Schooner sailed 120 miles in a gale, full of water

Published: June 3, 2020, 2 p.m.

The Frank W. Howe, 159 feet long and displacing 573 tons, was one of the last unpowered lumber schooners, a fact that may also have saved the lives of most of its crew. That’s because unlike steam engines, sails still work when the hull is full of water — a condition the Frank W. Howe found herself in just a few days after leaving Ballard (now part of Seattle) with a heavy cargo of railroad ties, headed for San Pedro. (Offshore near Yaquina Bay, Lincoln County; 1904) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1804d.frank-w-howe-lumber-schooner-shipwreck-492.html)