Windborne in Puget Sound: Profile: m/v Lotus

Monday, June 3, 2013

Profile: m/v Lotus

One of the great things about boating in the Pacific Northwest is the vibrant wooden boat community. The art (and it is an art, to make wood take on the graceful shape of a boat) of wooden boat building and maintenance is alive and well here, most particularly in Port Townsend. Our wooden boats are the reigning queens of the Salish Sea.

m/v Lotus

You may have learned of the 1909 wooden motor vessel Lotus the same way I did: thru a collection of articles on Three Sheets Northwest. Sadly, a couple of the articles dealt with the winter storm in February of 2012, when she was blown off of her mooring in Port Hadlock and came ashore.

Well, she's back. And in a completely random occurrence, Lotus was tied up at the dock here in Poulsbo this weekend, and was open for tours, so how could we not? We went aboard.

Lotus is amazing. She is almost completely in excellent original condition. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a prime exemplar of the Edwardian (or Craftsman) style as applied in the marine world. She is in the responsible care of Christian Gruye (who just happens to be Brion Toss' wife). Lotus has been in Christian's family off and on for years; Christian calls herself 'Head Steward', a title which any boat owner will understand. Under her stewardship, the few 'modernizations' that had been applied in her century of existence were corrected. Christian even sought out and re-acquired her original diesel-fired galley stove.

Christian, next to the fireplace in the saloon
(and your correspondent photo-bombed by the mirror)

Because we arrived at a visitors lull, we got the cook's tour from Christian, and a fuller recount of her history than I suspect most hear. It is a privilege to be able to acquaint yourself with one of these grand queens of the waterways. If you can, you should make the opportunity for yourself.