47' Schertzer Brothers Cabin Launch (1927) - RIPTIDE

RIPTIDE is a classic 1927 cruiser built by the Schertzer Boat and Machine Company, Seattle, Washington. She’s hosted three weddings and hundreds of cruises on the Salish Sea from Olympia WA to Juneau AK over her 95 years. She is a happy boat, and has been well cared for by her owners, most notably Russ Gibson from the early 1930’s through the mid-1960’s, and the Billings family, from the mid-1960’s through 2015 when she was purchased by her current owner.

RIPTIDE was built in 1927 by the Schertzer Brothers Boat and Machine Company, then located on the north end of Lake Union in Seattle. She is planked in port orford cedar, copper riveted to white oak frames. Although there are no records extent confirming her designers, tantalizing hints in her lines suggest she may have come from the boards of the Seattle firm of Lee, Brinton and Wayland.

She was registered as NOKARE by her first owner, renamed NEREID a few years later, and, in 1934, renamed again by long-time owner Russ Gibson to RIPTIDE, the name she carries today.

RIPTIDE’s guest book from 1930-1936 survives, and indicates she was used and enjoyed extensively, cruising on Lake Washington, through the Ship Canal, and as far north as Victoria, BC, often carrying quite a number of guests. RIPTIDE was extensively modernized in 1936, and pictures and a description of the improvements appear in the June, 1936 edition of Pacific Motor Boating. Comments in issues of Pacific Motor Boating magazine throughout this period indicate she was cruised extensively, and participated in a number of long-range predicted log races as far north as Nanaimo, British Columbia.

She was purchased in 1965 by a Forest Service employee, who took her north and used her for several years as a cruiser, Forest Service crew boat, and live-aboard in Southeast Alaska. She returned to the Puget Sound in 1965.

RIPTIDE is fortunate to have been owned by knowledgeable and caring owners throughout her long life, particularly Russell G. Gibson and, successively, the brothers Richard F. and Roger Billings. She’s hosted at least three marriages and dozens of family outings from Olympia WA to Juneau AK and beyond over her long and happy life.

She was originally powered by a 130 hp Stearns 6-cylinder 4-cycle 5 1/2-6 1/2 gas engine. By 1959 she had an eight cylinder Chrysler Royal gas engine of 141 horsepower, a common engine of the time, most likely added in the late 1940’s. She was repowered in 1967 with a brand-new new 1967 Volvo MD-70A diesel engine, which was in turn removed in early June 2015 by her current owner and replaced by a remanufactured Cummins B210 5.9 liter diesel of 210hp. While her top speed is over 14 knots at 2400 rpm, her cruising speed is a much more sedate 8 knots at 1500 rpm. She carries 300 gallons of diesel fuel, and burns just over one gallon an hour.

It was obvious that RIPTIDE’s configuration has been changed several times. The June 1936 issue of Pacific Motor Boating magazine noted the extensive interior work Russ Gibson had accomplished, observing that he’d “…found an additional eight feet” in the boat” – though just what that means remains a mystery. Certainly her interior arrangement, while of the same materials as other Schertzer-built boats, particularly her galley, is unique among existing Schertzers. Sometime prior to 1965 she had a flying bridge installed (now removed), which constrained her pilothouse space, and it is evident that at one point, probably while in Alaska in the mid-1960’s, she had a stove in the fore cabin.

RIPTIDE has been upgraded and maintained by the Port Townsend Shipwright’s Co-op (shipwrights Jeff Galey and Paul Stoffer). Diane Salguero and crew of Salguero Marine Services, Port Townsend WA, maintain her paint and varnish both inside and out, while Pete and Kathy Langley, owners of the Port Townsend Foundry, have supplied her bronze. Many other experts too numerous to name here have been instrumental in her longevity. RIPTIDE and her owners are indebted to them all for their caring expertise. The goal is to return her to her 1936 configuration, the earliest we can document.

RIPTIDE is a member of the Classic Yacht Association Pacific Northwest Fleet, the Port Townsend Yacht Club, the Antique and Classic Boat Society, and the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians.