Mosquito Fleet #6: Flyer Traditional Cache

W elcome to the Mosquito Fleet #6: Flyer cache.

Flyer was the first vessel ordered by the Columbia River and Puget Sound Navigation Company, a concern formed by Capt. U.B. Scott and others, which already controlled the fast sternwheeler Telephone on the Columbia River, and on Puget Sound, the then new and fast sternwheeler Bailey Gatzert as well as the express passenger boat Fleetwood. Flyer was built at the Johnson shipyard in Portland, Oregon of Douglas fir cut in Oregon and prepared for construction by prolonged storage in salt water. Unusually for an express passenger boat, Flyer included a dining room, which eventually contributed to her great popularity.

Flyer was designed to be the fastest propeller-driven vessel in the Pacific Northwest, and was very fine-lined, that is, tall and narrow. Captain Scott was so proud of his new ship that he rode on her as she was launched into the Willamette River. This proved to be a mistake. Neither boilers nor engines had been installed in Flyer before launch, and without their weight deep in her hull to act as ballast, she simply flopped over in the water, and Captain Scott had to exit by climbing out a window. After that, another hull was built around her with the hope of making her a little less top heavy, but this was imperfectly sealed, so water sloshed around in between the hulls for the rest of the vessel's operational life. Surprising this did not affect the Flyer's speed, although she did acquire a permanent list to port, or at least the hint of a list.

Once finally completed, the company sent Flyer to Puget Sound and brought Bailey Gatzert around to the Columbia River to run with the Telephone.

Flyer was placed on the run from Seattle to Tacoma. Her first master was Capt. Harry K. Struve (1866-1924), and her first pilot was Capt. Henry Carter (1858-1930). The run was 28 miles (45 km) long one way, and Flyer routinely completed it in less than 90 minutes. This was the beginning of many years of successful timely service, so much so that the Flyer's advertising slogan became "Fly on the Flyer".

The future successful career of the Flyer was almost ended at midnight on June 14, 1892 by fire. This started when Flyer was taking on wood for fuel at the Commercial Dock in Seattle. Suddenly fire broke out. Within five minutes the fire had swept through the vessel. The fireboat Snoqualmie and all available units of the Seattle fire department, under Chief Gardner Kellogg, responded to the fire. They were able to get the fire under control before serious damage was done to the hull or machinery. However, all of the vessel's upper works were destroyed. Flyer was quickly rebuilt and returned to service by the end of the summer of 1892. She made four round-trips a day from Seattle to Tacoma.

In 1906, Flyer had an extensive overhaul and conversion to oil fuel to allow her to compete successfully with the newer steel steamers that the Puget Sound Navigation Company had purchased in the Great Lakes and brought round South America. One in particular, Indianapolis, was being placed on the Seattle-Tacoma run in direct opposition to the Flyer. Passenger traffic on Puget Sound was then very high. In 1907, so many people wanted to travel to Tacoma on the Flyer that they were turned away at the dock. By 1910, the Puget Sound Navigation Company was well on its way towards achieving a monopoly on marine transport on Puget Sound, with the Flyer the only remaining major vessel still running against them.

From 1907 to 1911 the competition between the Flyer and the Indian went on. This was pursued on both sides by a variety of tactics, including Flyers honoring the tickets of the Indian's passengers just as the Indian was boarding. 'The Puget Sound Navigation Company became so desperate they even started calling their own Indianapolis the "white Flyer" in their advertising. That didn't work, as the public still preferred the real Flyer. Finally the Puget Sound Navigation Company, realizing they'd been beat, bought the Flyer on June 7, 1911.

A few days after the monopoly bought her, Flyer was placed on the Seattle to Everett route. She made a few trips under Capt. Charles Brydsen, and then Capt. Frank Clements, who'd been first officer on the Tacoma run under Captain Coffin, was appointed to her command. Flyer broke all records on the Everett run, just as she'd done on the Tacoma route. She could complete the entire run, including a 12 minute stop at Edmonds in one hour fifty minutes, making an average speed over the route of 18.5 miles per hour. Later, when the sternwheeler Telegraph had hit a snag on the Tacoma route, Flyer was put back on her old run until 1918 as a relief boat.

n 1918, Flyer was reconstructed at Seattle, renamed Washington and called up by the Navy for wartime service. By this time she had steamed over 2 million miles. After war service, she was kept on by the Puget Sound Navigation Co. as a spare boat and also used for special excursions for about ten years. Despite the official change of name, apparently done to forestall rumors of unseaworthiness, the Washington continued to be known to her patrons as the Flyer. Every steamboat had a distinctive whistle, and people on the water or ashore knew by sound what vessel was near by the sound of the whistle. The Flyers whistle was preserved, and is now mounted on the only surviving Puget Sound wooden steamer, the Virginia V. Flyer's compound steam engine was still in perfect running order in 1929

Flyer's last day came on June 12, 1929, when she was towed to Richmond Beach and burned for her metal.

T he cache.

This is one of six caches hidden to complete Mosquito Fleet series. You can find one or all of them.

Most of the way to the cache is on logging roads or dirt paths. The last 20-100 feet are off trail. There are some moderate elevation changes. The forest floor can be mushy and soft. There is no serious bush wacking needed. Expect poor GPS reception under the tree cover, the caches are not cleverly hidden but are camo painted and not visible from the path. It has been rumored that giant mutant banana slugs live in the this area. An attack by one of these creatures is a very slimy affair. Fortunately a brisk walk will allow you to escape.