Wawona
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Wawona (disambiguation).
The three-masted, fore-and-aft schooner Wawona sailed from 1897 to 1947 as a lumber carrier and fishing vessel based in Puget Sound. The schooner was built in California's Humboldt Bay by H.D. Bendixsen, one of the most important West Coast shipbuilders of the late 19th century. From 1897 to 1913, she carried lumber from Grays Harbor and Puget Sound ports to California. One of her captains, Ralph E. "Matt" Peasley, inspired a series of popular novels.
From 1914 until 1947, except during World War II, Wawona sailed to the Bering Sea with a crew of 36 to fish for cod. In 1935, her captain, Charles Foss, died at the wheel during a storm in the Aleutian Islands. Sixteen years after her retirement, a group of Seattle citizens formed Northwest Seaport and purchased the vessel as a museum ship. Wawona is 165 feet long with a 35-foot beam. Her masts are 110 feet tall. Restoration work on Wawona continues today. She is berthed at South Lake Union Park in Seattle. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Washington State Heritage Register, and the vessel is an official city landmark.
