MV Duchess - "Zimmie"
Moored in Blind Bay, Shaw Island with Orcas, Wa. in the background - 2023
Be a part of our Maritime History
North West Maritime Prep (NWMP) is searching for sponsors to share in a piece of our maritime history, the motor yacht "Zimmie".
Zimmie was built in 1934 by the Shain Boat Yard on Lake Union. She is the oldest known yacht from the Shain yard, one of Shain's "Trimmership" design in the commuter style similar to the Lake Union "Dreamboats".
Zimmie was lovingly restored in the 1990s by her stewards at the time, Phil and Ledjie Ballard including a Isuzu 4BD1 diesel with new Velvet Drive V-drive gearbox. She is currently in good condition, laying in Anacortes, Wa.
Zimmie at NWMP
Zimmie was donated to NWMP to be a part of our maritime safety training program. At 31' with a single diesel engine, she will fit in well with our training but will require ongoing effort to maintain her in good condition.
We want to be good stewards of such a classic yacht. We are looking for a sustainable way to maintain and share her with the PNW community. To do this, we will need partners to help with both the upkeep and the enjoyment. NWMP has been approached to see if we would be interested in a partnership that could share Zimmie and participate in her use, care and upkeep. We are working to create a group of sponsors that would help fund and maintain her while also being able to enjoy her, cruising the Salish Sea and being a part of our local wooden boat community.
The sponsors would help fund Zimmie in exchange for guaranteed access to enjoy cruising her, as well as participate in social and educational events honoring our wooden boats and classical yachts. We hope to find 3 sponsors interested in working with NWMP, sharing 1/4 of the costs each, in exchange for personal use of her. We plan to keep her in the Anacortes area, with quick access to the San Juans as well as near the protected waters of Skagit and Puget sound.
We are currently moving into covered berthing in La Conner, Wa.
Presently in Skyline Marina, Anacortes
She was last surveyed in 2021 with typical minor defects but is in overall good condition and is ready for cruising. Although she does not require extensive repairs, as a classic 90 year old yacht she will require ongoing care and attention to keep her in safe and enjoyable condition. Our plan is to keep her in good condition but in a financially sustainable way.
Seattle Skyline from the deck of Zimmie on Lake Union, 2022
NWMA Mission:
Our mission is to prepare members of the maritime community for the hazards of boating through experiential education and skill development to ensure the public has a safe, secure, and enjoyable recreational boating experience that minimizes the loss of life, personal injury, and property damage.
Our training strategy is best described as experiential education. We believe in the importance for the person in charge of the boat to get behind the helm and to experience all the forces at play that cannot be duplicated in a classroom. NWMP’s primary training vessel is the T/V Zimmie, a 1934 Lake Washington wood hull Dream Boat. The Zimmie is part of the Pacific NW maritime heritage which connects all of us to the ocean. Understanding our maritime heritage helps us explore the history of the Puget Sound.
NWMA is focused on supporting the safe and sustainable recreational use of our beautiful waterways. This includes our long maritime heritage including our history of craftsmanship, classical craft and wooden boats. Learning to safely handle cruising our shared waters in a classic craft can help build competence and confidence, giving boaters the skills then need to survive and enjoy recreational boating as well as a love and appreciation of our historical maritime background
Ad from May 1934 Motor Boat Magazine
Hauled out at Skyline Marina, Anacortes, 2023
History of Zimmie
Zimmie was built for the Stanley Donogh family in 1934 by the Shain Boat Mfg. company.
The Donogh family then out grew her and moved to the next Zimmie, a 63' dual engine yacht again made by the Shain yard.
She is listed as 31.4', 8 gross ton, 5 net ton, primary vessel number 240356 by the USCG PMIX
Her 1990 refit was well documented in "The Restoration of M.V. Duchess 1988-1990"
Her compact but functional cabin layout gives the feeling of warmth and her large windows give occupants a front row seat to the beauties of the Salish.
The subject vessel is round chine, plumb stem recreation vessel with flat transom. The deck house is mid ships with fore deck area and semi open poop deck.
The vessel is laid out as follows: Forward and below decks is the forepeak with storage. Aft is the wheel house area with helm on centerline, sea;ng to port and starboard, exits to port and starboard and three panel opening forward windows. Continuing aft is the mid salon with settees to port and starboard and tankage below. The settees convert to double bunk berths. Further aft and to starboard is the galley area with stove and sink. To port is the head and sink. Exit is via asliding hatch and French door arrangement on centerline. The Poop deck aft with engine space below.
The deck house roof carries a dingy cradle and a light mast arrangement. The transom has a teak grate swim step.
Proposed Sponsorship Program
We expect the ongoing annual costs of keeping and maintaining Zimmie to be about $17,000 per year. This would include monthly berthing fees, routine annual and biennial maintenance such as haulouts, engine servicing, etc. It also includes a reserve fund to help pay for likely major repairs, upgrades, etc.
We are just completing a haulout , working with Emerald Marine in Anacortes. They are doing repairs to the shaft log (where the propeller shaft goes through the keel), a new rudder and a minor plank replacement. We're also doing a major brightwork restoration also. Proposed sponsors would pay a portion of these costs upfront to fund the haul out and a quarterly payment to cover routine monthly expenses. For 4 sponsors , working with NWMP as an equal financial participant, this would require a $3,550 initial cost, $350 monthly to cover 1/4 of berth fees and estimated costs.
We have already been working with 1 wooden boat enthusiast from the San Francisco Bay area who is interested in sharing Zimmie with us. Greg Braswell has owned wooden sailboats in the SF Bay area for over 40 years and is currently a volunteer at the Spaulding Marine Center, a non-profit in Sausalito Calif. where he is the caretaker of "Freda", the oldest yacht on the west coast. Greg and his wife Cheryl have suggested the concept of "Sponsors" to help support the mission of NWMP as well as share and enjoy Zimmie. We are also working with another potential sponsor.
We propose sponsors would receive a guaranteed 24 days a year of use with other days available on a "first come" status. Sponsors would be invited to attend the area's wooden boat and classic boat events with Zimmie and NWMP. As usage fee of $40/day would also be paid into the reserve fund.
Sponsors may participate with "sweat equity" to help maintain and improve Zimmie, helping with routine maintenance and helping reduce the costs. Boat repairs would be done under the supervision of a qualified wood boat shipwright.
Sponsors would be required to show basic seamanship and piloting competency and boating experience in the greater Puget Sound waters and/or taking our class in pleasure craft piloting and seamanship.
For More Information, see Contact Us
More photos on the photos page and larger format at the Zimmie Google Photos Album
