From Three Sheets NW, the Ragland is for sale again including some nice photos and a recent history of this former resident of Boat Haven.
By Deborah Bach on April 26th, 2010
Walter Wallace makes one thing clear from the outset: he doesn’t like to talk about Neil Young.
Yes, Wallace bought the sailboat he’s now selling from the Canadian rock legend. Yes, he’s met him. But if you’re looking for stories about when Neil Young owned the boat, how he used it, what rock luminaries might have been entertained onboard or anything along those lines, well, you’re out of luck.
“I don’t play that card,” Wallace says.
Wallace’s reticence is understandable. As a yacht broker and the owner of Wallace Yacht Company in Port Townsend, he’s in the unusual position of agreeing to sell the boat for Young a few years back and then unexpectedly becoming its buyer. He’s discreet about his famous client, but also, he’d just rather talk about the boat.
And what a boat it is. Built in 1913, W.N. Ragland is a two-masted, gaff-rigged schooner owned by Young for more than 35 years. Originally built of oak and used to haul granite, Ragland is outfitted with a railroad car full of mahogany in her hull. The ship features solid teak decks and deck structures up to four inches thick. Her standing rigging is all stainless steel. Yacht braid rope is used for her running rigging and lines, as opposed to the more common triple-strand line.