Islander (steamboat)

The steamboat "Islander" (1) operated in the early 1900s as part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. "Islander" (1) a steamboat built in 1904, should not be confused with "Islander" (2), an 89' long motor passenger/freight boat built in 1921 for service on the same route.. [Newell, Gordon R., ed., "H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest", at 324, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA 1966. There were at least two other "Islander" steamboats or ferries on the West Coast of the United States and Canada at about this time.]

Construction

"Islander" was built in 1904 by J.A. Scribner at Newhall, Washington for Capt. Andrew Newhall. "Islander" was intended to replace the "Buckeye" on the Bellingham Bay-San Juan Islands route. "Islander" was propeller-driven, 72' long and rated at 163 tons. [McCurdy, at 106 (showing photo of "Islander" )]

Operations

Capt. Newhall ran "Islander" on the San Juan Islands mail route until about 1909 when John S. McMillan, of Roche Harbor formed the San Juan Navigation Co., which placed the steamer "Vashonian" on the run from Seattle to Roche Harbor, where travelers could transship to "Burton" to proceed further to Bellingham. In 1910, when Captain Newhall’s mail contract expired, he could not compete with the well-financed San Juan Navigation Co., and "Islander" was forced to tie up at Decatur Island. "Islander" had also encountered tough competition from Capt. W.H. Kasch, who running the 65' long gasoline-powered launch "Yankee Doodle" was able to race ahead of "Islander", beating her to all the landings and picking up cargo and passengers before "Islander" could get to the dock. [McCurdy, at 252]

ale to Mexican interests

Captain Basford and his son charted "Islander" for a while and ran her on the San Juan Islands route, however they did not succeed and "Islander" was sold to a Mexican concern. [McCurdy, at 158] How long Islander remained in Mexico is unknown, although she appears to have either never been transferred or at least returned by 1920 or so, when she was transferred from Puget Sound to California. [McCurdy, at 324] Another source indicates that the sale to Mexican owners did not happen until about 1920. [Newell, Gordon R, and Williamson, Joe, "Pacific Steamboats", at 123, Bonanza Books, New York, NY 1958 (showing photograph of "Islander" hauled out on a marine railway)]

Notes

External links

=Historic images from the on-line collection of the University of Washington=
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/transportation&CISOPTR=465&CISOBOX=1&REC=13 "Islander" a good view of this small steamboat]