EP40: Launch Video! Argonaut Returns to the Water

Thank you for watching, and please consider supporting this project and becoming part of this community. Launch Day has Arrived! In this video, we put Argonaut II back in the water after six months on the hard. We'll see how well the seams hold up after an extensive planking job, as well as some pre-launch projects packing the packing gland and getting to the bottom of the diesel fuel that we found in the bilge in the last episode. Come aboard Argonaut II at this year's Victoria, BC Classic Boat Festival and Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, with special events hosted for Patreon supporters. Follow Argonaut's Adventures & Restoration: Become a Patreon: Patreon: ArgonautII Buy me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/mv_argonaut To send a gift via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_... Argonaut II was designed by Edson B. Schock and built by W.R. Menchions Shipyard in Coal Harbour, Vancouver, British Columbia in 1922. She is 73 feet in length overall (61 feet at the waterline), weighs 54 tons, and is powered by a 1940 air-start Gardner 6L3 Marine Diesel engine with an estimated 120-150,000 hours on her (last rebuilt in the 80's). Argonaut II cruises at 8.2 knots at 900 rpm. Originally, she was commissioned as a private yacht for Sheldon Brooks (1878 – 1946) who christened the boat Greta M after his wife, Greta Hutchinson MacDonald. The boat then served as a corporate yacht for the Powell River Company, taking executives to and from the remote logging operations up the coastline of British Columbia, or entertaining corporate guests, family, and friends for pleasure cruises. Greta M was powered by a large three-cylinder Fairbanks Morse marine diesel engine and operated by a crew of three, who stayed forward of the engine room in crew quarters below the pilot house. In 1937, the United Church of Canada purchased the boat and renamed her Thomas Crosby IV after a famous missionary from the 19th century—the boat became the fourth in a series of five boats that served the United Church visiting lighthouses, canneries, logging operations, coastal villages and First Nation communities up and down the remote coastline of British Columbia. Her current owner, Nicholas Verrochi, is working on building a growing community of history lovers and boating enthusiasts to help fundraise for an ongoing restoration of the vessel. Consider following along and becoming part of the community, or by coming aboard and chartering the vessel in Puget Sound or the San Juan Islands: Instagram: mv_argonaut@ TikTok: mv_argonaut@ Website & Charters: https://www.argonaut1922.com