The 120-foot El Primero, hauled out in Port Townsend Boat Haven last week, is "the oldest operating yacht in the world," said owner Christian Lee Lint.

Lint, an aerospace engineer, tugboat captain and yacht deliverer, is an energetic and experienced maritime-history buff whose joy in life is keeping old boats up and running.

"This is what I live for," he said.

The steel-hulled luxury steam yacht was built in 1893 in San Francisco and brought to Tacoma in 1906 by Chester Thorne, who lost it to Sidney Allen Perkins in a poker game in 1911.

Perkins died in 1955. The next owner replaced the 225-horsepower steam engines with twin Detroit 671 diesel engines with about 250 total horsepower, Lint said; top speed is about 14.5 knots.

The vessel was built along the same lines as the Titanic, Lint said, but with an important difference: the steel plates were annealed (fastened) correctly on El Primero. It also was re-plated and received new wiring in 2000. Marine surveyor George Rebman is scheduled to survey the hull this week in Port Townsend.

Lint bought El Primero in 2010 in Blaine, Washington.

"I saw it under covers, all rusted and neglected."

The Port of Blaine was about to destroy it. Previous owner Ken Hayman had spent more than $30,000 on it between 2000 and 2010, and "it's come way up" from 2010, Lint said.

A group associated with the Tacoma Historical Society, and led by Richard Hildahl and Stan Selden, has taken El Primero under their wing, Lint said. Bill Baarsma, director of the Tacoma Historical Society, "has adopted me under his subchapter 501(c)3. They [Tacoma Historical Society] want [El Primero]."

Some families in Tacoma who are associated with the boat would like to see it become a "floating museum," and are helping pay for the current survey and repairs, Lint said. It's currently insured and approved by the Coast Guard to carry up to 12 passengers.

COCKTAIL PARTIES

"It's made for sunset cocktail parties" more than for overnight passengers, Lint said. "I'm sure it can pay for itself." Lint aims to give the boat to the Tacoma Historical Society, and said he'll gladly help maintain it for free.

He also envisions a world cruise underwritten by Bethlehem Steel, current owner of Union Iron Works, the San Francisco shipyard where El Primero was built, and General Motors, which made the engines.

Lint, who mainly works on tugboats in Alaska, but also recently delivered a boat to Lagos, Nigeria, is pouring his own money, time and skill into El Primero because he wants to see it saved.

"I'm spending tons of money making it good enough to give away," he said. "The boat is really cool."

Donations from three Tacoma families involved in the boat's history are also helping pay for the haulout. Lint is working for free; two paid workers are helping.

"The Tacoma Historical Society was wonderful," Lint said, "stepping up to the plate. They see the value of the boat."

To help save El Primero, tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Treasurer,
Tacoma Historical Society, P.O. Box 1865, Tacoma, WA 98401.

For more information, visit the Tacoma Historical Society online at tacomahistory.org/SpecialProjects/el_Primero.html.