Farewell, PTF 26

By Skipper Jim West, Captain of PTF 26 Liberty from 1997 to 2020.

Officers and Crew,

Liberty, PTF-26, cruised to Morro Bay on June 30th and July 1st. 2020

She has been formally transferred to the Maritime Pastoral Training Foundation. https://lastamericanptboat.com/

She now starts a long, complicated journey to Kentucky and other places on the Mississippi. The trip will include legs of cruising on her own bottom, being carried on a ship and being towed. Once there she will be hauled out for extensive repairs. My guess is that with careful planning and a substantial amount of work the 52 year old boat can continue to get underway for another 25-50 years.

Liberty Maritime and Tiki Too acquired PTF-26 in November of 1997. She had not run for a number of years and the group that had her had given up on making that happen. She had only one of her engines, and it was not operational. We traded her for a running 63' WWII rescue boat and towed her home.

Over a period of 4-1/2 months the officers and crew of Tiki Too, with the help of our friends Carl Shellhorn, Joe Bjorkman and many others, acquired engines (that we picked up in a barn in Winters, CA) and installed them and all of the necessary systems. We also repaired the steering, the generators, the electronics etc. and cleaned her up. We then cruised her to the first of her approximately 40 Sea Scout regattas.

During the next 22+ years the girls of Tiki Too maintained and cruised PTF-26, Liberty with the help of Ms. Rebecca, Kent Dryden, Chris Stevens, and so many others that it would be impossible to name all of the important contributions. In those 22+ years some girls joined at 13 or 14 years old, graduated the program and returned as adults to mentor new girls. Girls succeeded in amazing feats at the competitions, on the cruises, and in maintaining the boat.

The diesel main propulsion engines have been replaced with 3 complete swaps (6 engines) and one other swap when we lost a 12v71. Marine gears were replaced on numerous occasions, generators were relocated, lead ballast installed and an amazing array of other tasks performed. The bulk of the work has been done by the girls, with different generations of the crew passing the responsibility on to the next. The girls of Tiki Too have been responsible for swapping engines, repairing and replacing engine components, pipe fitting, painting and a crazy amount of other tasks.

Girls have eaten and slept aboard and stood watches on far too many cruises to remember. They cruised to Yerba Buena Island, Napa, Redwood City, Alameda (including for the Fear Factor cruise), San Francisco (including to participate in SF Fleet Week), Petaluma, Stockton, Mandeville, up the Sacramento River almost to Knight's Landing, Bethel Island, Angel Island, Treasure Island Cove, Richmond, Berkeley and Sausalito. On the coast they cruised to Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, Monterey, Morro Bay, Channel Islands, the Painted Cave at Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara, Long Beach and more. The girls favorite liberty calls have been at SF, Sausalito, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and Disneyland. There have been 22-1/2 years of topping off the day tank; shifting the engines; of cooking, cleaning and making things ship-shape; of standing engine, helm, navigation and lookout watches. The girls have seen whales in the bay and in the ocean, dolphins, seals, flying fish, sea otters and more. They've worked hard and lost sleep. They've gotten, as promised - wet, dirty and hurt.

As I steered Liberty down the California coast, with a long rolling, following sea; and as I crossed the bar into Morro Bay; and as I slid her into a narrow berth, listening to the bell of her engine-order telegraph for one last time; I appreciated the purr of the 16v71 Detroits. I appreciated the hard work and attention to detail of every girl (and every other person) that helped the boat be the marvel that she is - able to cruise without issue, like it was no big deal.

As we made off lines and fenders people came out of nowhere, to the South Morro Bay T-pier, to see the wonderful boat.