Summer Wind (II)

After launching and commissioning, this vessel was put into service just before and during World War II surveying the Aleutian Islands in the summer and working in Puget Sound in the winter. This vessel completed a “wire drag” survey of Puget Sound in 1943 that generated data about depth and bottom contours.

In 2021 this vessel was observed at Campbell River BC Canada. Dave Schoeggl states "The Summer Wind was built from 1938 to 1940 in Astoria, Oregon for the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey (now part of NOAA) for nautical chart-making. Although heavily built as a long-range working vessel, the Summer Wind was given the lines of a classic fantail yacht – possibly because her designer H.C. Hansen drew inspiration from an earlier design that had been commissioned in 1918. This vessel is double-planked with fir on 8x8 oak frames and monel fastenings., and has ironbark toerails and rubrails, and Burmese teak handrails. This vessel has the original 1938 Cooper-Bessemer direct drive air start diesel engines. Commissioned as the E. Lester Jones, this vessel participated in World War Two in the Aleutian Islands, and conducted nautical surveys all over Alaska including the first modern survey of Glacier Bay.

In 1971, the Summer Wind was surplused and sold at auction. After a brief trip through Central America to Florida and back, this vesselhas remained in the Seattle area since the early 1970s. Her current owners bought her in 1993 and have used her as a liveaboard and cruising yacht, and hope to start a charter business some day."