Betty Earles was a small gasoline-powered vessel built in 1913 on Lake Crescent, Washington. The vessel was transferred to Puget Sound in about 1919 and remained in service there until at least 1958.

Betty Earles
Betty Earles on Lake Crescent, Washington, circa 1915
History
OwnerSol Duc Hot Springs Co. and others
Launched1913
In service1913
IdentificationUS registry # 217896
General characteristics
Tonnage28 gross; 23 regist.
Length59.5 ft (18.14 m)
Beam15.6 ft (4.75 m)
Depth5.3 ft (1.62 m)
Installed poweras built: gasoline engine, 80 hp (60 kW)
Propulsionpropeller
Crew4

Career edit

In 1913, Michael Earles, owner of the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, built on Lake Crescent the gasoline-launch Betty Earles (named after his daughter) to take guests bound for his lodge from the head of the lake to Fairholm, at the western end, where they would disembark and ride motor buses to his resort. The boat was large for the lake, 65 ft (19.81 m) long, 15.6 ft (4.75 m) on the beam, with an 80 horsepower (60 kW) heavy-duty Frisco Standard engine.[1]

Michael Earles' Sol Duc lodge burned down around 1918, and he moved Betty Earles off Lake Crescent to serve on Puget Sound under the command of Captain O. G. Olson. In 1924, Betty Earles was sold to Tacoma Tug & Barge Co. Betty Earles was still in service as a tug as late as 1958, still under the old name[1][2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b McCurdy, HW (1966). Newell, Gordon R. (ed.). The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Superior Publishing. pp. 223, 355, 626. – a small scale plan of the Betty Earles
  2. ^ Newell, Gordon R. (1960). Ships of the Inland Sea—The Story of the Puget Sound Steamboats (2nd ed.). Binford & Mort. p. 231. ISBN 978-0832300394.

See also edit