The Air Snipe was laid down as SC-1068 in Camden, NJ for service with the USN in WWII, she first traveled to Dutch Harbor, AK via the Panama Canal and then ranged out the Aleutians. By 1944 she was in the South Pacific and earned a battle star for the invasion of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls. She then spent 2 years in Seattle with the USCG as WAVR-465 and gained the name Air Snipe, finally she was sold to private owners where she ended up with Boyer Towing in 1954 and operated as a commercial tug until the mid 1990's . Kent Halvorsen of Boyer then restored her and began her 4th career as the "company yacht" - after Kent's passing in Nov. of 2023 the Air Snipe Foundation was formed and acts as the caretaker of this unique piece of WWII USN and SE AK Towboat history.
Bell Harbor Marina, Seattle, June 13-15, 2025. This is a partial list of boats planning to attend this event. Please note changes may be made and this list may not represent the final list of attending boats. Note: Additional photos and details for many of these boats can be found by clicking on the boat name or photo.
Marquee Class: For our 28th annual Bell Harbor Rendezvous, our featured or “Marquee Class” of boats will be boats which served in WWII. We are thrilled to announce that “Air Snipe,” a 1943 110’ US Navy wooden hulled subchaser will be joining us this year. There are many other boats in our fleet which served in WWII.
Listed below: 42 boats.
40'
1962
Owens Tahitian "Aloha”
In the late 1950's, the Owens Company hired 30 year old Darryl Fish, an industrial designer at Ford Motor Company, to design their Tahitian model yacht. Fish was the designer of the "mod" 1950's Ford Thunderbird that began the sports car craze in America. The Owens Company wanted the same sexy styling found in the Thunderbird for their Tahitian model.
50'
1970
American Marine
Delivered new to San Francisco in 1970, Arianna—originally named Shiksa II—spent her early years cruising and as a liveaboard apartment in the Bay Area. After serving one or two owners there, she was sold and transported up the Pacific Coast to Edmonds, Washington, in 1996. In 2001, under new ownership, she underwent an extensive refit, including minor hull repairs and major interior enhancements aimed at improving comfort and preparing her for long-range cruising.
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
Launched in time for Opening Day of Boating Season, 1928, this fantail motoryacht is a true Seattle icon. She served in the US Army during the second world war, and has been in private, and occasional charter service in our area ever since.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the Rendezvous!!
55'
1926
Defoe Boat and Motor Works
Built on the Great Lakes for a New York electrical magnate. Changed hands a times. Purchased by President of Standard Oil in Houston, Texas in the 1950’s. Inherited by his daughter Captain Jean Bonner-Lane and moved to the Pacific Northwest in the 1970’s. Extensively renovated at Philbrooks in Sidney, BC in 2003. Purchased by Jeff Wilson in summer of 2024.
36'
1962
Egg Harbor
In the early 60s, an Egg Harbor dealer invited George Stadel to design a 36-footer. After a year of production, the 36 morphed into the now-famous Egg Harbor 37.
As Stadel’s son Bill recalls, “My father designed a lot of lobster boats. The Egg Harbor 37 is essentially a beamy lobster boat.” He remembers his father designing the 37 in four long days, modifying the 36 to make it a bit finer in the bow and removing the tumblehome back aft, thereby adding beam at the sheerline. The 37 is widely recognized as “the boat that created the Egg Harbor brand.”
Egg Harbor started building 50 of the 37's per year and increased production to 100 per year. The final count was somewhere between 800 and 850 hulls over a period of about 10 years.
60'
1961
Vic Franck Boat Co.
Previous names Kaprice, Gramersea and current name is Capella. This luxury cruising yacht for a family of four and crew of 2, is a Bill Garden design, built by Vic Franck and launched in 1961. Alaska yellow cedar over oak frames on 10-inch centers. Powered by a single 350 hp Caterpillar D-337T.
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
Celebrating her 90th year cruising the Pacific Northwest Coast, Carmelita has been stewarded by members of the same family her entire life.
34'
1951
Chris Craft
Delivered new to Palm Beach Chris Craft in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1951, Cinnamon Girl was originally named Pri Mer Go after the owner’s three daughters. She made her way to Seattle in the fifties or sixties, and was repowered by Doc Freeman's with twin OMC 305 V8 engines in 1977. Other former names include Vivace, Jolly Six and Josey II. Current owners purchased her in 1999 and repowered again in 2001, along with much refastening and main system upgrades.
43'
1929
Stephens Brothers
Compadre is a 43 foot bridge-deck cruiser designed and built by Stephens Brothers Boat Builders in Stockton, California. Launched in 1929, she was the second of three cruisers built by Stephens Bros. to a 42-foot design. Compadre is unique, however, because her original owner, Leland Adams of San Francisco, specified that the wheelhouse be lengthened by18 inches, making her 43-1/2 ft overall. A sister ship, Classique, currently is berthed in Seattle. The third boat, originally named Alys, has apparently has been lost. Compadre's interior layout is unusual for a bridge deck cruiser of this era. The galley and saloon are forward of the wheelhouse; aft is the owner's stateroom. Later 43-foot Stephens cruisers had the more common layout, with the stateroom forward and the galley/saloon aft. That designed proved more popular, and Stephens ultimately built at least seven of those boats during the early 1930s (surviving examples include Seven Bells, Allure, and Cielito.)
38'
1930
Franck & McCrary
Designed by H.C. Hanson and built by Franck & McCrary in 1930 on Seattle's Lake Union, Comrade was first owned by H. W. Davis, Jr. The third owner, the Birdseye family, bought the Comrade in 1949 and cruised on her for almost 70 years. Now owned by the great-granddaughter of the original owner! Kathy Weber and Bill Shain have enjoyed cruising Puget Sound since acquiring Comrade in 2017.
56'
1956
Chris Craft
Eloise started her life with a family in Newport Beach Ca. where she cruised extensively. She cruised annually three times per year from Newport to Cabo San Lucas and many weekends to Catalina Island, Marina del Rey and Santa Barbara.
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
Faun is a 36’ Blanchard Standardized Cruiser, launched on Lake Union in June, 1926 by the N.J. Blanchard Boat Company for W.N. Winter of Medina, Washington. Her designer is Leigh H. Coolidge. Her 1926 purchase price was $6000. She is one of 25 Standardized Cruisers built by Blanchard, most of which were 36’, and one of the most luxurious. She is powered by a 1947 Chrysler Crown 6-cylinder gas engine, and cruises at 8.5 knots. Her hull is Alaska red & yellow cedar, her frames are white oak and her bright work and house are Burmese teak. She has her original cast iron stove, a Neptune. A major restoration of her planks, frames & ribs- everything from the waterline down- was completed in 2013-14. She was awarded Best Classic Power Under 40 Ft at Seattle Yacht Club’s Opening Day in 2018; Best Overall Power at the Victoria Classic Boat Festival in 2014; Best Dinghy in 2015. Faun is featured in several books, notably Classic Wooden Yachts of the Northwest by Ron McClure (2000). She was featured as Miss October in Benjamin Mendlowitz’s 2010 Calendar of Wooden Boats, and has graced the cover of Northwest Yachting Magazine. She is also the subject of a series of pastels by San Juan Island artist Nancy McDonnell Spaulding.
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
![Gyrfalcon [2022]](https://classicyachtinfo.org/sites/default/files/styles/scale-crop-400-175/public/yachts/gyrfalcon-220809_1h8a8069.jpg)
In the mid-1930's, the U.S. War Department became convinced that a war with Japan was inevitable. The need for accurate charting of the coast of Alaska once again became important. H.C. Hanson, a noted naval architect in Bellingham, WA. furnished the plans and the government funded the building of two ships. One, the E. Lester Jones, was built in Astoria, OR, while our ship, the Patton (named for Raymond Stanton Patton, the recently deceased Superindent of the C&GS) was built by Sagstad Marine of Ballard. The winning bid was $149,995. After WWII, until their decommissioning in 1967, both vessels, E. Lester Jones and Patton, continued to survey for the C&GS in the Aleutians, Southeast Alaska, and along the BC coast (in conjunction with Canadian surveys).
40'
1947
Bud Forder/Grandy Boat Company
Heritage's history is closely tied to Bainbridge Island. She was designed by Bainbridge Island's own world famous naval architect, Ed Monk, Sr., and built by another islander, Bud Forder, who subcontracted with the Grandy Boat Company of Seattle for 28 sister ships that were fitted out by Grandy. She is a model of a trunk cabin cruiser, and started her life in 1947.
26'
1948
Blanchard Boat Company
Built at the Blanchard Boat Company on Lake Union in 1947, ILLUSION was one of 97 Senior Knockabouts designed by Ben Seaborn and Norm C. Blanchard. It traveled a mysterious journey through numerous owners until it came into the possession of John Wilkinson. His brother Rob Wilkinson found it at Jensen Motorboat Company owned by shipwright David Willard. The Blanchard made its way to Spokane where it awaited a restoration that illness prevented John from completing. Back to Seattle it came. David Willard was commissioned to conduct a keel up restoration.
42'
1929
Lake Union Drydock
The abstract of title shows the original name, “Ardito” dated April 4th. 1929 and sold to Pacific Finance Corporation. The yacht arrived in Los Angeles on June 28th, 1929. It is not clear how she got there but it is assumed, by rail. There is a brass plaque on board, Yacht and Motor Sales Corporation, Wilmington, California.
32'
1948
Louis Johnson
Isswat was built in 1948 in Whiskey Cove, on Pennock Island just across the water from Ketchikan AK. She spent most of her life as a hand troller in the waters of South East Alaska. She was brought down to Seattle around 1970. Since then she has fished and worked at a yard tug over the year.
47'
1981
Ron Bell
Belle was designed and built by Ron Bell in Richmond British Columbia in 1981. She is one of three sister ships built at the same time. She is 47’ long and 12’ wide, her hull is fiberglass but her heart is mahogany. She is powered by an Isuzu 120 diesel and cruises easily at 9 knots using less than 2 gallons of fuel an hour. She makes 13 knots under full power.
52'
1953
Stephens Bros
"Cantagree" was commissioned in 1952 at the Stephens Brothers, Inc., yard in Stockton California by Mr. James Camp, Bakersfield, CA. She was launched in May, 1953.
42'
1940
Chris Craft
Maranee was launched in Algonac, MIchigan on June 28, 1940, and spent her first 19 years cruising the Great Lakes, Georgian Bay and the St Lawrence River. She started a new life on the west coast when she was shipped to Seattle via railcar in 1959. She is still powered by her original Hercules M-130 gas engines. On her spreader flies the burgee of the Vermilion Yacht club in Ohio, a gift from that club's bridge in honor of Maranee's time as flagship there in 1946.
42'
1928
Lake Union Drydock
![Marian II [Greg Gilbert photo]](https://classicyachtinfo.org/sites/default/files/styles/scale-crop-400-175/public/boat-images/marian-ii-g-gilbert-photo.jpg)
Marian II is a classic Lake Union Dreamboat. She was the first flagship of the PNW Fleet of the Classic Yacht Association. The first boat to start the tradition of boating to UW Husky Football games. Current owner since 2014 extensive upgrades including new keel, bottom planks and horn timber. Interior upgrades new starboard bench, refrigerator, and subway tiled shower. New diesel heater. Ready for another 90+ years of cruising.
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
The Only yacht constructed by the Foss Launch and Tug Company of Tacoma. Originally christened 'Thea Foss' after the company's founder. The Keel was laid in 1929, with the boat being used as a means to keep the Foss Shipyard workers employed during the Great Depression. She was completed and launched in 1933. Her Current name 'Mitlite' was given to the boat by Henry Foss and the boat's Second Owner John Metzger after the company purchased the considerably larger yacht 'Infanta', now 'Thea Foss'. 'Mitlite' refers to the boat being their "Little One" as in their little 'Thea Foss'
38'
1957
Barney Williams & resident Student of the Christie Residential School
Built as the mission boat ‘Ave Maria’ at Meares Island in Clayoquot Sound in 1957. The last of four boats built for the mission school by the eye and hand of Barney Williams, Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) fisherman and shipwright of the Tula-o-qui-aht First Nation with students from the residential school.
With the closing of the school in 1983 the boat was found derelict at Tofino, rescued and rebuilt into this classic Pacific Northwest cruiser.
Barney Williams was a Chief of the Sea Otter Clan, and had visited the boat during her rebuild. Much later, when aboard, he presented a carved plaque of the sea otter, carved by his son of yellow cedar - now mounted in NOOTKA’s pilot house.
54'
1942
McKenzie Barge & Derrick
Owl was originally named the "Louise Idaho" when she was originally launched by the McKenzie Barge and Derrick Company in North Vancouver, BC in 1942. She worked as an inland tug until 1964, and was then sold to Nelson Pomeroy of Bainbridge Island, who renamed the boat "Owl" and oversaw the tug's two-year conversion to a pleasure yacht at the Weldcraft Steel and Marine Boatyard in Bellingham. PNW naval architect Edwin Monk designed her conversion, which included an entirely new house with a flybridge along with a redesigned lower deck with three cabins and two heads. The Pomeroy family cruised Owl to Canada and sometimes as far as Alaska every summer for the next 19 years.
In 1985, Pomeroy sold Owl to Frank and Carol Didier of Bellevue, WA and Ketchikan, AK. In 1990 she was sold to Harriett Stimson Bullitt, who moved her to her current berth in Seattle's Lake Union. Harriett Bullitt and her husband Alex Voronin cruised the Salish Sea with their family on Owl for the next 18 years, continuing Owl's tradition of being a family boat that explores the Pacific Northwest. Under their care, Owl became somewhat of an institution on Seattle's waterfront, used by rowers and sailors alike as a mark for their courses across Lake Union.
In 2021, the current owners Jenna Miller and James Utzschneider spotted a "For Sale by Owner" sign in Owl's window while kayaking in Lake Union one month after completing a nine-year circumnavigation on their catamaran Sophie. Experienced sailors, Miller and Utzschneider currently live on Owl with their family and look forward to cruising Owl to Alaska on her 100th birthday in 2042. They view themselves as stewards of a Pacific Northwest institution and will continue to honor and preserve her past while actively cruising her up and down the Salish Sea.
34'
1937
Carr & Stone
Home built by a Boeing Engineer in the Wallingford neighborhood by the owner. I am the 5th owner and have traveled the Salish Seas for 27 years as a member of the Classic Yacht Association.
42'
1952
Chris Craft
Built in 1952 at the Chris Craft factory in Algonac, MI. In 1992 Dan Enloe of Portland, OR purchased the boat and in 2000 did a major overhaul including new engines and christened the boat Cruise Missile. Current owners, Jerry & Karen O'Neill purchased the boat in Aug. 2013. They have completed projects including interior upgrades, electrical system, sanitation overhaul and extensive bright work on flybridge, aft cockpit and transom. Their goal is to restore it to its original splendor. They rechristened the boat Reverie in 2014.
49'
1927
Schertzer
Apart from several years in Alaska in the mid-1960's, RIPTIDE has been active on the Puget Sound since her launching in 1927. She's hosted three weddings, dozens of family cruises, and moonlight cruises beyond number. She is extremely fortunate to have been owned and maintained by sensitive and caring owners over her long and very active life. She has been repaired and upgraded since 2015 by the Port Townsend Shipwright's Co-Op, and most recently, Compass Boatworks of Port Townsend. Her paint and varnish is maintained by Salguero Marine Services and her owners. RIPTIDE is a great example of the boats produced in the Seattle area during the "Roaring Twenties" !
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
A storied history ! Started as Howard Johnson's private yacht, then served in WW2 in Lake Erie. From there it moved to Lake Mead as a casino showboat for the infamous mobster - Mo Dalitz. Then it was off to Hollywood where it appeared in its own TV Show called - Riptide!!
39'
1942
Bud Forder, Forder Boatworks
Savona is a 39' Ed Monk Sr. Bridgedeck Cruiser. She was built in 1942 by Bud Forder of Forder Boatworks in Kenmore, WA, on North Lake Washington for Russell Rathbone. She has had many owners through the decades. She was berthed at Bremerton Yacht Club under the ownership of Dr. Kenneth Jackson from 1946 to 1952. She has always been a Puget Sound boat, and we believe she has stayed mostly in the Seattle area. 9 years ago, Savona returned to the Bremerton Yacht Club and is currently owned by Chris and Emily Russell.l.
45'
1953
Chris-Craft
Purchased Scandalon in 1993 and spent 5 years restoring her. Serial number 2 for this model, and came with Deluxe Sun Deck option with dual stations. The current engines installed in 1965 and now have 5000 hours on them with new identical engines going in this fall. It also has the very rare Chris O Matic electric shifters (sometimes referred to as Crash O matics).
Marquee Class - WWII Veteran
This 43 ft. Stephens Brothers boat was built in 1929 in Stockton, CA, one of 17 boats using the same blueprints between 1929 and 1933, with Stephens Brothers hull numbers between 574 and 595. Seven of these boats remain in service — remarkably — over 90 years later. Purchased by the United States War Shipping Administration in 1942, the boat served as an anti-submarine net tender in San Francisco Bay during WW2. The boat was fully restored in 1947 and then again in 1998 after purchase by its current owner. The hull is of Port Orford Cedar, the house is teak, and the soles are fir. The fourth-generation engines are Yanmar diesels. The lace curtains were a gift made by a friend’s elderly mother in Milan, Italy.
45'
1944
Jacobson Brothers
Sockeye is a converted salmon trawler, commercial fished off the coastline of Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Underwent a 12 year restoration in Port Townsend to become a comfortable cruiser.
52'
1963
Chris Craft
Sonata is a 52’ Chris Craft built in Pompanio Beach , Florida in 1963. She was the 18th of 23 hulls built that year. Chris Craft moved their company after closing the plant in Michigan. Jerry Bryant’s Seattle Chris Craft Dealership on Boat Street in Seattle sold her new to Bill Blume, a member of one of Seattle’s iconic auto dealership families who had commissioned her from the Chris-Craft factory. Bill Blume named her Squatsie from a family story about his grandmother. There have been three other owners before us who named the boat; Salt Chuck, Handy 1, and Serious Delirium. We renamed her Sonata to keep the musical theme from our last two wooden boats. Sonata is 55 years old!
42'
1940
Chris-Craft
Built in 1940 to be the personal boat for Bernard Smith then VP of Chris Craft and son of Christopher Smith the founder of Chris Craft. Bernard never took delivery; instead it went to a dealer in Spokane. The boat was launched in an inland lake to keep her from being used in the war effort and was named TABU due to war era fuel rationing. According to Bernard's son who was aboard a couple of years ago she was also the first Chris Craft to have a 110V AC system on board.
78'
1927
Kruse & Banks
![Teal in Glenthornes Passage August 2015 [Tom Brayton photo]](https://classicyachtinfo.org/sites/default/files/styles/scale-crop-400-175/public/teal-glenthorne-aug2015-brayton.jpg)
Commissioned and constructed in 1927 for the US Bureau of Fisheries to be a coastal patrol vessel in the territory of Alaska; Teal became the first Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game enforcement vessel when Alaska statehood occurred in 1959. Following that service Teal was "long in the tooth", and was sold into private ownership in 1966. In 1980 she was towed to Port Hadlock, WA where she further languished until being hauled ashore to await next steps...
In 1997 a massive renovation began; completed in 1999, Teal was re-floated having been completely replanked, her original Washington-Estep 300 direct-reversible having been replaced (and re-located aft) with a Cummins 855 NTA of 335 hp, with 6:1 Twin-Disc 514 reverse gear. Her original (1955) Coolidge 5 blade bronze propellor is still in use today. Additional upgrades include a pair of 9kw generators + batteries and inverters for 110 v house service.
New steel fuel tanks and stainless steel FW tanks.
38'
1953
Admiral Marine, Seattle
Thelonius was custom-built in 1953 for a Portland, Oregon dentist who wanted a "traditional style" boat, so Ed Monk, Sr. revised a 1928 plan. Built by Admiral Marine, Lake Union, Seattle. Originally powered by a Chrysler Majestic engine plus a small "get-home" engine, both located beneath the rear cockpit. Now powered by a 150-hp Hino turbo diesel. Yellow cedar hull planking is glue-wedged, rather than caulked. Cabins, decks, transom are teak; interior details are mahogany.
57'
1965
Chris Craft Constellation - Flush Deck Motoryacht
‘UNFORGETTABLE’ is a 1965, 57-ft Chris Craft Constellation, AKA a ‘Connie’, hull number CAC570733A. 57’ Connies were the ‘top of the line’ and Queens of the enormous Chris Craft model fleet of the mid to late 1960’s and one of the largest production motor yachts available at the time. Built for speed and comfort, Constellation hulls were built for speed, with twin 318 hp diesels through Allison 2:1 reduction gears, turning 1 3/4" stainless shafts with 28" bronze four blade propellers, resulting in a comfortable cruise speed of 11-12 knots @ 1400 rpm and a top speed of 20 +/-knots @ 2450rpm (WOT). Her new twin aluminum tankage of 560 gallons, give her a range of approx. 400 miles. 110V electrical power is provided by a new 12kw, 3 cylinder Northern Lights diesel generator in a silencer enclosure.
46'
1926
Lake Union Drydock
Classic Yacht Winifred, a Lake Union Dreamboat, was designed by Otis Cutting for Adolph and Winifred Schmidt of Olympia, Washington in 1926. Mr. Schmidt and his brothers were the sons of Leopold Schmidt, the founder of the Olympia Brewing Company. Winifred was built in Seattle by Lake Union Machine and Dry Dock Co. as a stock cruiser and had the trade name “Lake Union Dreamboat” – cost new $5,125.
In June 1928, Winifred was entered along with nine other boats from Pacific NW yacht clubs, in a predicted log competition from Olympia, Wa, to Juneau, Ak. Cruising day and night, only stopping for fuel. The 980-mile trip took Winifred a little under four days and was awarded first place in the over 40-ft class.
A comfortable yacht in both calm and heavy weather, Winifred cruises at 8.5 knots, burns less than 3 gallons/hour and has a top speed of 9.3 knots. Her present owner, Greg Gilbert of Seattle purchased Winifred in 2000.
At the Victoria Classic Boat Festival Winifred and her Captain has been awarded “Best Livaboard”, “Best Tender”, “Best Costume” and “Best Overall Powerboat” the highest honor. In the Opening Day of boating parade in Seattle, Winifred was named “Best Power Boat over 40' three times, 2017, 2018 and 2024.
Winifred is moored under cover in fresh water in Salmon Bay, Ballard, Washington. Three weddings and four funerals have been celebrated aboard WINIFRED.
48'
1957
Stephens Brothers
Zanzibar was built in 1957 by the Stephens Brothers yard in Stockton, California, renown for it’s quality. Originally the “Gaylee”, she was commissioned for Portland marine dealer John Trullinger at a cost of $70,000, equivalent to three custom homes at the time. Mrs. Trullinger insisted that the galley be placed up in the mid ships area, creating a unique Quad Cabin design. The house and decks are Burmese Teak. Hull planking is Honduran Mahogany over oak frames. Her sweeping lines follow a 1947 design by Dick Stephens. She has dual helm stations and is powered by a pair of Crusader 8.1 liter Vortec gas engines producing 770 total horsepower. Cruising speed is 13 Knots with a top speed of 19 Knots.