78' Coolidge-Hanson Fisheries Patrol Boat (1927) - TEAL

Designed by L.H. Coolidge and H.C. Hanson for the United States Department of Commerce Bureau of Fisheries, Patrol Boat TEAL is recognizable by her commanding presence, plumb stem, graceful sheer, and of course, her fantail stern. TEAL was built primarily of Port Orford Cedar at Kruse & Banks Shipyard in North Bend, OR and launched July 23, 1927.
Teal joined the B.O.F. Fleet in 1928 with regular seasonal duties in Alaska Territorial waters ranging from Ketchikan in SE Alaska to Adak, in the Aleutian Islands, logging up to 11,000 miles in a season! Teal participated in fisheries enforcement, as well as biological studies and monitoring of stocks and resources including halibut, salmon and herring in Cook Inlet, Kodiak Island, and Prince William Sound.
When Alaska became a state in 1959, Teal became the first Alaska Dept of Fish and Game enforcement vessel. By 1966 Teal had become “long in the tooth” and was sold at auction to Kenny Erickson of Juneau, AK for $25,513!
Kenny used the boat for towing in SE Ak until 1977 when he sold her for $20,000 to a Juneau businessman who used her as a liveaboard. Sadly during this time, the main engine exhaust was left in uncovered allowing rainwater ingress into the engine, which subsequently froze, cracking the engine block which was the end of the 180 hp Washington-Estep direct-reversible.
1980 was the beginning of a littany of ownership changes, set in motion by Walt Masland, then owner of TEAL’s sister-ship, PELICAN. Walt knew of Teal and her considerable history, and believed she must be saved from the ruination she was facing as a sedentary liveaboard, beginning with getting the boat towed from Juneau, AK to Port Hadlock, WA where he could keep an eye on her… She was moored in Hadlock for several years before being hauled ashore at then Lower Hadlock Shipyard (before she would almost certainly sink at the dock!), there she languished another 7 years (and several ownership changes) in the very depth of disrepair, her future still uncertain.
In 1997 a starry eyed R. Jones came along and Teal’s luck turned!
A sawmill was set up near the boat at L.H.S. across from the Ajax Cafe.
A team of shipwrights was assembled, and a 2 year long restoration began; not only restoring her sea-worthiness, but transforming her from a former govt. workboat to a stately modernized yacht!
Upgrades included 16,000 board feet of new material, Purple Heart bow stem and rim timbers in stern, reconstructed stern deck beams, 250 hull planks, new steel fuel tanks and stainless steel fresh water tanks, new generator engines, hydraulic steering and a new Cummins 855 NTA main engine with Twin-Disc 514 reverse gear. This set Teal on a course to meet each of her subsequent owners since then, all of whom have maintained her restored condition, and each adding whatever they felt would make the boat a little better still (in 2000 an Isuzu diesel driven hydraulic powered bow thruster was added)!
Kit Pingree, of San Juan Island owned the boat from 2008-2021. She regularly took Teal into and through British Columbia, and to SE Alaska numerous times. Kit remains active in the PNW Classic Yacht Association, recently purchasing another converted Alaska workboat called “Sockeye”, a former salmon troller, since selling Teal to Lisa Haug and Amado Shuck in June, 2021.
Teal’s current caretakers have added: boat deck with hatch and stairway, bright finished Sapele doors and railing, zippered canvas/strataglass enclosed Fantail with wetbar, bright finished teak dining table and cushioned chairs, aluminum railings all around boat deck and pilot house, hydraulic winches on aft cargo boom, a custom boarding stairway making the boat accessible to most able bodies at the dock, Simrad NSX 16 Chartplotter and Simrad auto pilot.
Fresh “Teal” blue paint on the Cummins main engine, plus the addition of gold powder-coated aluminum safety railings, belt guards, and toe-boards around the main engine won Teal the “Best Preserved Engine” Award; in addition to winning “Peoples Choice” at CYA Bell Harbor Rendezvous (in 2021, and) again in 2024!