Backwards Boat, Forwards Town
Tim Ceis from the mayor's office recently sent a letter to Northwest Seaport basically telling them to get their rotting piece of Wawona the hell out of Paul Allen's park ASAP or it's going to be hauled out to the middle of Lake Union and shot. The Wawona is that giant hull near the Armory and Center for Wooden Boats at the southern tip of Lake Union, tucked away behind the Swiftsure. If you've been down there for a Wooden Boat Festival or something it's the one with big tarps over it that you've never been able to board because no one in their right mind would insure it.
For the last forever a grassroots effort has been trying to raise money to fund its recovery but has mainly only succeeded at doing just enough to keep it from completely disappearing into the cold depths of the lake. It's difficult to believe that it'll be cut up and sunk, despite Tim Ceis's threats. It's equally difficult to believe that it will ever be restored to anything resembling sea-worthiness. If the Kalakala couldn't get any love in Seattle the Wawona is doomed. The Kalakala holds more promise as a functioning vessel. It's from a more recent and recognizable era of the nautical history of the city. It's way cooler. Yet it's rusting in Tacoma somewhere because Seattle ultimately turned a cold shoulder to it.
Local writer Joe Follansbee has been the hardest working man in the blogging business lately trying to spread some awareness of the Wawona's end days and he's approached it from a number of angles: Ceis doesn't understand what's involved with sinking the Wawona, sinking a boat on the National Register of Historic Places can't happen, the Mayor's distracting from a conversation about the Wawona, etc. If you're reading this you should follow those links. The problem is that you're probably not reading this. Despite Seattle's placement relative to (and history revolving around) the sea we just haven't taken to it the way other cities have. Beyond a cheap slip for the yacht we're just not that interested. Quick, where's our nautical museum?
The one functioning and substantial classic sailing ship in the area that Seattlest can think of, and we're interested in this kind of thing, is the Zodiac. It can be seen on Lake Washington occasionally, but more often it's up in the San Juans. When we see it we stop and watch in silence until it passes from sight, which can be some time since it's, you know, a sailboat. Our heart feels like it billows in our chest a bit while we're watching it. It's that beautiful. If the Wawona sloshed through the waters of Elliott Bay with a pod of orcas jumping in its wake and the Bjork 'All is full of love' video being projected on the sails while world peace broke out on the deck it would still be a dog compared with the Zodiac. The Zodiac is owned and operated by the Northwest Schooner Society which is a non-profit, but it's much less a "people's boat" than the Wawona. It never did the heavy work that the Wawona did. It looks like it's built entirely of teak, a high falutin' wood that couldn't possibly have ever existed on the deck of the Wawona. And we've looked into it - It's expensive to ride. The Zodiac is more at home hauling Microsoft execs back and forth to the San Juans than selling individual tickets to steerage like Seattlest. The thing is, why would things be any different if the Wawona were restored to some semblance of glory? The people who would enjoy a functioning Wawona aren't interested in restoring it, and the people who would like to kick in to save it with time or money or skill won't get to set foot on it once it's restored. Would you rather have it broken up and destroyed or pay for the swells to wine and dine each other on its deck? It's a tough call for Seattlest which means it's probably an easy call for most people. See ya, Wawona.
We said earlier that it probably won't be sunk. It is in really bad shape, however. It'll probably be nearly as expensive to move than it would be to wreck, but it's pretty clear that it won't be staying at South Lake Union. Mayor Nickels has moved some serious earth to make sure that things go well for Paul Allen's new urban utopia in that area. The rotting husk of an old cod ship isn't going to be the rock that turns back that wave. The P-I's scolding editorial today is irritating ('you had your chance' is the gist of it) and it sucks that there doesn't seem to be a path to preserving this piece of Seattle history but ultimately it is about the money. Reply to the P-I's piece or here or Joe's site or write letters to the Mayor on the Wawona's behalf. Won't change the fact that there just isn't the money there to keep it floating and it doesn't appear that the city is ready to thow in. Seattlest isn't sure exactly what authority the city has here, but maybe it can start collecting a "boat tab" tax from the yachts to fund the preservation of some of this maritime history before it all ends up in Tacoma or destroyed.
