Members and Friends of theCoast Guard Tug Association

 It is with the deepest regret that I must inform you that, after a hard fought, three year effort of acquiring, moving, and working to restore and transform her into an operational museum and training ship, the Board of Directors have been forced to sell the former-USCGC Apalachee (WYTM 71). The end of an era – our ship has sailed.

 We were working against a stacked deck. The immortal CG motto: “We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful…” still resounds.

 While those of us who were “willing, leading and knowing” on this project and kicked in their time and personal fortunes did the best we could, we were unable to do the “impossible!” for many who were “less than grateful” or supportive. The Coast Guard apparently doesn’t care about its history and provided no assistance or encouragement; few maritime museums were willing to give us a home and the ones that did were half way down the east coast and FL – nearly impossible voyages; there were no grants or major donations  available to us; very few of our membership cared enough to make significant, if any donations to the project or merely pay their annual dues (those who DID know who they are); and, we had an extremely limited group of volunteers to physically conduct the restoration work –  the total # of bodies that worked/crewed the ship was 26 – 5 of those were local union pipe fitters and plumbers, and 3 were wives! – not much of a turn out from over 500 members.

 The satisfying side was that we sent the ship off to her “new” career, breaking ice in Lake Erie (shades of Ojibwa & Kaw), in phenomenally better condition than when we acquired her. The interior of the ship has been cleaned, old carpet and junk left from the former owner removed, lights repaired, etc. The exterior white, spar, black, red & blue have been cleaned, prepped, and painted; new halyards installed on all masts; the jackstaff repaired & installed; the broken stbd aft quarter bitt repaired and associated deck leaks welded; main motor vent closure hinges repaired; and a general clean up of all deck areas. Engineering wise, she went away with BOTH main engines, S/S generators, and switchboard operational; the boiler and all piping repaired and operating; the F/W system piping repaired and operational as far as the galley; major and minor electrical repairs made; starting battery bank completely replaced. The only major systems still inoperable were the sanitary system, oily water separator, break out reefers in the galley, aft capstan, boat davit, and the electrical operation of the windlass. There was considerably more misc. stuff done over the time, but those are the highlights. Not a bad job considering…

 After a successful “sea” trial, firing up the boiler and the stbd MDE, she was purchased by Gary Zink of Ohio & Florida. They will be operating from Buffalo and our current dock in Cleveland. The new owner has assured me that he will maintain the integrity of the ship – same color scheme and no changes to interior or plant configuration. They have also stated that they will make some major donations to our treasury after their business turns a profit and that the CGTA is welcome to maintain a presence with the ship (restoration work parties, visits/U/W). Should we decide to have our next reunion in Buffalo, they will provide an open house and U/W rides for the gathering. There is even the possibility of having her donated back to us at a future date. I’ll be staying on top of those issues.

We received $25,000 cash for her, our “bottom line.” The cash price has paid our legal fees for the sale and will cover our final debt payment to the former owner, dock fees since Cleveland Ship Repair closed, and a final electrical bill for our shore tie. The insurance has been cancelled and there will be a refund coming. That leaves $4800+ in our treasury. 

It’s a bittersweet ending to our plans, but a major relief of stress to those of us that have been pulling the load and gets us out of debt! All in all, a fitting end and we saved the last pristine YTM from the scrap heap (say goodbye to the current CG museum ships Bramble [scrap] & Mohawk [reef]). Let me give kudos and my personal thanks to all who dug in and worked on the project (more at the next reunion) – it was a labor of love! 

To follow the project’s progress, visit our web site, www.cg-tugs.org and click on Apalachee. More photos and information will be added and organized soon to provide a complete history of the operation.

 

Semper Paratus,

Sandy Schwaab, President