddies and we headed for Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. It took us a few days and all of a sudden they decided one had to get back to register for college. The other had a girl he just had to see.
        About this time I remembered that I had just met a lovely young gal from the Juanita Beach area. I headed back and looked again. In July of 1946, we were married. It's been 53 years and we are still here.
        We sailed up to the San Juans in CHANTEY on our honeymoon and decided this looked like home.
        One of the things I did in the interval before we got married, I bought and learned to fly an airplane. When we were on the island I had the only plane on the island and I was working at various odd jobs such as sliming fish in the Deer Harbor salmon cannery and helping build a garage for the school bus near the Orcas ferry landing.
         I was frequently asked by loggers and people wanting things from Bellingham, such as medicine and auto parts. Bellingham had a large airfield built during the war, eighteen minutes by air from Orcas. This made me decide to purchase a four-place plane and enter pilot training in the U.S. Veterans Flying School on Bellingham Airfield.
        That was a great experience, lots of fun. In two and a half years I operated and founded the Orcas Island Air Service on Orcas. Just before I sold the service we had a major fire at the Orcas ferry dock which burned up the store section of the dock and part of the oil dock.
        Things worked out that I could purchase the dock which included the Union Oil Co distributorship and agent for the Black Ball Ferry system. This kept me very busy.
        In 1950, we took CHANTEY to Port Ludlow for a New Year's party of cruising sailboats, about twenty or so. This was the first party since WW II.
        We departed Orcas the day before New Year's Day and after passing Point Wilson we headed for the channel between India Island and Hadlock. HOLY COW, there was now a bridge and the old NORDLAND lying on the beach on the Hadlock side.

NORDLAND

Official No. 228932

Class: Ferry

34 G.T., / 30 Net tons.

L, 58.1 x 22.4 b.

Home Port: Port Townsend, WA.

Built in 1929 at  

Hadlock, Jefferson County, WA., 1929.

Construction: wood

Power: WA. Estep 2 cyc. 26 HPR diesel

With the author of this essay at his 

dock, next to the Orcas ferry landing.

Click to enlarge.

From the archives of the 

Saltwater People Historical Society©

       On returning north from the Port Ludlow New Year's party and passing the Nordland on the beach I had inspiration hit me between my eyes. This is just what I need at Orcas to supplement the oil business. I stopped at Port Townsend and looked up Blair Hetrick and Zelma, old-timers here. Blair was a hard hat diver in the area. I told him my thoughts about the vessel, and he told me it was for sale on a sealed bid. He took me up to the county courthouse and I went into the commissioner's office and they referred me to the county attorney. I went into his office and he said, "Kid, that thing is a pile of junk, forget it and save your money." I went back and told Blair about this and he said I'll get a bid form from one of my commission friends, I told him to get me two bid forms. I'll mail one in and I'll mail one to you to give to your commissioner friend and have him open it at the end of the opening. I got the bid by fifty bucks.
It took me six months to get those papers and only after I went back to the commissioners in person.
        It was a learning experience handling the old girl. She would slide sideways as fast as she went forward, with her 26 HPR  engine, not very powerful, and her reverse not too hot. BUT she could carry a hell of a load. And with her ramp, you could load and offload easily. It was something like learning the operation of an air-starting heavy-duty engine.
        You learn to love those wonderful machines. If you keep oiling them and keep the diesel coming they run forever, the engineer that ran the Nordland said 'They never shut the engine down the full length of WW II.'
        

Home port for NORDLAND

ORCAS LANDING
DATED 1954.
Click the image to enlarge. 
From the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©.

Our first jobs were delivering fuel to loggers on islands without ferry service which involved filling steel 55-gal drums along with tractors, and logging equipment, not all at the same time. We had a loading area just west of the Orcas ferry landing, one at Obstruction Pass, and several others. We landed on various beaches all over the county. We always tried to land them on the highest part of the tide and immediately reverse and get off the beach. If we missed and couldn't get off, we could be stuck till the next tide, 6 or 8 hours later.

        Working the tides was very crucial to the job. When delivering fuel, the logger had to be there with a tractor or some men to roll the drums up above high tide or a full drum of fuel would drift away.
        I have hauled, over my 12 years of operating the NORDLAND; cattle and sheep to a Lopez slaughterhouse, broken aircraft, 1,000 sacks of cement, mobile homes, everything.
        The development of Blakely Island was started with Nordland. Four years later they built their own barge.
        The Orcas Power and Light Co used NORDLAND in several inter-island cable laying and repair jobs. I did most of the early years running of the boat usually alone or with my wife and kids. I had help from Miles McCoy and he later ran it as stand-by.
        In 1963, I sold NORDLAND to Wayne "Corkey" North of Deer Harbor. He moved the wheelhouse to the stern and raised it so he could look over the vehicles and cargo on board.

      In 1968, NORDLAND was sold to Bob Greenway of Friday Harbor. He remodeled the wheelhouse again, installed a marine toilet, and replaced the WA Estep diesel with a 671 G.M. engine. The old WA-Estep was dumped out on a sandspit near Jensen Shipyard in Friday Harbor. A diesel engine school in Bellingham came over and picked up the old engine and rebuilt it as a school project. Somebody in the last few years purchased it and took it to California for another old boat.

      Al Jones, who has homes in San Francisco and San Juan Island, purchased the NORDLAND in 1976.
      Finally, it was from Alaska Packers haul out at their plant on Semiahmoo in Blaine, WA that I came upon the SEMIDI.

SEMIDI

ON 214876
Built Astoria, OR 1917.
36 N.t./ 45.95 Gross t.
Oil screw, 59.0' x 16.4' x 7.05' 
Atlas Imperial Diesel engine
4 cyl. 135 HPR
Purchased by Robert F. Schoen
5 Oct. 1959
Sold 11 July 1965

      I used this boat for log towing, worked with Orcas Power and Light Co in servicing the cable laying, helped locate and service cable recovery, hauled cased goods, and barreled products. Many times I worked the two boats together on a job.

The author Bob Schoen
off watch with his wife, 
Mary, at the helm.
August 1961
Click image to enlarge.
From the archives of the 
Saltwater People Hist. Society.©
Photos and essay by Mr. Robert Schoen,
Clam Harbor, Orcas Island, WA.

❖ MISSING MIA ❖ 1960-2010 ❖

DONELLA CUTTER MIA
285718
Sail No. 490
LAUNCH DAY
Summer 1960.
Designed by Laurent Giles
Built by A.H. Moody & Sons
for Fred and Marilyn Ellis.
Location: Swanwick Shore, England.
The beginning of this story of 5,500 miles
across the Atlantic Ocean.
photograph courtesy of the Ellis Preserve Collection.

Is there a man whoever escapes the sea, no matter how far inland he may roam. Far from the torment of the sea, amid placed streams and quiet lakes, a man can still feel the ocean's strong calling. Some, rooted to the soil they work, choose not to heed this call. Others may rush to meet the challenge of the open sea.
      

from Aruba Esso News.
22 April 1961.

Such a man is Fred Ellis who, with his wife Marilyn, called at Aruba recently after having successfully crossed the Atlantic in a 43-ft cutter. They arrived at Oranjestad Harbor 18 march, purely by chance, with eight months of sailing behind them. A malfunctioning salt-water pump interrupted the final leg of their long cruise. Instead of sailing on to Panama, they stopped at Aruba for repairs.
      "In a way, it was a fortunate break-down," said Fred Ellis. "We simply love Aruba. We think it's wonderful and a fitting place to end our journey." Again, the seafarers hadn't planned to terminate their adventure in Aruba but time was running out. Dr. Ellis, a professor of history and philosophy, has to be at the U of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., in early June--time enough to ship his cutter to his home in Puget Sound but not time enough to sail it there. It would take four months of hard sailing.
      The story of the Ellis' memorable Atlantic crossing didn't start 21 July 1960, the day they sailed out of South Hampton, England. Instead, it had its beginning in the remote jungles of Burma where Dr. Ellis served during WW II. Although he had sailed as a child in Portland, OR., it was the crossing of the Pacific on a Liberty ship that gave him the longing to cross an ocean himself.
      Separated from the service, he went on to complete his education which led to teaching jobs in Eastern schools. In 1954, he joined the U of Minnesota and ultimately became a full professor. "There is no tidewater 2,000 inland," he said. "While at the university, I had only the Mississippi for sailing and it was just too tame." He longed to return to the sea, especially in the Portland area. In 1960, his big chance came.
      "I was offered the position in Vancouver –– just hours from the Puget Sound ––and took it. The prospects of going back to the Pacific coast are wonderful," Dr. Ellis said.
      "During those years from 1944 to early last year [1960,] I spent many, many hours planning this trip. I had been allowed to practice navigation on that crowded Liberty ship by a kindly first mate. After the war, I began reading everything remotely connected with boat building, auxiliary engines, sailing, chart reading, radio, currents, favorable winds, ocean crossings in small boats, and survival at sea," he continued. A savings program started several years ago, ultimately went into the building of the Mia; uncounted hours went into the planning and design.
      Two years ago, Dr. Ellis got a sabbatical leave and a leave of absence from the U of Minnesota. Accompanied by his wife and four small youngsters, he went to England to supervise the building of the Mia, named after the Arabic word for water.
      Much thought and the best materials went into the life rails, saloon,  forward quarters, and survival gear lashed to the aft deck. Installed were a radio direction finder, radiotelephone, and a special freshwater trank. In eighteen months the Mia was as nearly perfect as a sailing ship can be. "We had much confidence in the Mia. That was half the battle won. I knew that even if both of us were flat on our backs with sickness at sea, the Mia would carry us through," the deeply tanned professor said.
      The Mia is of cutter design with one main mast and two headsails forward. She has a thirty HP diesel auxiliary engine.

Courtesy of Bob and Mary Schoen,
the second owners of the MIA,
keeping her part of life in the 
San Juan Islands.

      They made the 1500-mile cruise to Madeira from South Hampton in just 21 days, then spent several weeks visiting various islands in the Canary group. the 2,000-mile voyage from there to Barbados took just 24 days. A young Englishman served as the third crew member from England to Madeira. A young German replace him and served until the Mia reached Bridgetown, Barbados. Fred and Marilyn continue the rest of the journey alone. After several weeks in Barbados, they continued to Grenada and then sailed through the Grenadines visiting St. Vincent and St. Lucia.
      By the time they reached Curacao, the seafarers were in a state of near exhaustion. Marilyn said her biggest problems were preparing meals during heavy seas and conserving freshwater. 
      Living a regular life at sea did much to keep up their morale. Whenever they passed a point where a chart change was necessary, they would have a small party. They had books and a short-wave radio as sole but sufficient entertainment. They were mainly concerned with effecting a safe crossing. Back in England in boarding school were their four small children who would join them in their new home on the Pacific coast.
      The Mia and her owners are on their way to the Puget Sound now. The boat was loaded aboard a freighter and is being accompanied by its masters. Do they have future sailing plans? "After we get settled down, someday we'd like to sail the Pacific. Nothing extraordinary, just sail down to Tahiti, cruise through the Pacific to Japan and back home." Fred Ellis remarked, his gaze fastened to the horizon far out at sea.
Aruba Esso News. 22 April 1961. 

MIA
of SAN JUAN COUNTY
Sailing with her second owners,
ROBERT AND MARY SCHOEN,
Clam Harbor, West Sound,
Orcas Island, WA.
Original photo from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society.
Thank you to Mr. McKenna.

Fate:
28 December 2010 Mia was lost on a remote Baja beach. Her last owners were Paul Smulders and Julie Newton. 

❖ BOATING'S BEST IN WINTER ❖

According to Gordy Fox and Bob Schoen
Islands' Sounder November 1986

Cutter MIA
enjoying a winter cruise
With Bob & Mary Schoen
of West Sound, Orcas Is.
No date inscribed but they secured a
Christmas tree to the top of the mast
and away they sailed.
Photo courtesy of Steve McKenna
for the archives of Saltwater People Log©

 

"Two years ago [1984] Gordy Fox had to chip away the ice from his 32-ft Grand Banks to go on a cruise. Bob Schoen goes sailing all the time, all year, and prefers cruising in the San Juans in the WINTER.
      Both Fox and Schoen are part of an increasing number of boaters who during the past 10 years have begun using their vessels year-round.
      To winterize their boats, people ake a variety of actions. Some treat their boats for moisture to avoid mildew, taking care of the 'brightwork,' of varnished and metal surfaces, draining outside hose bibs so water does not freeze, and covering them with tarps until summer. Others simply pull their boat up to a dock and leave the winterizing to someone else.

      'Most of them just leave a note and say, 'Winterize my boat,' said Ian Wareham, of West Sound Marina. 

      Schoen changes his oil every winter, to prevent sludge and the buildup of moisture, and puts antifreeze in the engine. When you're on top of the water a lot, the biggest thing to look out for during winter is the danger posed by water inside the boat, avid boaters say.

      Schoen, a boater for 55+ years and a San Juan Islands boater for 40, said that for decades he had to drain the engine before water-cooled engines became widespread. Back then, he had cart wood––on board his boat to warm up the cabin, now he has an oil stove.

      'You can get this thing warmed up pretty cozy,' said Schoen, pointing to the stove as he walked through the lower deck. He and his wife, Mary, have taken their single-masted auxiliary cutter to Alaska. 'We usually go north in the summer, there are so many people here,' Schoen said. He estimated traffic cuts down in the winter to about 30 percent of what it is in the summer.

      Most people who cruise in the winter have some source of heat. People use oil or propane or some combination; Schoen's 40-HP diesel engine uses the same oil as his stove.

       In addition to pleasure boaters, fishermen make the San Juans a frequent destination in the winter. That's when the fishing is best, Schoen noted.

      Both he and Fox, and scores of other boaters in the San Juans, have carried forward the tradition of a New Year's Day sail, an enduring wintertime event––ice, cold, and all. 

      On New Year's Day two years ago the door on Fox's boat was sealed shut.

      'I chipped the ice away from the door, fired it up, and went for a cruise,' Fox said. The Orcas Island Yacht Club has two destinations on its New Year's Day sail––Reid Harbor on Stuart Island and Roche Harbor. That winter, Fox extended his expedition, spending a week cruising around the San Juans, visiting Cypress, Guemes, and places he couldn't in the summer because the waterways were too busy. 

      'There was a week of crystal-clear weather,' Fox recalled. The only winterization measure he's taken so far has been to drain his outside hose bibs.

      'Winterization can encompass many things, from the vessel itself to the mechanical components on board.' Moored at West Sound, he can keep heat going on board to avoid freezing by connecting to a dock outlet. 

      During winter, he said, everybody watches out for everybody else. Sometimes a boat owner is not around when mooring lines are loose.

      'In general with the boating public, there's kind of a buddy boating system,' Fox said. 'Everybody pretty much watches out for each other. If there's a problem with mooring lines, you use one of your own lines to secure the boat until the owner gets to take care of it.'

      There's always the danger of getting stranded, a plight that Fox has avoided. But once on a trip to Stuart, Schoen was stranded by a northeaster 'that blew and blew. We just had to wait it out,' he recalled.

      But 10 years ago, with the increasing interest in winter boating and the increasing efficiency of onboard heating, one tradition died.

      Schoen, who grew up in Seattle, ran around with kids who 'were boat nuts like I was.' That same spirit of fun influenced a New Year's Eve party he and his friends would have at Port Ludlow. A former Orcas Island landowner, G.M. Lynes, loaned a trophy to the Essex County Country Club Cruising Society, which sponsored the New Year's Eve celebration.

      The trophy was a three-handed cup that Lyons won at a freestyle skating contest.

      Everyone would sail to the party through waters that were hardly icy, but surely cold. It was a booby prize, of sorts, but awarded in fun to some quirky or ridiculous event that occurred. Other times, it was given in jest for a serious act that members wanted to poke fun at.

      One person was awarded the trophy for losing his mast. One winter, a former bachelor received the trophy for getting married.

      Enthusiasm for the Port Ludlow New Year's Eve sail was great. But eventually, the trophy was retired. Too many people spoiled the fun, Schoen, recalled."

Paul Gottlieb for the Islands' Sounder, November 1986.

From the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society.

Sea trials for cutter MIA
after launching, England, 1960.
With owners Frederick and Marilyn Ellis.
Detail from a Beken of Cowes© original photograph.
Tap image to enlarge.

For another Saltwater People post on Schoen and his all-season sailing, here is another in the Time-Line articles from the home page:

The Schoens and Chantey in February

❖ LABOR DAY with SEA SALT ❖

Labor Day was created by the labor movement in the late nineteenth century to celebrate the achievements of workers. It is considered the unofficial end of summer that became a federal holiday in 1894.
      Labour Day in Canada has been celebrated on the first Monday in September since the 1880s.
      From this historical archive, we remember some of the workers from the maritime industry, hard-working people who were caught on film, from an industry spread wide and deep throughout the Pacific Northwest. We start with a salt born in San Juan County;

      

A lifetime career of safe transport of
passengers & freight in the PNW.
Sam Barlow served on many vessels but
he is most remembered for his work on
the SS ROSALIE and the ROSARIO,
serving San Juan County where he
was born and raised.
Original photo from the S.P.H.S.©

Hail to the workers transporting the lumber.
Puget Sound Freight Lines 
On land and sea 
Original undated photo from S.P.H.S.©

George Leis
Keeper of the Canoes for 37 years!
at the time of this 1950 photograph at the UW.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

Capt. John Backland Jr., 1937.
Highly regarded Arctic trader aboard
schooner C.S. HOLMES.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

SHIPWRIGHT TOM PARKER
trying to save the
Schooner WAWONA,
Seattle, WA., May 1950.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

Hauling gold ore into the Port of Seattle,
1957
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

Chet North
building a set of reefnet boats
at his shop in Deer Harbor,
Orcas Island, in the 1940s.
Photos kindly submitted by
Barbara Brown, Orcas Island.

Commercial fishermen pulling in salmon

on a reefnet boat near Squaw Bay.

Crew Jim Sesby (L) and gear owner 

Ed Hopkins (R) and top, 1983.

Shaw Island, WA.

 photocopies courtesy of the Hopkins family.

Bob Schoen and his freight boat
NORDLAND
228912
Built in Hadlock, WA., in 1929
for the Port of Port Townsend.
The required crew, one.
Bob Schoen found her in 1950 and brought her
to the San Juans where she carried
lumber, power-cables, toilets & sinks, people,
groceries, sheep to slaughter, logging equipment, 
gas, diesel, lube oil by the barrels, cattle.
Other later skippers were Dave Strickland,
Steve Barnes, Corkey North, and Al Jones.
Original photos courtesy of the Schoen family & Steve McKenna.
Click to enlarge.

Island Belt Cannery fill-in workers from the community
on a day when tenders delivered an overload of fish.
Bruns, Crawford, Fowler, Lee, and Stillman family
members have been identified in this photo with help
from the young boy in the front row, right, Lee Bruns.
Harney Channel, Shaw Island, c. 1920.

Riggers and sailmakers,
Rupert and Grenville Broom,
at the historic sail loft established by their father, George Broom.
For ships sailing in the war service, and later, they were 
manufacturing boatswain's chairs, pilot ladders, lifeboat sails, 
and debarkation nets of many kinds. 
Pier 8, Seattle, WA., 1943.
Original photo from the archives of S.P.H.S.©

Rev. Glion T. Benson
with his new 26' mission boat,
the ROYAL CROSS,
boating to work in the San Juan Islands.
Dated June 1957.
Original photo purchased for the archives of the S.P.H.S.©