THE GORDON REID

(Image borrowed from the Dept of Fisheries and Oceans webpage...)

The Canadian Coast Guard's 'Gordon Reid' is a steel-hulled 'cutter' that was built in 1990 to serve here on the Pacific Coast. The Gordon Reid is 50 meters long, 11 meters wide, and has a top speed of 16.5 knots. She underwent a $2.2 million dollar refit in 2002 in order to be the local 'flagship' to celebrate the Coast Guard's 40th anniversary that year. Then, after a history of excessive roll problems at sea, she was fitted with special stabilizers in 2004.

She traditionally carries six officers and eight crew, and has a cruising range of 2500 nautical miles. She weighs in at 879 tonnes, and it is this last detail that interests me the most, because here's what she looked like yesterday at Point Hope Shipyard. . .

Wanna see that a little closer?

I don't think I'd want to be that guy pressure washing her on the left there, would you? I mean, how do you stabilize an 879 tonne boat??

Check this out... those props are approximately 8' wide!

She was lifted out of the water yesterday morning -- well, actually, the process took almost three hours -- and I'm going to see if I can find out what's going on with her. I'll keep you posted!

On the needles, as promised, a market bag:


That's the base and about 2" of the bag showing, done in 'purse stitch'. Ella Rae Shibu, 90% silk, and I threw in some left-over Noro sock yarn for the base. I may add another stripe of it in a bit, and/or do the I-cord handles with the Noro, as well. It's a fun knit!