Sometimes you pick the boat, and sometimes the boat picks you. Port Ludlow resident Joseph Guillien showed up to look at a wooden boat and found it was sold the day before. As luck would have it, a similar boat was tied up to the dock with a for sale sign on it. As the vessel name came into view, Joseph did a double take. It was the same name as the tiny Minnesota farm-town that he was born in, Caledonia. This 32 foot wooden Grand Banks was the exact model he had been searching for and was already named perfectly for him.
The boat followed him home that day and he has been painstakingly bringing it back to perfect condition ever since. Hull number 310 launched in 1972, the year Josephs first child was born, is one of the last wooden 32 Grand Banks every built. This legendary model brought the 8-knot trawler concept to the masses in cruising grounds around the world. Caledonia is the perfect blend of original right down to the 45 year-old Ford Lehmans motor that’s still pushing strong, combined with meticulous restoration making it look like new.
The boat has benefitted over the last 5 years from a perfectionist owner and the shipwrights and wisemen of Port Haven. If you want to see what a Grand Banks looked like in 1972, this is your chance. Caledonia is an active member of the Port Ludlow Yacht Club and spends months each year cruising the Salish Sea.