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 but 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.
