Local man helping auction relics from Western Flyer, a boat famously connected to Steinbeck
How much would you pay to own one-of-a-kind pieces of fishing, environmental, scientific and literary history? Could you be an “angel?” Those are questions inspired by a Wauna man’s quest. Michael Hemp, a vibrant, engaging and consistently curious 81-year-old whose business card lists him as “Historian, Heritage Marketing & Communications Consultant, Researcher, 
Archivist, Lecturer, Novelist,” seeks a buyer for a brass steering wheel, a hefty engine shift lever and two gimballed compasses. The items are original pieces from a 76-foot-long purse seiner fishing boat built in Tacoma 87 years ago. It is similar in design and purpose to hundreds launched there, in Gig Harbor, and in other Northwest boatyards during the 20th century. One big distinction: All four artifacts once were crucial and original parts of arguably the world’s most famous purse seiner, a title earned because a couple of friends chartered it in Monterey, California, in 1940 for a six-week cruise of research and exploration in Mexico. Video, Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:39
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