Missing Bill Garden designed launch - Anybody seen it?

[kimaging]

I am trying to locate the whereabouts of a boat designed by William Garden and built by my Grandfather Richard Stewart. The boat, originally named "Tlingit" was built in Vancouver Canada in the early 1970's. It is 63' long with a 7' beam, about 2' of freeboard at the cabin and cockpit, and has a canoe stern. It was originally powered by an Easthope 3 cylinder gasoline engine, although Bill thinks it is now electric powered. Evidently the engine is in New York and the hull is in the Los Angles area.

It was located on the East Coast for nearly 20 years after it was purchased from Bill, who in turn had purchased it from my Grandfather in the 1980's. Bill seems to think that it is now located in the Los Angles area, although at this point in his life I can't be sure as to his accuracy.

Please let me know if you have seen this boat, or have any knowledge of it's past or current home port.

Thanks in advance,

Kim Neelley

[boat fan]

Looks like this ...

[kimaging]

Yes boat fan, that's the one. The little stick figure with the hat is supposed to be my Grandfather. After the boat was sold to Bill, he added a forward mast and a small cabin for bunks belowdeck, just ahead of the existing cabin. I also heard that he cut an opening in the forward deck and added a seat for 2 people, kind of like a rumble seat. Regardless, it's pretty hard to confuse with any other boat.

[boat fan]

Originally Posted by kimaging

Yes boat fan, that's the one. The little stick figure with the hat is supposed to be my Grandfather. After the boat was sold to Bill, he added a forward mast and a small cabin for bunks belowdeck, just ahead of the existing cabin. I also heard that he cut an opening in the forward deck and added a seat for 2 people, kind of like a rumble seat. Regardless, it's pretty hard to confuse with any other boat.

Too long ago (Sept 2002 ) I`m afraid ...but found on bolger 3 boatbuilding yahoo group ...................

While crawling around a boatyard on Chesapeake bay's eastern shore
last year I found Tlingit sitting behind a shed. What a beauty! The
boatyard was the old Dickerson yard in Trappe, Md, and Tlingit is now
home ported in Oxford, Md.

[kimaging]

That was the last place we were able to track her. At the time she still was powered by the Easthope. Evidently, the Easthope was removed and sold to someone in Brooklyn, New York. The hull was repowered with electric drive and transported to Los Angeles. The current owner is not the same peroson who owned her in 2002.

I can find no records of her after this, so I was just hoping someone might have actually laid eyes on her recently.

[boat fan]

I hope you are successful k imaging , please do put up photos if you are ...I have always liked this boat.

Someone should build a " replica " I have thought about it myself , but not very practical ( that`s a Loooooong trailer !! ) for my circumstances , unfortunately.

[WestVanHan]

Garden's designs are great imo esp. Katherine and Czarina,met him a couple times.

Isn't there a website in the US Coast Guard where you can search for boat owners via the vessels name??
If it hasn't been changed..or maybe they record the past names as well

[pamarine]

unfortunately the vessel appears not to have been documented with the USCG.

[kimaging]

Last Coast Guard document on the boat expired in Feb. 2002. Due to privacy restrictions, ownership is not available. No location information is available either.

Bill and my Grandfather were great friends, and as a kid I spent many a day with both of them on one of their boats. We also own a small island about 5 kilometers away from Bill's and he would come over for dinner almost once a week during the summer.

I thought everyone grew up with those type of experiences, but as I get older I have realized how unique some of my experiences were. Bill designed at least six boats that were built by my grandfather, and many more that only exist on paper. The two of them were quite the pair when they were together. And Bill is not only a tremendous designer, he is one of the most down to earth people I ever meet. A really good human being.

I am a little biased, but this particular boat is my personal favorite of his myriad creations.

[Submarine Tom]

I can't say I've ever seen this boat around Vancouver Island or the Queen Charlottes. But I have sailed one of Gardens Walloons (FRAYA) for years before the owner went bully-up and she was sold at action (S.A.L.T.S.) recently in sad, sad shape for pennies.

Sorry I can't be of any help...

[pamarine]

I was browsing the Woodenboats forum and somebody reported seeing it when it was for sale in MD. No date given but may be worth asking over there about?

[TollyWally]

Kimaging,
This is so cool, I've admired that boat from the pictures in a book for a long long time. While I can't add anything to the search I certainly wish you the best of luck. It's funny how what as children seems normal can, as you point out, be quite unique. Congratulations on a splendid choice in Grandfathers!

[kimaging]

Submarine Tom, pamarine, TollyWally, WestVanHan, and others,

Thanks for the comments. The entries on Woodenboats forum are from about the same time that the registration trail dissappears, 2002.

When my Grandfather owned her she was home ported at Canoe Cove, on Vancouver Island, walking distance from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal. This would have been from the early 70's through the mid 1980's. Bill's Island is in the same area, and we would pass his place on the way to ours. To the best of my recollection it would have spent around 20 years in that part of the Northwest.

One of the really amazing things about this particular Garden design, is that it was designed from the outset to be built as cheaply as possible. Some of the framing was done with 2x4's, and the hull was plywood with fiberglass over the top. I believe my Grandfather actually bought the Easthope motor from Bill, who had it lying around around his shop. Some versions of the story actually say that the motor was the inspiration for the entire project. Both men were attracted to the old, slow speed engines, both diesel and gasoline.

Despite the cheap and somewhat inflexible building methods, the lines on the boat are just amazing. What Bill did with sheets of plywood is nothing short of amazing. I can't even begin to imagine what this type of design would look like, if it were designed from the outset to be built in more traditional materials, and cost was less of a concern.

It is also amazing to me that my Grandfather, who was nearing 60 at the time, and Bill who was not all that much younger conceived such an efficient design. This is before the first Middle East oil embargo, in 1973, and fuel is ridiculously cheap at the time. This boat absolutely sipped fuel, and left very little wake for it's size and speed. Neither of these guys were what we would think of as "Cutting Edge" technology fans. The design was just so radically different than anything going on at the time.

It was not a boat for just anyone. It took several minutes of hand oiling before the motor could even be started. Then there was the proper positioning of the spark retarder, and finally releasing the compression release at the proper time during cranking. Most people would have difficulty just getting the engine running. And that was before you cast off the lines and tried to manuver your way out of the marina. Although so graceful in form, she was a pig in slow speed manuvering. No steering whatsoever when going astern. Back down a little ways, then into forward with full rudder to get the boat oriented properly, repeat until free of the confines of the marina. She didn't like turning, even at speed, and in a beam sea she rolled like crazy. But if you were running against or with the seas she just cut through the chop like a hot knife through butter. If you saw her at sea, I don't think you'd forget about her anytime soon. She was just so weird, compared to what others were doing at the time.

Thanks one and all for the interest. I'm going to try and get some pictures to post, but my mother who lives in another state has most of the family pictures of Tlingit.

[Submarine Tom]

Kim,

Bill still lives on his Island, I spoke with him the other day.

Canoe Cove is alive and well too despite a recent, three boat fire.

Give their web-site contact link a try as there are lots of golden oldies

around there still. I'm a little surprised nobody here has coughed up the

info you're after but the main players tend to be a small group.

Best of luck, Tom

[kimaging]

Tom,

My Mother, Brother, Sister and I still own our Island. I was just up in your neck of the woods in August. I haven't gone to see Bill in many years, I knew him mostly as a boy and young man in the 60's and 70's. My Grandfather passed away in 2000, and had not been in good health for about five years. I don't believe he had seen Bill since the summer of 1994. I respect Bill's desire for privacy so I don't bother him when I'm up there.

Our caretaker, Lloyd still sees Bill on a regular basis, last weekend as a mater of fact. That meeting was the impetus for this thread. We thought the boat was still back East. Bill told Lloyd that the Easthope had been removed and was in Brooklyn, New York. He also believes that the hull is now in Los Angeles and is electic powered. I think Lloyd is going out to see Bill this weekend, and was going to see if Bill had anymore details.

Will keep you posted,

Kim Neelley