New exhibit to open at the Maritime Heritage Center

Drawing on the memories of the men who sailed her, historical photos, and artifacts from the ship herself, the exhibit showcases the schooner Wawona, acquired in the early 1900s by Robinson Fisheries of Anacortes to fish the Bering Sea cod banks.

"The Wawona and the End of the Age of Sail" exhibit opens on July 30th with a special program, featuring music by the Whateverly Brothers, Cannery Row, and Guemes folksinger Tim Wittman, who has written a song about the Wawona especially for this event.

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 Hans Ditlev 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.

Wawona was 165 feet long with a 35-foot beam. Her masts, before being cut down, were 110 feet tall.

In 1964, sixteen years after the vessel's retirement, a group of Seattle citizens formed Northwest Seaport and purchased Wawona as a museum ship. The schooner was made available for public visits during her restoration.

She was berthed at South Lake Union Park in Seattle adjacent to the Center for Wooden Boats. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Washington State Heritage Register, and the vessel was an official city landmark. However, after efforts to restore the decaying ship failed, she was dismantled in March 2009.

For more information, call the Anacortes Museum at 293-1915.