Weekend Review: all things water

The Foss Waterway Seaport was the place to be this weekend with its as the museum on the water sounds hosted the opening of “Wheels, Whistles and Wonder: the Extraordinary Maritime Collection of Bill Somers,” a collection of some of the best artifacts from the golden age of seafaring in Puget Sound.

The day of all things waterfront on Saturday brought the sights and beauty of Puget Sound’s historic “Mosquito Fleet,” a network of boat taxis that ferried passengers and cargo around the waterway during the turn of the last century. The Mosquito Fleet was the name given to the era of the 1850s – 1930s when thousands of steam-powered vessels traveled Puget Sound as forerunners s of today’s ferry system.

“This comprehensive collection is a must-see for all who are interested in maritime artifacts and the rich heritage of Puget Sound’s steam era,” said regional maritime artifacts expert, Roger Ottenbach. “The Somers Collection is Puget Sound’s most important maritime artifacts collection in existence. Bill was very deliberate in what he gathered and it is outstanding that the Seaport was able to acquire these items.”

The display showcases about a quarter of the nearly 1,500 exquisite pieces acquired last fall by the Seaport from the largest known private collection of artifacts related to the maritime history of Puget Sound. The Seaport was able to obtain the items through the support of area business leaders Jim Milgard and George Russell.

The Grand Opening of this exhibit at the ever-expanding museum along the Foss featured live music reminiscent of the steamboat era, docents presenting “then and now” interpretations of maritime artifact usage, storytellers reenacting characters from the era and interacting with visitors, and children’s hands–on activities. One of the big draws of the event was the tours of a collection of historic boats and volunteers showing the current efforts to restore another fleet of vessels that were once used to make the waterway a key link in commerce.

But the gem of the event, of course, was the viewing of the immense collection left to the museum by Somers. The history of Puget Sound’s Mosquito Fleet steamboats is strongly represented in vessel name boards, life rings, models, photographs, paintings, and ship’s wheels. There are also objects from navy vessels, merchant vessels, and ships that sailed the Yukon River during the Gold Rush, including an 8-foot diameter ship’s wheel. There is a ship’s bell from the USS Chauncey, one of seven navy destroyers that ran aground on the California coast in 1923 in an event that became known as the Honda Point Disaster. There are several artifacts from the SS Mayaguez — the merchant vessel at the center of what is considered the last battle of the Vietnam War.

More photos from the event can be found here.