Credits
Third Sea Found!
Schooner Third Sea, the topic of my book The Last Voyage, was the subject of an article in the Friday, January 28th, 2005 edition of The Olympian, a newspaper out of Olympia, Washington. I've included the story, written by reporter Barry Ginter, below. -- Harold Stephens
Sunken schooner may yet feel wind in its sails
Residents plan to raise Third Sea from depths of inlet
Local residents are working on plans to raise a 71-foot twin-masted schooner that sank in Budd Inlet two weeks ago.
The Third Sea, with a rich history and a record of two around-the-world voyages, was moored off the Olympia Country Club when it sank for unknown reasons, according to Jeff Peterson, one of a dozen local residents who have donated time and money during the past five years to return it to its previous glory.
Peterson became involved with the Third Sea about five years ago when the Port of Olympia hired him to dispose of the boat, which had been abandoned by its owner, Peterson said.
But it became a labor of love for Peterson after he saw the character of the boat firsthand, including carvings and a still-intact library that spoke of its adventures in the South Pacific and Asia.
"It's just a fabulous vessel," he said.
A group of proprietors
Others soon came to share his enthusiasm and began restoring the boat. They turned it "from an ugly duckling to a swan," he said, and even people who had previously taken items off the abandoned boat began returning them.
Peterson described himself and his friends as proprietors of the boat.
Many have spent nights on it during the years it has been moored in Puget Sound, he said. They even kept a gratuity jar on the boat for people who used it. Peterson said it required more than $3,000 in upkeep every year.
The Department of Natural Resources has no record of the actual owner, said Sarah Wilson, assistant division manager for the agency's aquatic resource division.
Third Sea is not a threat to shipping, and buoys have been placed so small boats are aware of its presence, Wilson said.
"As far as we know, it's no threat to the shipping channel," she said.
Mark Osborne of Osborne Marine, a friend of Peterson, is another local resident who has spent time on the boat. It has no engine and carries no oil or fuel, so contamination of the water is not an issue, he said.
"It's pretty benign," Osborne said.
No reason for sinking
As to how the boat sank, Peterson said there is only speculation. He has heard reports from people on shore that they'd seen people on board in the days before it sank.
"It's all speculation," he said. "I'm not looking to point fingers."
It's also possible someone sunk the boat without knowing it by using the levers for the schooner's pumps improperly, he said.
"What's happened was just tragic," he said. "But it's nothing that can't be fixed."
While news of the sinking was disheartening, the group is working on plans to raise the boat, which is in about 45 feet of water at high tide. They hope to raise the boat by mid-February, Peterson said.
Both Peterson and Osborne acknowledge that raising the vessel will be a big undertaking. They've done an inspection dive and have obtained the use of a barge with cranes that's capable of doing the job, Peterson said.
Third Sea was built in Singapore in 1973 by a prolific travel writer, Harold Stephens, the author of 20 books and many magazine and newspaper articles. He traveled and wrote aboard it for 18 years in Asia and the South Pacific.
Third Sea is made of ferro-concrete, which has metal or mesh added for support. Stephens estimated it took 4,500 man hours from him and many friends to build the boat, as well as 4 miles of steel bars, enough chicken wire to fence in 1 square mile, 80,000 staples and enough wood to build a small two-bedroom frame house. The price tag was about $40,000, he wrote.
The boat has been on the bottom before. It was sunk by a hurricane while moored in Hawaii, prompting Stephens to write the book "The Last Voyage," retelling its adventures. That book was published in 1997 and is still in print.
Barry Ginter can be reached at 360-754-5423 or bginter@olympia.gannett.com.