You Asked for More About RAVEN…

…so here’s the story of our Alden-designed motorboat

I’ve been reluctant to write about RAVEN since, at 30’ on deck, she wouldn’t normally fit in Small Craft Advisor. But the 91-year-old John Alden-designed motorboat is remarkably small and simple when compared with every new powerboat on the market….so what the heck? Let’s tell at least part of the RAVEN story.

It’s been six years since I first caught sight of RAVEN, listed for sale on the Off Center Harbor website. Everything about the boat seemed perfect for my needs, but timing was terrible so I continued looking elsewhere for a boat I could cruise, live aboard and love.

Weeks passed. The boat was still for sale, at a price that seemed beyond reach, so I held back. And then, one morning, my inbox contained a fateful note from Steve Clancy, good friend with a refined appetite for classic boats, and relentless reader of “Boat For Sale” ads. His message was breathlessly direct: “Marty, have you gone to see this boat…?? This is YOUR boat, so take a look!”

That did it.

Steve, a gifted enabler, knew exactly how to wind me up, so I contacted the boat’s owner and headed directly for the Port of Everett marina. Minutes after climbing aboard, I began visualizing restoration of the amazing craft, and how she’d become a comfy liveaboard and dreamy cruiser. All I needed was a surge in cash flow.

And now to the miraculous part: The seller had known me decades earlier, when I’d restored and maintained another 1930’s cruiser. He felt I’d be the right kind of custodian, but there was that nagging issue of funds. After confessing I was cash-poor—(familiar circumstance of the boat-rich)—I mentioned that in six months I’d likely receive minority share of a property sale. Despite probability that he’d soon find a cash buyer, the seller shockingly agreed to a handshake deal: He’d accept a small deposit from me, and hold the boat for up to 12 months, or until I received my payoff…which turned out to be nine months later. I bowed, saluted and maybe even curtseyed while gratefully accepting his offer.

RAVEN, then named WANDER, as she looked when we purchased the boat. The previous owner had done a nice job of maintaining the boat, and importantly he had replaced the worn-out Perkins with a new 30hp Yanmar diesel.

RAVEN, following our restoration, which involved gut-out of the cabin to replace wiring, add new tanks, cabin bulkheads, long galley counter, sink, cupboards, comfortable berth, diesel heater with multiple registers, paint and varnish, hardtop over the cockpit, hydraulic steering and more. We’ve always liked dark hulls on classic boats, so “Raven Blue” was developed with help from Peter Marshall at Marshalls Cove Marine Paints. (Marty Loken photo)

Restoration of Raven…

So, in the late summer of 2019, I completed purchase of RAVEN and motored the old girl from Everett across northern Puget Sound to a moorage slip at Port Ludlow Marina, near Port Townsend. And after a one-week test cruise down to Bainbridge Island, and over to the “Little Norway” town of Poulsbo, I was ready to begin restoration work on our latest and largest project.

Doing research, I learned that RAVEN had been through several incarnations—first as a motorsailer with only the forward cuddy cabin; then through a mysterious 25-year disappearance following death of her original owner; then undergoing addition of a pilothouse in the early 1960’s, and more recently as a motorboat with short mast and no sailing rig.