Whidbey Island Maritime Heritage Foundation Maritime Heritage and Sail Tours on Whidbey Island |
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(To purchase tickets, visit schoonersuva.org)
Ownership Suva has been owned by the Whidbey Island Maritime Heritage Foundation (WIMHF) since May 2015. The WIMHF is her sixth owner.
Origin The schooner Suva was built in Hong Kong in 1925 for Frank Pratt, a lawyer who moved to Whidbey Island in 1908. She was anchored in Penn Cove from 1925 to 1940. (Note: An article stated that Pratt purchased Ebey’s Preserve land in 1901, so the 1908 date may need verification).
Name Origin Suva is the capital of Fiji. Legend says Frank Pratt’s uncle was a civil engineer who helped lay out the city. Pratt visited him as a young man and admired the city; there is still a Pratt Street in Suva today.
Ownership History Pratt sailed the schooner for 15 years before gifting it to his friend Dietrich Schmidt for just one dollar. Dietrich and his son, Allen Schmidt, subsequently owned the boat for a combined 40 years. Suva then passed to Bill Brandt of Olympia for approximately 25 years before returning to the North Sound under the ownership of Scott Flickinger in Port Townsend. In 2009, Lloyd Baldwin purchased the boat, and from whom WIMHF ultimately acquired her.
Design Frank Pratt commissioned prominent Seattle naval architect Ted Geary to design the vessel for corporate and private entertaining in Puget Sound.
Refits In 1960, Suva underwent a major refit and was re-rigged as a staysail schooner. The original Lawson-Scott gas engine was replaced by a 140-horsepower diesel Detroit 453 (two-cycle, four-cylinder, 212 cubic inches).
Location Suva has always been kept in Puget Sound waters.
Spars Masts are made of Sitka spruce. The mast is 66 feet high.
Bowsprit and Boomkin Made of Purple Heart wood from Brazil and South America.
Sails Constructed of Dacron, consisting of a mainsail, main staysail, fisherman, fore staysail and jib.
Capacity Sleeps nine.
Forward Cabin One double bed (starboard) and one single (port).
Main Salon Four single bunks.
Galley One pullout double bunk.
Amenities The main salon heat and the galley cookstove are both diesel-fueled.
Note. Suva is not USCG inspected for overnight guests. Multi-day charters require guests to arrange overnight accommodations ashore.