When Christian was a child, her family moved every 2-3 years to follow her dad’s transfers as an USAF pilot. But Seattle was considered the family’s home base. They spent a lot of time water skiing with friends, and paddling about in their Willits Canoe made on Day Island near Tacoma, WA by the Willits brothers. Christian’s dad was the Pacific Northwest Ski Champion for 7 years and helped form the Lake Washington Water Ski Club.

When Christian was 11 her mother got a hankering to buy a mothballed ferry boat for the family to float around on in the beautiful waters of WA state. In 1960 the family purchased the 1909 M/V Lotus Edwardian style wooden vessel for $5,000 – the exact price she sold for new. At the time she was moored on Lake Union in Seattle and in serious disrepair. The boat engine had been stripped to help support the WWII effort, so the family towed her everywhere they wanted to be and lived on her engineless.

Tune in to this podcast to hear the complete interview including how the M/V Lotus survived a recent mooring failure grounding.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.