Welcome aboard the Pleiades –Sail back in time on the Fjord

Imagine a warm, salt-air breeze whilst waves lap at the wooden slats. In the distance the ice capped Olympics rise from a sparkling sea. The only sound is the creaking wood as it rubs the leather guides of the traditional rigging. Fluttering sails snapping the lines taut. The schooner glides through the water as the sun slowly sinks behind the peaks, casting a vibrant orange glow over the Canal.

The “Pleiades,” is an 59’ working replica of an 1830s Eastport Pinky Schooner built at Sauvi Island Boat works by Roger Stallcup. First launched in 1990, Pleiades has traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest including a stint offering charters on the Fjord.

Forty year veteran sailor and Pleiades skipper, Captain Jon Prins summed up his feelings on sailing in Hood Canal, “When I take the boat out in the evening, rounding the Great Bend, and open up to that vista that greets us – that is the most beautiful spot in Puget Sound as far as I’m concerned.”

Prins' pride for each authentic strip of wood and shackle is evident in his calm handling of the vessel.

The crew is made up of licensed captains and professional sailors, led by owner, Captain Hoyle Hodges, an experienced wooden boat owner and restorer. Hodges originally operated the boat as an social experiment in cooperation with Evergreen College to run supplies from Olympia to nearby Boston Harbor. Fortunately for visitors and residents in Union and guests the Alderbrook Resort, a more lucrative plan was to move the vessel to Hood Canal for charter use.

An experienced sailor himself, Hoyle’s mission to share his love of sailing a traditional vessel with his passengers becomes forefront as soon as the lines are cast. It doesn’t take long, as a passenger, to be swept into the romance of riding a historical schooner as you are enveloped with total silence when the engine is cut away from the dock. Surrounded by sea and quiet, the sails are raised, the wind catches, and the force of nature is harnessed with ropes and cloth.