American Press, 12/04/2014, page C4 Saturday at Central Library @ 2 p.m., 301 W. Claude St. Couple who restored 1929-era boat to lead library discussion BY JOHN GUIDROZ, jguidroz@americanpress More than 15 years ago, Jeffrey Smith and his wife, Christine, bought the David B, a 65-foot wooden boat built in 1929. The two had plans to restore it and use it to provide passenger cruises to Alaska. Today, the fully-restored boat provides about 200 people each year with a tour of the southeastern part of Alaska and other locations. Christine’s book, “More Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B,” details the experience of buying and restoring the boat. She will discuss their story at 2 p.m. Saturday at Central Library, 301 W. Claude St. Released in January 2012, Smith said the book weaves the story of buying and rebuilding the boat with the travels taken and the people met along the way. She and Jeffrey own Northwest Navigation Co., which provides cruises for small groups to places like the San Juan Islands and Southeast Alaska. “It’s been amazing sometimes when you get to stand back and go, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I get to do this,’” she said. “I feel like we’re really lucky.” In the late 1990s, Smith said she and Jeffrey had a dream to own a business in the ecotourism industry. Because they were short on money, building a boat was out of the question. The two began looking for an older boat to restore, and suggestions from friends led them to the David B. “The boat didn’t look that rough,” she said. “We saw the engine room, and it had the original three-cylinder engine from Washington Iron Works, a company based in Seattle.” Smith said they looked at other boats, but “none of them captured our imagination” like the David B. They purchased it in 1998. The boat was named after David Branch, who worked for the canning company, Libby, McNeil and Libby Co. According to the Northwest Navigation website, the vessel towed “small sail-powered boats to the salmon fishing grounds” in Bristol Bay, located near the Alaskan community of Ekuk. The David B was left on the beach in the 1950s after “the Nushagak River in front of the cannery changed course,” which caused the company to move. When the Smiths bought the boat, they agreed to keep its name. Christine said they thought it would take two years to restore. “But we ran into one problem after another,” she said. “It took eight years to restore it.” Despite the timeline, Smith said they began taking passengers on cruises in 2006. The David B can accommodate six passengers at a time. The trips are largely naturebased and include hiking, kayaking and animal watching. Because the vessel is smaller, she said it can access certain points that larger cruise ships cannot. Smith said the idea to write a book came about when two women on board who were authors suggested it. “They were listening to all our stories, and somebody said you have to write that down,” she said. “They finally convinced me I should at least try.” Smith said writing allowed her to look back on the experience and made her realize just how emotional it was. “At the time, we were just having to focus to keep the project going,” she said. “To sit there writing the story and crying, it was amazing.” ONLINE: northwestnavigation
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 13:49:33 +0000
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