Henning gone west

Weird. I was just thinking about him yesterday.
 
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The former steam tug Elmore, built in 1890 by Elmore and Sanborn Fisheries in Astoria, Ore., sits on the hard at the Port Townsend Boat Haven Marina. The Elmore had several owners over the decades, the last being Henning Heinemann, who died recently, leaving the boat abandoned and claimed by the Port of Port Townsend as a derelict to be put up for auction.

By Paula Hunt Peninsula Daily News
Thursday, August 1, 2024 7:39am
PORT TOWNSEND — If the Elmore could talk, oh, the stories it could tell.

Like starting out in 1890 as a steamer hauling cargo out of Astoria for Samuel Elmore, “the canner king of Oregon,” before being transformed into a tugboat in 1922 by the American Tugboat Company of Everett with a new deck house and a diesel engine built by Washington Iron Works.

Almost being scuttled in the 1980s only to be rescued and lovingly restored as a liveaboard craft. Participating in the 2012 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

Then there was the time in May 1900 while on one of its frequent trips to Ketchikan transporting people, fish and freight that it rescued two Swedish miners who were injured when the 25 sticks of frozen dynamite they were thawing on a stove exploded.

Today, the 70-foot, 150-ton wooden vessel that hauled, carried, towed and traversed the waters of Puget Sound, Oregon and Alaska for nearly 135 years is sitting on the hard at Port Townsend Boatyard, waiting for the next chapter in its long and eventful life.

That chapter begins at 10 a.m. Monday, when the Elmore will be put up for public auction by the Port of Port Townsend at the Boat Haven moorage and yard office, 2740 Washington St. in Port Townsend. Starting bid is $10,000 with a required derelict deposit for it to remain in the yard for repairs.

The port is hoping to recoup some of the $26,627.10 in unpaid fees that have been accruing since February 2023 when it was towed to the boatyard leaking oil and hauled out for repair. Its owner, Henning Heinemann, died on Feb. 8.

Blocked ashore for the past 18 months, the Elmore is a long way from its days transporting prospectors to the Klondike and pulling oil barges around Puget Sound.

After the American Tugboat Company sold it around 1970, the Elmore went through a series of hands: Dunlap Towing, Puget Sound Freight Lines, Washington Tug & Barge.

Keith Sternberg briefly worked on the Elmore in the 1970s when it was owned by Washington Tug & Barge and called the Kiket.

“Washington Tug & Barge was delivering gasoline and diesel fuel to Port Townsend and Port Angeles and many other communities by barge,” Sternberg said. “I was quite familiar with that vessel, and then when Puget Freight Lines bought her, I kind of kept an eye on her.”

Sternberg praised Dee and Sara Meek, who purchased the vessel in 1990 after it had been retired and gave it back the Elmore name.

“Dee took really good care of the old boat,” Sternberg said. “He was on the boat all the time and maintained her, and that’s what it takes with a wood boat. You can’t slack off on the maintenance.”

On weekends, the Meeks would drive from their home in Tri-Cities to Bainbridge Island, where the Elmore was moored, to work on the boat. They replaced its upper and lower decks and the beams in the cabin. When the Elmore’s crankshaft broke in 1993, they replaced the 500 horsepower Caterpillar engine it had been outfitted with as a tug with an Atlas Imperial four-cylinder, 1110 horsepower, 325 rpm diesel engine.

Around 1998, the Meeks moved the Elmore to Port Hadlock and again in 2012 to Port Ludlow. Throughout their ownership, the Meeks continued taking care of the boat. In 2011, they asked students in the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding to rebuild its forepeak storage areas and crew quarters.

Shipwright Clint Thompson repaired the Elmore’s bow stem for the Meeks about 15 years ago and corked its back deck in 2016.

“They were really great for the boat. They went above and beyond,” Thompson said. “They did a beautiful job remodeling the interior.”

Thompson said that, along with the Arthur Foss, which is owned by the nonprofit Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center, the Elmore is one of the last wooden tugboats in existence to have played a role in the Klondike Gold Rush.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind boat, it really is,” Thompson said. “I’ve worked on lot of old boats over the years, and they have a feeling about them the more time you spend on them.”

State law requires ports to recapture any lost revenue from delinquent accounts. That includes impounding vessels and selling them at auction.

Port of Port Townsend harbormaster Kristian Ferrero said the port would prefer to see a boat like the Elmore repaired, restored and back on the water rather than picked apart and crushed. But it also understood the financial reality of someone taking on such a venture.

“It’s a passion project for somebody who loves tugs and loves their history,” he said.
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rpadula said:
Dang, this is some sucky news I didn't expect to read today. He was an interesting cat, that's for sure.



@Bill I was surprised by your comment and had to check my archives on that. All I've got is a terrible picture into the setting sun of Bob Gerace's and Henning's heads flying us in the 310 back to LZU after a Raleigh BBQ meetup. It was dated Feb 23, 2007! There was another red board member in the back seat too. Can't remember his name, but he was a doctor from TX who flew a Bonanza V-tail I believe (ya, what a cliche, I know). I managed to find the thread on that (https://pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/henning-at-raleigh-durham-all-rdu-ers.12262/)

I think the first RDU BBQ meet you made it to was later in the year: https://pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/bbq-at-rdu-the-real-thread.17105/

Dang, it seems like ages ago. So many people in those threads who have just drifted off, myself included.

@denverpilot Nate, good to see you here, too. How's it hangin' ?
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Rich, the pic isn't coming through for me. Can you dm it to me, or dm your email so I can email you please. I have lost most of my pics of the 310 and would love to get whatever is out there. Thanks.
 
I was saddened to hear of Henning's passing. He was a character, for sure. And one I found better.... kept at an arm's length.

But I will tell you this. He probably saved my life.

The whole story got written up in AOPA's Never Again series, but basically, we both became hypoxic at 11,000 after four hours aloft and after a grueling trip from LZU to LGB and back somewhere over Mississippi on the way home. We were trying to minimize stops and had everything back to the bottom of the green -- which threw off my timing to switch tanks.

I started feeling very euphoric and some weird feelings in my left arm but was in my happy place and was not alarmed. About that time, Henning, out of the blue, said "I think I'm going to take a hit of 02" and I said, 'why not? in fact, with 02 we can climb and get a better tailwind.' ATC gave us higher and I dialed in the climb and as soon as the airspeed settled, the left engine died.

I did the procedure correctly, but neglected to get the AP off, and Henning got it for me.

Note: we had just spent 4 days and nights at Tom's where the left engine kept dying.

Funny... THIS was a CLASSIC Henning thing. He didn't like the fact the throttles were split in flight by an inch and talked me into getting it fixed. But getting it fixed turned into a 4 day $10,000 ordeal where the left engine just refused to keep running. (This was classic Henning... and why I learned to distance myself despite the fact I found him to be a generally nice guy with helpful motives.)

So when the left engine died, we both assumed it was the same problem resurfaced.

We were solid IMC when it happened, and had been for 4 hours, exhausted from that and the trip...

About this time, enough 02 kicked in that I realized I hadn't checked my 02 sat for a long period of time (not like me) and it read 69!

We got any altitude/heading from ATC and descended until we were between layers and set up for an OEI approach to the nearest ILS...

And during that phase of the flight I did a flow and realized the left aux tank was empty. Switched it back to the main, and got the LE restarted.

I give Henning full credit to saving my life because...

1. He somehow knew he was hypoxic and started 02... had he not done that I'd have been in bad shape for the incident.
2. He noticed I was fighting the autopilot and coming dangerously close to Vmc -- I'd like to think I would have caught it -- especially just a week out of SimCom, but he certainly caught it before I did.

So, while he was a character, and trouble seemed to follow him, for all his faults, I'm glad I hired him to right seat for my trip that was only supposed to be LZU - LAS and back...

Thank you, Henning, for giving me decades with my family that I might not have had without you. Rest in peace.

P.S. For anyone who is interested...

In 2009 I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and after six rounds of chemo have been cancer free since, praise Jesus.

At the time, it effectively ended my flying career.

Yes, with the good Dr. Chien, I could have fought my way back to a medical; but not to private pilot life insurance.

As many of you may remember, I flew like a freight dog, in all kinds of weather, with all kinds of mechanical problems. Many thought I was an idiot. They were not all wrong. While I got the best help and training, and didn't do anything the freight dogs wouldn't, I did push the envelope hard. I guess it's how I do everything.

Like Earnest Gann, I figured that I'd give fate a break from hunting me, and tragically have not been at the controls since then.

Flying is the great love of my life, and I hope to retire soon (I'm 61), and Lord willing, with good health, I'll start again.

Time will tell if that is a 172 or a Vision Jet. Or if I just become an instrument instructor (wouldn't want to do primary).

Thanks for the good mentions here, and if anyone has any pics of me with my 310 I'd really appreciate you sharing them with me.

Bob
 
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Latest on Henning's boat:


PORT TOWNSEND — The auction at Port Townsend Boatyard of the nearly 135-year-old wooden tugboat Elmore drew interest but no bids, putting a vessel with its links to Northwest maritime history closer to salvage and demolition.
The Port of Port Townsend put the Elmore up for public sale on Monday after its owner, Henning Heinemann, died in February, leaving behind $26,627.10 in unpaid fees and other charges.
State statue authorizes port districts to secure and sell vessels with delinquent accounts.
The Elmore began as a steamer in Astoria, Ore., in 1890, carrying cargo for a cannery and transporting people and freight to Alaska during the last days of the Klondike Gold Rush. Converted to a tugboat in 1922, it towed freight around Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for the next 65 years.

Sarah Seltzer said she attended the auction because she cared about the Elmore and didn’t want it to be destroyed — its fate if a buyer does not appear.
Seltzer said she had spent a lot of time on the Elmore, cruising to Canada and Alaska and participating in tugboat races in Olympia with Dee and Sara Meek, who purchased the tugboat in 1990 and transformed it into a liveaboard.
Wearing one of Dee Meek’s old burgundy sweatshirts with “Elmore” embroidered in the front in white stitching, Seltzer said saving the vessel requires more than just someone with deep pockets, but someone who has an appreciation for old wooden boats as well.
“She just needs some love,” Seltzer said.
Before bidding opened, port harbormaster Kristian Ferrero said the Elmore was being offered, “as-is, where-is.” The successful bidder would assume any risks associated with its seaworthiness and title history.

In addition to meeting the minimum bid amount of $10,000, a successful bidder would be required to pay a refundable $46,376.15 derelict vessel deposit to remove the Elmore from the boatyard.
Minimum bid amounts at public sales are set at a port’s discretion. Ferrero said the Port of Port Townsend had to factor public interest in saving the Elmore with an understanding of the financial commitment it would take.
“The $10,000 minimum bid and the deposit helps makes sure whoever gets the vessel has the means to take care of it,” he said.
Otherwise, a vessel might end up delinquent again, incurring costs at the public’s expense and setting in motion actions by the port or regulatory agencies like the state Department of Ecology.
John Holbert of Pleasant Harbor said he was ready to purchase the Elmore, but he first wanted to conduct a lien search and look for any hidden legal liabilities.
Holbert, who led the restoration of the 1922 107-foot schooner Merrie Ellen, said he was familiar with the cost and complications involved in rehabilitating a historic vessel.
The funds could be found for the Elmore, Holbert said. It makes no sense to let all that history go to waste, he added.
“It’s pretty sad,” Holbert said. “This boat’s just got to last.”
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
 
DavidWhite said:
I drove by Hennings boat in Pt Townsend, WA yesterday. It makes me very sad to see it in its current state knowing all of the blood, sweat, and tears he put into it. I hope he is finally at rest.
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If I'd known he was so close, I think I would have popped by to visit him in person. I had a couple of PM conversations with him and appreciated his thinking.
 
Thanks for sharing the report, Scott.

I have no idea what the circumstances were behind Henning getting Elmore. My guess is that it was donated to the non-profit that he was running.

He'd posted a couple of videos on YouTube about it, starting the Atlas engine and a couple regarding the deck. I think he could've gotten a really good following about it if he kept working at it and posted videos.

Taking on a project like that requires a dedicated person to get things started and running as much as it requires finances. I can't say it's surprising that nobody bid on it.
 
It sounds like, without Henning, Elmore might have been scrapped years ago.
 
I’m surprised no one reported him for not using a checklist to start that thing!
 
Matthew said:
It sounds like, without Henning, Elmore might have been scrapped years ago.
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I'm sure that's the case. And so maybe he got it a few more years, or maybe some dedicated folks will be able to save her.
 
We have the “Save A Connie” at MKC. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent amount of concern for the Elmore but it sounds like a group ownership might be the only thing to save that ship, since nobody bid on it.
 
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