We had a call from a Mr. Ed Wood of Petersburg, Alaska, in the mid-1980's
in which he said he had seen one of our
boats and it was just what he needed. He had commercially fished all his life
and had sold his much larger
commercial boat and wanted to semi-retire. I told him what we had and he sent us the money
and we put it on the
barge for Petersburg. Anyhow he had rigged it for hand trolling and he called some months later
and reported that
'little boat sure handles the slop nice'. We met him some years later and he said he had made
up some shrimp gear
and two tows were all he and his wife could eat in a year. He said he anchored quite a bit when
hunting, clam
digging, etc., and it was sure easy getting in and out of his skiff and he much appreciated knowing the
boat would
be there when he returned. He also commented that he sure enjoyed going by the fuel dock every day and waving
at
the owners as they had owned him for fifty years.
Juneau, Alaska - July:
"I always sleep
with one eye open when anchored in Handtroller's Cove during a blow; mostly because of other
boats dragging their
anchors and running into us. I must say in the two and a half years we've owned the
ALLWEATHER we've never dragged
anchor even with two boats tied together. We operate the boat year round and
have weathered some pretty nasty stuff.
"Early the next morning about 5:00 a.m. I got up just in time to fend a 28 foot flying bridge Bayliner. He was
heading
for shore so Denise and I tied them off to the ALLWEATHER. The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't wake
them by
shouting so we gave them a shot with the foghorn. They were very surprised to find themselves tied off to our
boat
but glad just the same. We had coffee together while the wind whipped us around but our Bruce anchor never
slipped an inch. We meet a lot of people that way on the ALLWEATHER."
Art and Denise Chase
Juneau,
Alaska - December:
"Butch and I were hunting when 50 to 60 knot winds kicked up. We decided to head back to the
'Irish-Lord' before
the seas got too bad. When we hit the beach we noticed the 40' steel gilnetter that
was anchored next to us was
drifting about 4 or 5 miles away. We figured she dragged anchor while the crew was in the
woods hunting. We called
the Coast Guard and they requested we try to save her so we headed into 7' seas towing
our 14' skiff hoping to
reach the vessel before she ran aground or blew up on shore which was less than a mile away.
"When we finally reached her I carefully snuck in on the lee side and dropped Butch off between swells. He got
the
diesel started but for some reason could not raise the anchor because the hydraulics were not working right. At
this
point things were getting critical so I tossed Butch a line and the ALLWEATHER, skiff and 40' gillnetter headed
back
to Admiralty Island. The going was slow because of the sea conditions but the 20 horsepower Yanmar never
strained
at all. The gillnetter crew was happy to see us but I'm sure they kept that story to themselves."
Pat Taylor
Barren Island, Alaska:
"Even though it was blowing to what we considered 60 knots, we could still
pull slack in the anchor line without too
much sweat. We are really pleased by the way the ALLWEATHER anchors. And so
it went for 4 days. Finally
Wednesday night about 11 p.m. the wind changed toward the beach. We didn't think we
would drag but not too good
a position should the winds increase. Anyway we said 'What the hell', let's
run downwind into the bay on a course
good and wide of the shore. Believe me it was a workout getting the light rigged
and anchor hauled while bouncing
up and down six and eight feet. It was dark as hell and the waves were large as we
got away from the island a couple
miles to clear the reefs. We turned due North standing on a hatch cover outside for
better visibility, motor turning no
more than 12-1400 rpms. Surf down a wave, rpm picking up. At the bottom, no yawing.
You could just about let the
boat steer itself.
"Fished for bottom fish, very handy. We have a bucket of
salt herring aboard and a big rod all rigged. Caught some
green ling which are excellent. Anyhow, after a mess of bottom
fish tasted good, I decided for more. We were
anchored in 30-50' (depending on tide). Right off, a good bite and
out goes the line. 'Get the gun I yell to Mary' and in
ten to fifteen minutes I had the halibut up ready to
be shot. It was 4'6" probably something less than 100 pounds.
Renn Tolman, Mary Griswold, Homer, Alaska
"Dear Homer,
The last time you heard from me we were shipping the boat to Valdez. The cradle you
designed works real well to
support the boat out of the water but we ended up running the boat from Sitka to Valdez.
A fisherman agreed to be
hired to run it across the Gulf. It took three days running all day and night, he hit some
10-15 foot seas but the boat
did fine and he said he felt more safe in ours than in some boats twice its size he as
been in. Considering the
reputation of the Gulf of Alaska I thought you might want to use that in your advertisement."
Sharon Burban, Anchorage, Alaska
(That was #2 of the 31 boats we have built.)
November 8, 2006 e-mail from McCutcheon of Juneau, Alaska:
Homer,
I purchased the Allweather boat ( Ferndale 3 ) from
B____ C____ in 1996 and have had many years of boating
pleasure in Southeast Alaska. I spent over a year deciding what
kind of boat to buy, listened to folks who
boated for many years, took CG Auxiliary boating classes, and when I was
ready to buy saw the Allweather
for sale. It has been the best boating decision I could have made, and with fuel prices
now over $ 3.00 per
gallon, definitely a boat who time has come.
Your
brochure has always emphasized safety and that is the best comfort to leave the dock with. We have
weathered all modes
of wind and rough seas. On many occasions we have continued to troll in a 6 foot
following sea which sends the other
planning hulls boats for cover.
We have rented the same slip for 10
years, and the same very nice and well maintained 26 foot plane hull
twin v8 gas bomb boat in the adjacent slip has
sold four times, and the new buyers never seem to leave the
dock more than a few times before the boat has a for sale
sign in the window.
Anchoring has been as advertised, and in August
this year we anchored in a blow where the ensigns
were snapping and the guy lines were singing but the anchor never
slipped. The hull is streamlined and the
low superstructure really channels the wind and water past the vessel.
I have had little difficulty maintaining the vessel due to its simple design
and easy access
to the engine and drive components.
