William Garden Heavy Timber Motor Yacht, built in 1952 by Fellows and Stewart, San Pedro CA. Designed for Oscar winning camera designer George Mitchel to carry his family to the Galapagos, she carries 3,200 gal fuel and 800 gal water, her range over 4,000 miles. She never made the long trip.
Fast forward to the 1970’s when Bob White, a Seattle dentist, acquired the boat and re-named her Sea-Comber. Bob and his family cruised to SE Alaska every summer for over 20 years. Bob had a dentist chair and a small office onboard. He did free dentistry in the tiny, remote villages. He also carried artists and adventures on retreats. Gifted with indigenous art, Bob amassed one the best private collections anywhere.The boat is well known and loved in SE AK.
The boat changed hands in 2002, renamed Katherine Jane, and was promptly put into the shipyard. What followed was a total refit of +$750,000 and a year’s time. All systems new, including Lugger 6068 diesel engines, Twin Disk reduction gears, new main shafts, props, articulating rudder, domestic plumbing, 3 vacuflush toilet systems, Northern Lights 10 KW gen set, new 110 v and 12v panels, Xantrax inverters, massive house battery bank, and all new electronics. Diesel-fired Hurricane Hydronic heat was installed throughout the boat.
Outside are new aluminum bulwarks with a wide cap of angelique wood and custom bronze hand railings, two new masts with cargo boom and powerful winches aft, new fir deck, beams replaced, frames and planks that needed were replaced.
Sold to a couple shortly after shipyard, she was put into charter service in Anacortes Wa. Mr. L. Holey chartered the vessel every summer with his family. They loved the boat, Mr. Holey tried repeatedly to buy the Katharine Jane.
Eventuallly, Mr. Holey went to the William Garden archives in Mystic Seaport, CT. He found the original plans and began building a replica. During construction of his new boat (estimate cost $1.5 mil) he got notice that Katherine Jane had a fire onboard and was a total loss. Thinking fast, he wanted to salvage any spare parts he could for his new boat. He and his father raced up to the boat at the wreckers in Tacoma, WA. He could see the damage was very localized. The diesel furnace had ignited the exhaust stack area. Fortunately, a hot tub on the upper deck had melted and doused the fire! With the salvage yards chainsaws ready to cut a hole in the side of the 58’ x 2” long VG fir planks! Mr. Holey immediately purchased the boat, took 3 days to ready it, with his father they sailed it hundreds of miles to a port town on the Oregon Coast. It took a year and a halfs time. But with a big expenditure skilled shiprite and the Holey family to bring Katharine Jane to be better than new.
After a few years of owning two 58’ boats, Mr. Holey knew he had to focus his time and money on his 58’ William Garden replica. He reluctantly sold Katherine Jane to Capt. Jack & and his wife Joanne (the current owner).
Capt. Jack was newly retired from thirty years in the Bering and Arctic Sea. The couple were searching for a converted troller to retire, when they spotted the stunning William Garden design. Jack was drawn to this “yacht with a workboat soul” he knew right away it was the boat for them.
Jack called a friend who had owned and managed shipyards and surveyed for 40 years. The surveyor/boat builder said “don’t do anything until I get a look at it.” After a long walk through every nook and cranny he said, “Ok you two look, I can’t believe you found a boat like this. If you don’t buy it, I will, and I have enough boats!”
Capt. Jack and his wife Joanne have spent many days, weeks and months caring for and enjoying this magnificent vessel. Renamed JoAhna K, they have their eye on returning to Alaska where they both worked for many years.
