The Restoration of DODO: A Classic Puget Sound Steamer
DODO restored and steaming along again, summer 2016
DODO leaving McConnel Island steam meet in the 1960's.
Long after the heyday of the Mosquito fleet, precursor our highways and the Washington State Ferry system, a resurgence of steamboat enthusiasm emerged between 1950 and the 1970s in the Puget Sound Region. People were drawn by the romance and nostalgia of a time when plentiful driftwood fuel lined the shores and protected waters provided ample cruising and commercial opportunities for trade, transport, and pleasure.
DODO uniquely spans this history and has been one of the most popular boats repaired at Emerald Marine. Steam enthusiasts of all types frequently stopped by with remembrances of DODO running as a steamer on Puget Sound. Other visitors would drop by occasionally to check on progress simply as supporters of Puget Sound maritime history.
DODO at a steam meet at McConnell Island in the early 1960s. Russ Hibbler’s SAN JUAN QUEEN from Anacortes tied alongside. Al Giles Steamboat CREST from Olympia in the background.
Harold Lanning Sr. began construction of DODO in the year 1914 in Henderson Bay, South Puget Sound. Harold designed the craft to be a strictly conventional work-boat of the period. When asked why he named his steamboat 'DODO', Harold Lanning Sr., replied, "Steamboats will be extinct by the time I get it done!" Called to a hydroelectric job in Potlatch, on Hood Canal, Lanning Sr. abandoned his project framed and half planked in 1915. In 1933 Harold Lanning Jr, seeing a way to make a living in the middle of the Depression, encouraged his father to finish building the boat. So the partially completed vessel was trucked across the Kitsap Peninsula to Potlatch on Hood Canal in 1933. DODO was completed, entirely with hand labor, and launched as a working steamboat in 1934.
From her launch until the mid 1950’s DODO earned her keep by beach-combing logs, salmon trolling, and shrimping. DODO ran as a beloved steamer in Puget Sound until 1988 when an owner removed the steam plant and converted her to internal combustion. Her engine, boiler and auxiliaries were sold overseas.
A new pump shelf was fabricated on the port side of the engine room. The original steam Knowles steam feed pump is on the left. The five-gallon hotwell, which serves as an intermediate tank between the condenser and the boiler, is to the far left.
From her launch until the mid 1950’s DODO earned her keep by beach-combing logs, salmon trolling, and shrimping. DODO ran as a beloved steamer in Puget Sound until 1988 when an owner removed the steam plant and converted her to internal combustion. Her engine, boiler and auxiliaries were sold overseas.
The Hylton Family on Launch Day in Anacortes.
DODO is currently owned by Paul Hylton and family who sought out and bought the vessel in 2008 with the intention of returning her to steam. Paul was forever impressed riding on DODO in the 1980s when she was still a steamer. His extended family has a long history of steam adventures in the San Juan Islands--including on McConnell Island, which was home to a smaller version of Tommy Thompson’s steam train that used to run in Anacortes, Washington.
The main steam pressure gauge on top of the wood fired boiler.
Although the young family built many happy memories camp cruising the San Juan Islands on DODO when she had a modern diesel engine, Paul was planning the steps to restore DODO back to her original steam power.
Wood fired watertube boiler.
The search for her original Navy K steam engine wound up in England (!) where the engine was tracked down, purchased and shipped back to the Puget Sound in 2010.
US Navy Type K steam engine build 1918. Approximately 15 HP at 325 RPM.
Paul and his father Dave Hylton designed and engineered a new watertube boiler similar to the original in 2012. Their machinist friend and fellow steam enthusiast Andrew Van Luenen of Arlington, WA fabricated the boiler in his shop in 2013. Chief engineers to design, install and plumb the steam machinery were Paul and his dad Dave.
Dave Hylton on launch day.
The carpenters at Emerald Marine completed the structural woodworking and interior restoration. The whole Hylton family participated in the balance of the finish work while looking forward to creating future family memories and sharing this Puget Sound treasure.
Fitting the original 30"x 34" 3 blade Coolidge propellor.
Forty steambent sister frames were added by way of the boiler, engine and bridge deck. Here is one hot out of the box, Andy pre-bending it before installation.
