Salish Rescue instructor Erik Wennstrom thought his volunteer search and rescue crew had little chance of freeing a 63-ton schooner that had run aground at Fort Worden during one of the highest tides of September.

He decided an attempt would be a useful salvage-rigging training exercise, however, just for the fun of it.

“I was betting against the guys,” Wennstrom said. “I didn’t think we actually had the force.”

Now, he’s had to buy his crew ice cream.

On Tuesday, Sept. 19, after a couple of days of hard work, the 80-foot schooner Nina Otaki was set afloat.

‘WHOLE LOTTA ATTITUDE’

The Nina Otaki, which is built from iron-reinforced concrete, had dragged anchor and been blown ashore on the state park’s beach Sept. 17, just south of the Point Wilson Lighthouse at Fort Worden, said Wennstrom.

The Department of Natural Resources, local fire stations and law enforcement, and the Coast Guard did not have the specialized equipment needed to pull a boat, Wennstrom said.

Bystanders had tried to tow the grounded vessel off the beach late Sunday afternoon, at one point pulling hard enough to wrench loose a deck cleat on the towing boat and snap 3/4-inch lines, Wennstrom said.

That’s when Salish Rescue stepped, or floated, in. “All we had was an inflatable boat and a whole lotta attitude,” Wennstrom said.

Salish Rescue is a volunteer on-water search and rescue nonprofit that has operated in Port Townsend since 2004, training year around to provide safety for marine events and small-boat rescue work.

Wennstrom thought that rigging kedge anchors and attempting to winch the boat free would be good for his team.

“The kids need practice,” he said. “The chance to be involved in a salvage effort like that is a pretty good experience.”

DRAMATIC

The Salish salvage crew – a combination of adult volunteers and students from the search-and-rescue Explorer post – began work early Monday, Sept. 18 using shovels to dig the Nina Otaki’s keel partially free.

This allowed tidal action to help “scour” more sand away and create a path forward for the boat, Wennstrom said.

The crew put a call out on Facebook to get friends to help.

On Tuesday, a series of coordinated pulls, winching the boat against multiple anchors set at an angle to the beach, helped the Nina Otaki slowly creep forward with just over 18,000 pounds of strain spread across four different anchor systems, Wennstrom said.

The final pull was timed for just prior to Tuesday afternoon’s high tide.

“Falling tides throughout the rest of the month meant it was this tide or not at all,” he said.

The boat nosed slightly seaward, and abruptly, two of the anchor lines lost tension.

The Nina Otaki was back afloat. “It was dramatic,” Wennstrom said of the sight.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the Nina Otaki drove away from the beach under its own power.

Its passage to freedom was accompanied by cheers and applause from the many officials and bystanders on the beach, Wennstrom said.