Pacific Catalyst

1931 Catalyst was constructed. Grant from Rockefeller Foundation ($60,000) Built in Lake Union Shipyard.
1932, June Dedication. Left for Alaska.
1936 Thomas G. Thompson article
1940 Crew: Captain Christian T. Larson, Cook: Louis Mortenson, (Students): Engineer: Herb Chatterton, Deckhand: North Burn, Scientific Deckhands: Bob Wilson, Ralf Jentoft, John Illman.
1942, May; laid up due to WWII, sold to Coast Guard?
1944 Requistioned by the Coast Guard, duty as CG72002, armed with 50 caliber machine gun and two depth charge racks. In District 13. Possible service in Alaska patrolling Aleutians. Still registered till 1949 with the University of Washington, though registered in 1948 in Ketchikan.
1947 -1949 Possibly leased to J.H. Scott Co who operated the Riverside Tungsten and Lead Mine, as she was used by her during this time.
1947, Feb.5 – Bob Ellis book, Peg’s scrapbook, pg. 77: Catalyst at Wrangell Narrows on way to Hyder. Herb Anderson fell overboard and was revived. Skipper: Fred McKay, Cook: Bill Eastham > Most likely Herb was on his way to the Riverside Tungsten and Lead Mine that operated near Hyder, Alaska. Boat leased by J.H. Scott Co which operated the mine. Boat registered to University of Washington but located in Ketchikan.
1949 Conversion completed. (article: Pacific Motor Boat, Nov. 1949) Rededesigned by Frank E. Strickland, Seattle Naval architect, one of the original architects of the Catalyst. J.H. Scott Co. of San Francisco operated the Riverside tungsten and lead mine near Hyder, Alaska. Catalyst registered in Ketchikan. Modified to take mining personnel and supplies north and to bring sacked tungsten ore from mine in Alaska to Puget Sound. Work done by Puget Sound Marina of Seattle. Aft and forward staterooms converted to cargo holds. Deckhouse cut off aft and extended forward to house an enlarged galley. Pilot house placed on top of new cabin extension. Stack raised. Berths for 11 passengers, captain and 2 crew members. Haul 60 tons of ore. Documented as a freight vessel of 94 gross and 64 net tons. Registered in Ketchikan by the J.H. Scott Co.
1949-1958 owned by J.H. Scott Co, which operated the Riverside Tungsten and Lead Mine.
1951 Purchased by O.H. Freeman of Seattle.
1959 Purchased by V. Ray Bennett
1960-1961 Owned by Sea Samaritans, Inc.
1962 Purchased by Jack. C. Ward, with a home port of Los Angeles.
1962 Purchased by Jack W. Langley, home port of Coos Bay, OR. With family of six lived aboard and travelled up and down coast to Mexico.
1965 Purchased by J. R. Henderson of San Diego.
1968 Purchased by James E. Moffet of San Francisco who moored her at Jack London Square, Oakland. Here she was see by John and Marjorie (Kincaid) Illman on their 25th Wedding Anniversary. Name changed to NORTH SEA
1968- Jan. 1987 CATALYST was renamed the NORTH SEA
1969 Purchased by William P. Austin. Major refit. Installed refrigeration equipment, rigged for long distance albacore fishing. Family lived aboard, cruising from Mexico to Northern Vancouver Island.
1983 Registered to Scott McDonald and moored in Sacramento.
1984, May – 1987 Purchased by Jack Buffum and Karen Shufelberger. Refurbished her. Restored her name to CATALYST in January 1987. Lived aboard and cruised. Did extensive work to restore galley, a salon, and the stateroom. Restored cabins and head and installed a shower. Moored in Poulsbo, WA. “Offered to take paying passengers anywhere in the world.”
1994, April 15th, purchased by Pete and Tracy Dellavalle and eleven backers after a presentation by Holly Wheeler to the Threshold Foundation to use boat for environmental charters. Tom George put in charge of restoration after a shakedown cruise in the San Juan Islands.
1994 May 1st, $150,000 repairs and renovation in Port Hudson (Port Townsend), WA. Watertanks, bulkheads replaced (though upon examination the bulkheads were repaired but not restored). Staterooms and crews quarters redone. New bilge and fire pumps. Tom Doran, in the engine room, stripped and rebuilt engine and supporting machinery. Electrical
Purchased along with business by Hugh Reilly who leased the Westward to Pacific Catalyst Expeditions, LLC.
2005 March Purchased along with business, Pacific Catalyst Expeditions, LLC, from Hugh Reilly by Bill and Shannon Bailey, who in June continued the charter business, as Pacific Catalyst II, Inc. Purchased only the Catalyst. The Westward remained in the ownership of Hugh Reilly, who remodeled the Westward galley and rebuilt her hull and took her on a round the Pacific cruise for several years. Meanwhile the Catalyst had Cabin 3 remodeled making the two single bunks into a double bunk. Redecorated. New dishes, etc., pictures. Salon and galley tables refinished.
Fall 2005 through Spring 2006, major remodel of pilot house and top deck. Exposed and expanded skylights. Extended pilot house to build new Cabin 6 with own head and shower. Cabin not finished that season but used by Captain. Tarped all winter while working on the boat. Top deck was completely redone. Took out door in salon and replaced with window, using door for Cabin 6. Added new freezer and refrigerator on forward deck over old cargo hold. New refrigerator in galley. Repainted galley and areas of salon. New metal railings built around pilot house and for stairs.
Fall 2006 through Spring 2007, new galley cushions, build buffet bar, rebuilt cabin 1 with own head and shower, finished head and shower in Cabin 6, and build head and shower in crew’s quarters. Adding trash compactor. Redid electrical and plumbing. New watermaker.
Fall 2007 through Spring 2008. Redid more electrical and plumbing. Rebuild pilot house bunk and steering station, installing new electronics and captain’s chair. Adding coffee/tea bar and sink in galley, hood for stove and new counter to hide trash compactor extending the counter in the galley next to the stove. Old water tank taken out from under the bunk in Cabin 4. Closet closed in properly in Cabin 2, with the clothes cupboards in Cabin 2 and 3 closed in. New lighting overhead to cover wires and pipes in below deck hall. Cabin 3 finished off and repainted. New stairs for front deck. Crew head and shower finished and crew quarters painted. Refinished salon walls and tables in salon and galley.