60' Harbor Patrol Fireboat (1956) - EWEN ROSS

The EWEN ROSS is a retired harbor patrol fireboat built for the city of Portland, OR in 1956 and worked as Harbor Patrol No. 1 until 1994.

The vessel passed through a few owners before landing in the capable hands of Michel Girard about a decade ago. Michel took on a vessel in ill-repair and set out to transform her into comfortable, charming and capable live-aboard and cruiser.

He did just that, spending nine painstaking years gutting the vessel to her steel studs and hull, building out the interior and modifying the exterior with an incredible depth of consideration and attention to detail.

We took on the vessel a little over a year ago, as a live-aboard platform for our family of 4 + dog. We live full time in Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island, WA.

The old firetug weights 93,000lbs and carries 1,200 gallons of diesel to fuel her twin Detroit 871 engines and Northern Lights generator. The engines are not original but they do hail from the early 1960s.

The vessel also carries a large solar array and lithium battery bank for increased time off the power grid.

Despite her shallow draft of 4.5ft, and likely due to her weight and hard-chine steel hull, the vessel handles beautifully underway, even in the snottiest of Salish Sea conditions.