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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 | Vol. 90, No. 11 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Anchor of ages believed found ‘For people who love history, it’s about as good as it gets.’ — Mike Granat, Bellingham Maritime Museum
Project manager hired for hospital expansion By NATHAN WHALEN South Whidbey Record Whidbey General Hospital leaders have agreed to pay an Anacortes project manager up to $750,000 to coordinate the expansion project. Hospital commissioners approved an agreement in January with Marc Estvold to lead the $50 million expansion, which is being funded with voter-approved bonds.
Steve Mayo, Bellingham Maritime Museum, watercolor
An artist’s rendering of the HMS Discovery and the HMS Chatham somewhere in Puget Sound. An anchor was lost during the famous exploration of the Pacific Northwest and a group of history hunters believe they have located the artifact on the west side of Whidbey Island.
By JUSTIN BURNETT South Whidbey Record Once strong and new, it secured our future. Now rusty and covered in sea life, it will connect us with our past. Maybe. Considered by some to be a Holy Grail of Puget Sound archaeology, three men — a commercial diver, an amateur historian and an attorney — believe they have found the fabled lost anchor of Captain George Vancouver’s exploration of the Pacific Northwest more than 200 years ago. Lying in shallow water along the west side of Whidbey Island, the historic artifact could be recovered by the three-man team that makes up Anchor Ventures LLC within the month.
Thought the only physical proof left behind by the long-ago expedition, the anchor has been a highly sought-after prize by historical groups for years. Some say its discovery and subsequent recovery will spark international interest and even a legal battle for ownership. But is this the artifact so many are searching for? While Anchor Ventures believes they have uncovered sufficient evidence to suggest it is, the claim is a matter of some debate.
Long ago, somewhere In 1791, British Navy Captain George Vancouver set out on a four-year exploration of the West Coast aboard the 99-foot HMS Discovery. Accompanying the ship on its historymaking voyage was the HMS Chatham [pro-
Estvold
nounced chat-uhm], an 80-foot survey brig, and it is from this smaller vessel that the famed anchor was lost. Personal journals and ship logs record the event on June 9, 1792, while navigating an unconfirmed area of Puget Sound. “We found the tide here extremely rapid and endeavoring to get around a point to a bay in which the Discovery had anchor’d, we were swept to leeward of it with great impetuosity,” wrote Edward Bell, a clerk aboard the Chatham. “We therefore let go the stream anchor, but in bringing up, such was the force of the tide that we parted the cable. We immediately let go with the bower [anchor] with which we
Estvold, who recently managed expansion projects at Island Hospital and the Cascade Skagit Health Alliance, will work for Whidbey General Hospital on a contract basis. Hospital spokeswoman Trish Rose said in an email that Estvold will work on an hourly basis with the $750,000 cap based on the multi-year life of the project. “This is typical in health-care construction for someone with his expertise who is managing a project of this size and complexity,” Rose said in the email. She added that his references
SEE ANCHOR, A9
SEE ESTVOLD, A20