Ship’s Log October 20th 2018
When I went looking for my first commercial boat I did not care about the name. I just wanted to participate. Sully (Patrick Sullivan) was getting, um, really good and giving me reports. I wanted to go salmon trolling and wanted to be able to fish for albacore. Kristi and I found and bought the Manatee II, a 1945 wooden troller. It had great catch history, and seemed worthy enough so be it. I fished it really hard, caught a lot of salmon and albacore, and started to consider my next vessel.
Sure I considered a brand new one. To do what I wanted to do would cost me a million bucks. I had a specific name in mind for our new vessel. It would be named the James Lee, my middle name followed by my wife Kristi’s middle name. I had a specific design in mind and a certain look that I wanted for it. Classic lines, deep wide body, and a high bow to deal with 30 knot summer winds. I could have made the new one happen, but did not want to enslave myself with too much debt. I planned to borrow 100%, because that’s what would have to happen to buy this new vessel. So I bailed on the idea of new. I would find a worthy wooden vessel, realistically affordable, and CHANGE the name to James Lee.
Every boat I passed I would take a photo at sea. Every boat I saw in every harbor I entered I would analyze the boat and wonder to myself “Would that make a good James Lee?”.
Early summer In 2016. (I think…) I saw a perfect boat for me. It was in Charleston, Oregon at the Transient dock. Beautiful big wooden vessel with a high sharp bow. Selling for super cheap price compared to actual value. BUT my name James Lee would not fit. WHY?? Because the current name on it was WAY TOO GOOD! That was the Edge. I loved the boat, loved the name, would never change the name of the Edge... So I kept looking and gave it an easy pass.
Late summer of 2017 I returned from sea with a load of albacore in the Manatee II. I rounded the corner coming into the Charleston harbor and instantly saw my new boat. PERFECT James Lee right there, 18 feet wide, beamy, high bow and about 55 feet long, and a bunch of body hidden underwater. I idled by it on my way to Pac Choice for my offload. When I returned from my offload, I saw the little square FOR SALE sign in one of the house windows. I was pretty excited. We fueled up, then motored over to my slip. I hopped out and went to take a look at my new boat. I knocked on the side of the Juanaloa. Out came the deckhand and the skipper. I asked if I could take a look. They gave me full access. I spent about 30 minutes looking it over. I found problems that I knew how to correct. Easy pie. I asked “How much?” That answer given to me sealed the possibilities. So I got onto the dock and took a pic. I texted that pic to my banker and asked what he thought. He said no problem. I said well I will need to borrow 20k over the ask to get ahead and secure all required shitteroo. He said go for it.
So that’s when I called my wife Kristi. She had a thorough look with me, and a short sea trial. She said “Go for it!”. We did. I stuck it into a slip at Winchester Bay with a years insurance, a year and a half moorage paid, and then went crabbing on the Brandy for Sully and Fred Whal, and listed the Manatee II for sale. It sold easy, and I kept my salmon permit for the new vessel too.
In May of 2018 we hauled Juanaloa out for the first time and I was very pleased. We sanded the whole entire hull, I ordered new stickers for the James Lee and put them on it. With zero fanfare. We launched the James Lee, and went fishing… We faced many challenges, with breakdowns and problems. I never even considered blaming that on bad luck. Just fix the problems and get back out. That’s what we did, and the season was good enough where I am still on the water, and excited for this upcoming season of 2019.
Patrick