Lady Washington's New Engine Arrives in Aberdeen

Lady Washington's new engine arrived today at the Historical Seaport's headquarters in Aberdeen, Wash. Top: Marine Operations Manager Micah Allnutt, right, and Mark Woolsey, owner of Westport Diesel Service, look over the newly unloaded Scania 12 L marine diesel engine. Bottom: Allnutt accepts delivery of the new motor from Mark Woolsey and Gary Arnold, Marine OEM Manager at Cascade Engine Center LLC in Tukwila, Wash. Many thanks, guys! Next step in the project is removing the old engine from Lady Washington.

Though we've reached an important milestone, the Historical Seaport is still a bit less than $20,000 short of our $100,000 goal for the engine re-power, which will put us in compliance with California's strict emissions regulations. Please consider contributing today via our web donations page.

Hawaiian Chieftain Firing Her Cannon

Here's a shot of Hawaiian Chieftain firing a shot, as it were. Guests Ed and Jana Burningham took this picture last May near Hood River, Ore., as they rode the Lady Washington during a Battle Sail. Hawaiian Chieftain is now on her way to Newport Beach, Calif, where she'll offer three-hour Adventure Sails this Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available on our website or by calling 800-200-5239.

If you have a photo to share, send it to photos@historicalseaport.org.

Merry Christmas from LW, HC, and the Seaport staff!

I took this photo of the Christmas tree aboard Lady Washington last weekend during the Coastal Harvest food drive. Cute! Merry Christmas to everyone from the crews of the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain, and the staff at the Historical Seaport HQ in Aberdeen.

Visitors Bring Food Donations to Lady Washington

Several Lady Washington fans braved today's drizzly weather in Aberdeen to visit the boat and bring food donations for Coastal Harvest, Grays Harbor County's food bank program. Top: A family chats with John Paul, the purser, before boarding the ship. Middle: Alex Kluh, one of the Historical Seaport's board members, looks rather serious before bringing his donation aboard. Bottom: The light was almost gone when this mom and son brought some canned goods, gratefully accepted by Dashter. one of the Lady's crew.

Thanks to everyone who brought donations to our Aberdeen berth. Thanks also our friends in Westport who brought their donations earlier this week.

Hawaiian Chieftain on the Sacramento River

Radio and TV producer Raleigh Adams took these photos of Hawaiian Chieftain over the Thanksgiving weekend as he was working on feature stories for local television. The eerie photo above looks almost 19th century, despite the color. Note the steam locomotive and its cars on the riverbank behind the boat, which has just fired its cannon. The photo below shows Hawaiian Chieftain enjoying a leisurely cruise on the Sacramento River. If you have photos to share, please send them to photos@historicalseaport.org.

JB and Gov. Chris Gregoire on Hawaiian Chieftain

Steve Freiderich of the Daily World sent us a screenshot of Gov. Chris Gregoire's home page, which has a slideshow with this photo of the governor with Capt. JB Morrison aboard the Lady Washington Hawaiian Chieftain. The ship was in Olympia last September, and Gov. Gregoire and her husband Mike came by for a visit. The photo was taken by Weldon Wilson, the governor's official photographer.

Lady Washington extends Astoria stay

The Lady Washington has extended its stay in Astoria due to unexpected silting in the channel leading to the Port of Ilwaco. She was scheduled to depart Astoria today for the brief transit to Ilwaco. But the U.S. Coast Guard advised us Tuesday that the channel into the Port of Ilwaco was only 10-feet deep at high tide. Lady Washington draws 11 feet, and the we decided to keep the ship in Astoria until Dec. 14. Lady Washington departs Astoria for Westport on Dec. 14. We plan to reschedule the Ilwaco stop to the spring. For more detailed schedule information, visit our Sailing Schedule page.

Lady Washington memorabilia presented to Princess Taiping crew

Jim Mockford, a dear friend of Lady Washington and a member of the Historical Seaport’s Advisory Council, sent along these photos and a story about a presentation to representatives of the Princess Taiping replica. The ship visited the west coast in October of 2008.

On Sunday afternoon, December 6, 2009, some gifts from the brig Lady Washington were presented to two intrepid sailing-junk sailors at the Evergreen Maritime Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Captain Nelson Liu (Liu Ning-sheng) and Angela Chao were presented a set of gold coins marking the 20th Anniversary of Grays Harbor Historical Seaport and brig Lady Washington, as well as a Washington State flag, and coins for eleven members of the Princess Taiping replica war junk. The presentation was made by Jim Mockford, a member of the Historical Seaport's advisory council, who was traveling on business in Taiwan.


It was not the first time that Nelson and Angela had received gifts as part of an international friendship exchange between the two historical ships. In 2008, the Lady Washington and Princess Taiping sailed together in San Francisco Bay and the crews held exchanges aboard their respective vessels. But on April 26, 2009, Liu and his ten member crew were sailing 20 miles off the coast of Taiwan when their 54-foot Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) replica was overrun at 2:30 a.m. by a freighter. Three hours later, Nelson, Chao and the crew were rescued at sea by the Taiwanese Coast Guard as their beautiful ship sank to the bottom of the sea. It had successfully made a 14,000 mile voyage across the Pacific to the United States the previous year and back to Chinese waters just as they were about to reach their home port. The mementos of their trip, including gifts from Lady Washington, sank with the ship. Fortunately, all hands were saved from a final fate.


When Captain Les Bolton, the executive director of GHHSA, heard of Mockford's business trip to Taiwan, they discussed "regifting" another set of Lady Washington memorabilia to Nelson and the Princess Taiping crew. After all, the Princess Taiping was also a connection to the Aberdeen Boat Club of Hong Kong, Princess Taiping’s home port and namesake of Lady Washington's home port of Aberdeen, Wash. Also, Captain John Kendrick had sailed the original Lady Washington to Aberdeen, Hong Kong in 1793 becoming the first American ship to anchor at Hong Kong.


The original Lady Washington sailed from the Pacific Northwest to China to trade furs for tea in the 1790s and on one occasion Kendrick rescued thirty Chinese sailors whose junks had been lost during a typhoon. Unlike Kendrick and Lady Washington, the freighter captain who ran over Princess Taiping did not stop to render assistance and an investigation followed outrage over the incident reported in Chinese newspapers.


In response to the renewal of friendship between Princess Taiping and Lady Washington, Nelson Liu presented Mockford with a pennant from Princess Taiping and other gifts that will be brought back to Grays Harbor Historical Seaport and the promise that Nelson and Angela will return to the USA again soon to see Lady Washington and express their appreciation on behalf of the crew of Princess Taiping.

LW crew sings a shanty in Astoria

Lady Washington crew sing a shanty for guests aboard Dec. 5's Adventure Sail in Astoria. Thanks to the Randall family for sending this photo to us. Lady Washington sails next to Ilwaco tomorrow. For tickets to this weekend's Adventure Sails, visit our website. If you have a photo of your experience to share, send it to photos@historicalseaport.org.

Lady Washington Invites Donations for GH Food Bank

The Lady Washington is inviting Grays Harbor residents to make donations to an annual holiday food drive when the ship returns to its home port this month. The Lady Washington is scheduled to arrive at Westport Dec. 14 after an 11-week voyage on the Columbia River. On Dec. 16, members of the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority board of directors will accept donations for Coastal Harvest, formerly the Grays Harbor Food Bank, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the ship’s berth in the Westport Marina.

On Dec. 17, Lady Washington will sail for Aberdeen Landing, 701 East Heron Street in Aberdeen. On Dec. 18, GHHSA board members will again invite donations on behalf of Coastal Harvest from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The ship will accept non-perishable food items, winter clothing for children and adults, infant diapers and formula, and other donations for needy families.

“Coastal Harvest is doing incredible work during these difficult times,” said GHHSA executive director Les Bolton. “We hope Lady Washington will be a visible focal point to help encourage our neighbors to donate.”

The Lady Washington has also scheduled walk-on tours and public sailings in December before it shuts down to replace its main engine and attend to some rigging restoration projects.