The Muskrat, an 88-foot scow, has been at the Shipwright’s Co-op for several months now. As all scows, it was built during World War II, designed to haul cargo to locations, such as the Aleutian Islands. These powerful wooden vessels are still valuable to fishermen today due to their shallow draft. They are able to pack a lot of fish and materials for how much water they draw. Skegs are on the bottoms allowing scows to sit securely at low tide. This fills a niche for fisheries in Alaska. All scows are the very same design yet few plans exist. Shipwright’s Co-op has repaired and maintained many scows and understands their unique strengths and weaknesses. During the recent boat repair work aboard Muskrat, the names of original shipwright’s were discovered scrawled inside the hull. One of the shipwrights climbed into the narrow crawl space to make a photograph.
1943 Shipwright’s leave signatures inside crawl space of Muskrat reading ” Bartholomew Shipwright May 5, 1943 Adack, Alaska The Hell Hole of Creation! Wee Willie Winkle, Raymond D Branham, P.P Parsell, Bobby Higby, Hot Shot…”
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