Michael ‘Tug’ Buse’s Boat Project and 1850s Nautical Gems

In history and maritime exploration, Michael ‘Tug’ Buse emerges as a captivating storyteller, weaving together past narratives with his intricate boat projects and living history reenactments. Michael is a history teacher at Insight School of Washington an online high school for students in Washington State. Through a recent interview on the Exploring Washington State podcast, Tug shares insights into his upcoming boat project, his experiences navigating the waters in historical vessels, and his passion for preserving the maritime heritage of the 1850s.

Crafting a Boat, Unveiling History:

Central to Tug’s endeavors is his project to construct a lapstrake boat. This intricate process, requiring meticulous attention to detail and traditional craftsmanship, is a testament to his dedication to preserving historical maritime practices. Tug’s emphasis on maintaining the authenticity of the boat, from its construction to maintenance, breathes life into the stories of 19th-century sailors who relied on similar vessels for their voyages.

Navigating the Waters of the Past:

Tug’s ventures on the waters in his historical boats offer a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs of maritime exploration in the 1850s. From rowing and sailing along the Pacific Northwest coastline to engaging with historical reenactments at forts like Nisqually, Tug immerses himself in the past to educate and inspire others about the region’s rich maritime history.

Preserving Artifacts, Sharing Stories:

Beyond boat construction, Tug’s collection of artifacts and attention to detail in recreating historical attire showcase his commitment to authenticity in his living history portrayals. By donning period-appropriate clothing and sharing stories behind each artifact, Tug provides a tangible connection to the past, inviting audiences to engage with history in a unique and immersive manner.

Exploring Washington State Through Tug’s Eyes:

Throughout the podcast episode, Tug shares not only his maritime adventures but also his recommendations for exploring the culinary delights of Washington State. From savoring a slice of rhubarb pie to uncovering hidden gems for coffee and lunch in Olympia, Tug’s insights offer a sensory journey intertwined with historical anecdotes and maritime lore.

Educating Through Experience:

As a history teacher and living history interpreter, Tug goes beyond the confines of a classroom to bring history to life for his students. His dedication to preserving and sharing the past through hands-on experiences, such as building boats and reenacting historical scenes, underscores the value of experiential learning in fostering a deep appreciation for history.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse’s passion for maritime history, manifested through his boat projects, living history reenactments, and engaging storytelling, serves as a beacon guiding us through the waters of the past. By immersing himself in the traditions and tales of the 1850s, Tug not only preserves a rich maritime heritage but also ignites a spark of curiosity and fascination for history in all who encounter his endeavors.

Through his dedication to craft, storytelling, and education, Tug invites us to embark on a voyage of discovery, where the waves of history lap against the shores of our present, echoing the timeless tales of seafaring adventurers and maritime explorers.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse Episode Transcript

Scott Cowan [00:00:04]:
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State Podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington State. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. I’m sitting down today with Tug Busey and school teacher with an interesting, side project. I’m going to call it a side project.

Scott Cowan [00:00:35]:
You’re probably going to correct me, but it’s, I’m going to call it a side project. And so you’ve got a, an, a replica of an 1850s cutter, and I’m going to stop. I’m going to stop because anything I say from there is probably wrong. So how about you give us your backstory and we’re then we’ll get to what the cutter actually is, etcetera, like that.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:00:57]:
Okay. Well, first of all, just just so everybody knows, since since you you talked about the fact that I’m a school teacher, I just wanted to mention that I work at an online school. It’s called Insight School of Washington. And, if anybody’s curious about it or how it works or something like that, there’s a good website. All you have to do is Google it.

Scott Cowan [00:01:20]:
I’ll put it in the show notes too. So they’ll be there for they’ll be there for people. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:01:24]:
Great. Great.

Scott Cowan [00:01:25]:
How long you’ve been working with the school?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:01:28]:
Since 2018.

Scott Cowan [00:01:29]:
Okay. And what got you started working with an online school? Just out of curiosity.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:01:35]:
Well, it didn’t start out that way. Originally, my plan was that I was going to work for a traditional brick and mortar school. And at that time, I lived in Port Townsend. And, what I discovered was there weren’t a whole lot of choices in terms of jobs that I was qualified for in that immediate area. So I was informed that there were online schools. I started looking. I started applying. And, and behold, I I got the job at Insight.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:02:04]:
And and so it’s, it’s a great job, but one of the biggest challenges is, trying to expand the world of these students who, in a lot of ways, their world is very small because they’re at home going to school.

Scott Cowan [00:02:23]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:02:24]:
And, I mean, that that has some great advantages, but all but one of the the problems that it has is that the students sometimes have trouble getting out and experiencing things. For example, when I first started to work at Insight School of Washington, I I do well, as we’re gonna talk about in detail, I’m gonna do I I do living history. Mhmm. So I I’m a living history reenactor or interpreter. K. And I can talk more about what that means as we go on with the podcast. But, I I I do that with my cutter, which we’re gonna talk about in detail. But I also do it with, Fort Steilacoom, which is in Steilacoom just south of Tacoma Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:03:11]:
And Fort Nisqually, which is, now in Tacoma. Though the original location was in what is now DuPont.

Scott Cowan [00:03:20]:
So when you say you you work with those, are you are you one of the, like, the docents that help do the tours? Or I have Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:03:30]:
I I have done that.

Scott Cowan [00:03:31]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:03:32]:
But, primarily, what I do is is I interpret I think that’s the best way to put it. I interpret a person from the past.

Scott Cowan [00:03:42]:
Okay. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:03:43]:
So when when guests come in to, into either Fort Steilacoom or Fort Nisqually or when they see me in my boat, what I do and and I think people will be able to see the pictures of me. I I dress in a period appropriate way. I I hesitate to use the term costume simply because of the fact that they actually did have costume clothing

Scott Cowan [00:04:12]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:04:12]:
In in 19th century.

Scott Cowan [00:04:14]:
K.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:04:15]:
So the clothing I’m wearing would not have been considered costume clothing at that time. It would have been considered what somebody would have worn.

Scott Cowan [00:04:21]:
So what you’re wearing right now Right. And we’re gonna take a shot here in a second. But what you’re wearing right now, in fact, I’m gonna prep everything so we do this, like, while we’re talking. Okay? So what we’re what you’re wearing right now, snapping us a shot for everybody. This is new to us. We’re taking pictures during this episode, folks. Is that an actual 1850’s era, sailor, uniform? Is that a is that an appropriate thing? Okay. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:04:53]:
Yes. Okay. What I’m wearing is actually a US Navy enlisted sailor’s uniform from the year 1850. Okay. It’s So what what what you see that I’m that I’m wearing, this is what an an American naval sailor who was enlisted, not an officer, but who was an enlisted sailor would have been wearing. Interesting. It’s called a a white, frock. It was it was made from, a light cotton canvas that was called duck.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:05:28]:
And then as you can see, it’s trimmed in in blue. Right. You know, with the star and the the little kind of bib like thing that comes down here. And then they had a winter uniform that was made of wool that was navy blue.

Scott Cowan [00:05:43]:
Okay. So this is a My my look at it is it looks like it’s quite baggy. Not not because it doesn’t fit you correctly, but because it’s designed to be, baggy and I’m would think a, I’m not a boat person and B I wasn’t alive in the 1850s. Although I may look like it. It looks like it would get in the way of, of working. And now when you, when you take your cutter out, you’re in, you’re wearing garb like that. How does it does it impede your ability to work, or have you just gotten used to it? Or

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:06:19]:
No. Actually, quite the opposite. If you have really tight fitting clothing

Scott Cowan [00:06:24]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:06:24]:
You can’t move the way you need to be able to move when you’re on a ship.

Scott Cowan [00:06:29]:
Okay. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:06:30]:
So it’s it’s I mean, you’re absolutely correct that it’s baggy, but it’s baggy on purpose. Okay. Even even though this frock was tailor made for me.

Scott Cowan [00:06:40]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:06:41]:
It’s this is this is correct. Interesting. Because, like, you had to be able to haul, you had to be able to row. Okay. You had to be able to, you know, do do all the different functions on a ship. And and it act this this garment actually works for doing that. I’ve I’ve done all those, like, that work, like, been rowing

Scott Cowan [00:07:01]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:07:01]:
In my boat, you know, set the sail, hauling on the, you know, the halyards, the ropes that haul the sail up, all that kind of stuff wearing this clothing. Okay. So it actually does work. It’s it’s one of the reasons that the the front is actually split.

Scott Cowan [00:07:19]:
Right. Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:07:21]:
Down the middle so that it that it like, if you expand your arms out, it actually will will kind of move.

Scott Cowan [00:07:26]:
Move with you a little bit. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:07:28]:
It will move with you.

Scott Cowan [00:07:29]:
So do you have a just that we didn’t, I certainly never thought we’d be going down the wardrobe rabbit hole to start off with, but what the heck do you have a winner outfit as well? Do you have the out of wool?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:07:43]:
Not yet. Okay. To to have something like this custom made by, you know, a tailor Mhmm. Is very expensive.

Scott Cowan [00:07:51]:
I can imagine.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:07:52]:
And, I’m a public school teacher, and and while while my while my school pays a fair wage

Scott Cowan [00:08:00]:
Sure.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:08:01]:
For teachers, you know, we don’t

Scott Cowan [00:08:03]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:08:03]:
We’re we’re we’re we’re not making a fortune.

Scott Cowan [00:08:05]:
No no disrespect to your school district. That no. Nothing like that. I totally okay. Yeah. You’re you’re on a public servant’s wage, and yeah. Or public employee, not in public employee wage, maybe. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:08:18]:
All right. So we’ll come back to the uniform. I’m sure. So Okay. The online school teacher

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:08:24]:
Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:08:26]:
Historic, you’re working. You do these things. Okay. When we talked on the phone, you shared a story and I’m gonna kinda set the table and hand it back over to you. Okay. You were in 2nd grade when this happened. And all I can say to you is that most of us, by the time we’re in 2nd grade, have already figured out exactly what we wanna do with our lives. So I was thinking you’re a little behind.

Scott Cowan [00:08:51]:
I’m kidding you. So you you went on a field trip in 2nd grade. Why don’t you take it over from there? Because that’s where our story really truly begins.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:09:04]:
Yeah. So, in 1986, I was in 2nd grade at that time, and a replica of sir Francis Drake’s privateer vessel, the Spanish would say pirate vessel. Mhmm. It depends on how you look at it. A replica of that vessel came to Everett, Washington, which was near where I lived at that time. Mhmm. I I grew up, just outside of Stanwood, Washington, which for our listeners is about 50 miles north of Seattle. Yep.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:09:38]:
And, so so basically, we were all herded onto a bus, and we were taken down to the Everett Waterfront, which is just south of where I grew up, Everett, Washington, where the Golden Hind, this replica had come in. And they tied up to the dock there, and we all got to go on board and and talk with the crew and all that kind of stuff. And most of my fellow, second graders could have taken or left the experience except for the fact that they got out of school. Right. But I was mesmerized. And I said to my mother, I said, okay. I wanna go with them. And she said, well, they’re gonna sail across the Pacific Ocean.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:10:20]:
And I said, yeah, I know. I I wanna I wanna be the cabin boy, and I wanna go with them. And my mom said, no, you can’t. You gotta go back to school. So so I but on the deck of the Golden Hind replica, when I was in 2nd grade, I I pledged that I was going to build a historically significant replica watercraft, and I was going to interpret history in that watercraft just like they did on the Golden Hind. And so a mere 37 years later, that that dream actually came true.

Scott Cowan [00:10:58]:
I gotta ask you. Before this day, before this day in 2nd grade, field trip, Golden Hind, did you ever give any thought about what you wanted to do when you were older? Do you remember?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:11:13]:
It was probably something like that.

Scott Cowan [00:11:15]:
Okay. So you’ve always been kind of a history buff. I mean, there’s all sorts of okay. All right. Cool.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:11:23]:
And you, and you can say nerds.

Scott Cowan [00:11:24]:
No, no. It’s no disrespect. I love history. So there’s no, there’s no, no, no, no disrespect at all. It’s more. I just think it’s the way you describe this part of the story is in 2nd grade, you were what, 8 or 9 years old.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:11:42]:
Yep.

Scott Cowan [00:11:42]:
And you want to build a replica at 8 or 9

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:11:48]:
Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:11:49]:
That seems very unusual that you were that clear on the focus. That’s that’s all I’m trying to say. I think it’s, it’s pretty cool. So 2nd grade, you you’re making this pledge. You’ve made it come true. What, where did you go from there? In other words, through junior high or through grade school, junior high and high school, ultimately college, How did this project marinate over those years?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:12:24]:
Well, I got sidetracked by a few things. So I’ve always loved history. I’ve always studied it. All you know, I with with a particular focus on American history Mhmm. And particularly the civil war and earlier k. Has always been my my real focus. And so when I was growing up, everyone told me they said, well, you gotta go back east because that history, that pre Civil War history, that’s all back east. What I’ve discovered is that nothing could be further from the truth.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:12:58]:
In fact, the the the antebellum or pre Civil War history of what is now Washington State is incredibly rich. And it’s it is it’s maybe not as well documented as the history back east, but it is documented. And what’s so amazing about it is it’s like this black hole because because very few people know anything about it. There are a couple of very brief highlights that people know about, even in books about maritime history of this area. And and then other than other than that, it’s just, like, fast forward until, after the Civil War. Mhmm. So what I did was I went back east to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. And, any civil war buffs out there, that that was the college of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:13:52]:
He became famous for his role, defending the union Okay. Position at Gettysburg. And, I studied American history, and I was gonna be a history professor. But then my professors talked me out of it because they said there there there weren’t enough jobs and all that kind of stuff. So, I was also interested in films and media. And so I went to film school

Scott Cowan [00:14:20]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:14:20]:
In Southern California. I went to film school, and then I ended up teaching, I ended up teaching film, video, and television production for a while, but I really missed the history. Right. I I I I really missed that part, and I was even given, an honors program at one of the schools, and I was always selecting history books. So that, like, I, you know, I could teach history. So when when I moved back to Washington because I wanted to live here, I realized I had to retool my career. So I went back to school. I got my teaching certification in Washington Scott, and then I started teaching at at Insight School of Washington.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:15:04]:
And one of the big challenges that I ran into was I would say to students I would say, hey, you know, come to Fort Nisqualli. It’s lots of fun. We’re gonna have an event this weekend. And then my students would say, well, I’d love to, but I live in Spokane, So I’m not gonna be able to to drive. So what I started doing was I made a video tour of Fort Nisqually It’s about 20 minutes long. I show that to my students and then I dress in my, uniform and other clothing I have, and I have objects that I show students like I’m gonna show you today. Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:15:43]:
And I can teach them some of this stuff.

Scott Cowan [00:15:45]:
So let me ask you. Let me let me interrupt you and ask you. Are what grades are you primarily teaching?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:15:54]:
So Washington Scott history at the high school level is 9th through 12th grade.

Scott Cowan [00:16:00]:
It is see, I didn’t have to take 4 years of it when I was in high Scott, admittedly long time ago. In fact, almost I had to take one semester of it and then the rest of it was optional. It was weird. So, you’re telling me now that the school system is 4 years worth of that’s awesome. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:16:18]:
No. No. It’s it’s it’s not 4 years. What happens is the way that the state curriculum is set up Mhmm. The students are supposed to take it and pass it in 7th grade.

Scott Cowan [00:16:30]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:16:31]:
So at the but but it’s required to pass Washington Scott history to graduate from high school in Washington state.

Scott Cowan [00:16:39]:
Okay. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:16:41]:
So what happens is the students who come to high school, they need to take it for a number of reasons. Some students just didn’t pass it middle school for whatever reason. Some students move in from out of state. Yeah. And so, therefore, they need to take it because to graduate in Washington, they need to have it.

Scott Cowan [00:17:00]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:17:00]:
So so no. It’s it’s it’s it’s not a, it’s not a 4 year school. It’s just or sorry. A 4 year, class. It’s just that students from 9th to 12th grade are in my class because

Scott Cowan [00:17:15]:
Okay. So you you okay. So are those kids, this is broad brush to try to get any high school age kid to be, you know, but are they finding it interesting? Are they, in your opinion, are they tuning it out because it’s the history it’s old, who cares? It’s not Tik TOK. Are like your city that you did Fort Nisqually. I mean, that’s cool that you did that. I think that’s a really wonderful thing to, to be able to show a student in Spokane or Walla Walla or Bellingham. That’s going to your school. This is what Fort Nisqually looks like.

Scott Cowan [00:17:54]:
How are they, how are they reacting? How are, how are they, how are your students liking this course in your opinion?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:18:01]:
Well, I mean, you know, of of course, the opinions of the students range.

Scott Cowan [00:18:06]:
Of course.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:18:07]:
But for the most part, most of the students I deal with, they seem to relate to me and to at least some of the course material. And, you know, like like, I’ll I’ll give you an example. One of the things that I’ve researched while while doing the the research that I’ve done is, an item that was was constantly made in this area by by local indigenous people. So and And they and they made it out of the the hides of the animal that we now call the Roosevelt Elk.

Scott Cowan [00:18:55]:
Interesting.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:18:57]:
And they would they would double the leather and or sometimes even triple it, but it would stop arrows and even musket balls at a distance. And I was I was talking about this because I I think it’s interesting, it’s part of the research that I’ve been doing, and one of my students, is a member of a Native American nation. And he was really interested Europe to to to, like, learn about armor and stuff like that, and it’s like my ancestors were making armor right here. And I said, Yeah. Yeah. They were.

Scott Cowan [00:19:41]:
That’s cool.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:19:42]:
And That’s cool. Yeah. So, I mean, there there are things like that. Like, there’s a couple of students that I have, in my current class who regularly stay after class, not because they need help with the with the coursework, but just because they want to talk to me.

Scott Cowan [00:19:58]:
That’s very cool.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:19:58]:
And so, yeah, it’s lots of fun.

Scott Cowan [00:20:00]:
I had no idea, about the the indigenous making body armor. That’s that’s really, really quite, quite interesting. All right. So kind of went off track. Dare I say, you know, down the trail. You went to 2nd grade. You make the proclamation. You go in, you know, high school get to college, go to Maine, go back, go to LA.

Scott Cowan [00:20:27]:
Now you’re back up here. Why were, what, what happened that you were able to get started on this, on this project for the, for the cutter? What, what all kind of, you know, it’s not like you go to Ikea and buy a kit and assemble it. You know, it’s it’s it’s, you know, it it it’s not like you go anywhere and buy a kit and assemble it. What, what were your criteria? How did you settle on what you settled on? And then how did you go about the process of getting getting the project started?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:21:04]:
Okay. So earlier, in between, 2,004 and 2,009, I had built a wooden boat. She was very, very modern boat put together with epoxy and and stuff like that, so very, very modern technology. Okay. But at least I had the basic concepts and ideas about boat building Cowan, and at the time I built the boat I lived in Port Townsend, I now live in Olympia, But at that time, I lived in Port Townsend. And so I went down to the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co op in Port Townsend. And, we had done my family had done some business with them previously because, my nickname of tug comes from the fact that my family owns a small wooden tugboat.

Scott Cowan [00:21:59]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:22:00]:
And so, we we had enlisted the help of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co op to to work on the tugboat. And so I went down there and I talked to some people I knew there and I shared with them the idea of the project. And they were like, okay, and you know, sounds good. And so, I was introduced to a man named Tim Lee, who is, one of their best, brightest shipwrights and but even more importantly most of the shipwrights at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co op, they were trained, they’ve been trained either in, and I will define what I’m talking about here, I promise, in traditional Carvel wooden boat construction or more modern boat construction or, you know, cement, steel, aluminum, like other so okay. So, back in the day, if we’re talking, you know, 170 years ago, there were basically 2 different types of wooden boat construction. There was what was called Carvel construction which is where the the planks were fitted together, so well that the hull was smooth. So they they were basically butted edge to edge and and they were cocked with a a substance called oakum and later cocking, cocking cotton. And and so that the the outside of the ship or boat would be would be smooth.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:23:46]:
The hull would be smooth.

Scott Cowan [00:23:47]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:23:48]:
And that’s a great form of construction if you’re talking about larger boats. The problem is it tends to be heavy and it doesn’t do as well when the boat is out of the water. So, what I needed for my cutter was the other traditional form of boat construction, which is called lapstrake. And, in lapstrake construction the planks overlap each other. So, if you’ve ever seen like a Viking longship or, you know, something like that, or Google it. If you’re if you’re listening to this right now, you can Google Viking longship. That’s the way the Vikings built their vessels a 1000 years ago. The planks overlap, and so the water tightness is caused simply by the wood being fit plank to plank.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:24:35]:
K. And and so the the hull is not smooth. There’s the overlapping planks.

Scott Cowan [00:24:41]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:24:42]:
The the advantage of that form of construction is that it’s much lighter, and the ship’s boats do better when they’re out of the water, typically. And Tim Lee was an expert on that form of boat construction. And he was one of the few, if not the only, shipwright at Port Townsend Shipwrights Co op that really knew that type of construction because it’s a very different type of construction

Scott Cowan [00:25:08]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:25:09]:
Than Carvel. So with Tim’s help and the help of other people, at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co op, they actually scheduled most of the work on the boat to coincide with my breaks because I’m a teacher so I have time off. Right. So, we started laying out the shape of the hull in, the summer of 2021. And then over winter break, 2021, 2022, around Christmas time, I did a lot of work on the boat with them. Spring break, that spring, I went down and did a lot of work, and then did some finishing work in the spring and stuff like that. So I worked on every major phase of the boat’s construction. But that type of construction requires, to quote my students, mad skills.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:26:08]:
It it it really requires incredible skills that that I just don’t have. And so that’s why it was amazing to have Tim there

Scott Cowan [00:26:16]:
k.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:26:17]:
Guiding the work because he did an incredible job.

Scott Cowan [00:26:21]:
Now how long in in man hours how how many man hours do you think it took to build the boat?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:26:35]:
If if Tim and another experienced person had been working on the boat full time, it probably would have taken about a month and a half maybe. K.

Scott Cowan [00:26:47]:
Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:26:48]:
But it it was it was stretched over, you know, the course of a year.

Scott Cowan [00:26:51]:
Right. So a month and a half solid. Okay. So, yeah. All right. 3, 3, 500 hours maybe of, of labor to, to build it from uninterrupted if you will. But, okay. So we’ve thrown around the word cutter.

Scott Cowan [00:27:09]:
I’m going to guess that the vast majority of the listeners don’t know what we’re talking about. Yeah. Sure. How about we stop and you explain what a cutter is in this subject? Absolutely.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:27:27]:
So, you know, a 150 years ago and earlier, ships kept excuse me. Ships typically carried smaller boats on board that were used for a number of different purposes.

Scott Cowan [00:27:41]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:27:42]:
And, of course, ships today still carry small boats, but, typically, they’re just for emergencies. They’re like lifeboats.

Scott Cowan [00:27:49]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:27:50]:
So the ship’s boats back in the day were used for everything from hauling anchors out to drop them away from the ship, to getting supplies on shore, to transporting people ship to ship, or ship to shore. And, they came in lots of different shapes and sizes. And, you know, they’re often referred to as small boats, but I like to call them ship’s boats because of the fact that some of them were quite large. For example, a launch on a ship of the line or a battleship

Scott Cowan [00:28:25]:
Mhmm. Of

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:28:26]:
the 1850s could be over 40 feet long.

Scott Cowan [00:28:29]:
Oh, okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:28:30]:
So, I mean, they they they could be fairly large

Scott Cowan [00:28:33]:
Just look at size. Vessels. But Yeah. Mhmm. K.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:28:36]:
So, typically in the 1850s on a naval vessel, which is why I usually portray a man in the Navy, the launch was the largest vessel.

Scott Cowan [00:28:46]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:28:47]:
And then below that were the cutters. And cutters ranged in size from the largest ones which were, you know, about 28, 27 feet, all the way down to the smallest one, which was typically 14 to 16 feet long.

Scott Cowan [00:29:05]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:29:07]:
And so my little boat is a cutter. Okay. A small cutter. She’s 16 feet. And so she would have been about the smallest boat that would have typically been carried by an ocean going sailing ship coming to this part of the world in the mid 19th century. And earlier, She she could have been on a ship in the early 19th century.

Scott Cowan [00:29:28]:
Okay. Okay. And so in your research, give me an example. Why, what would a cutter have been used for say in our area? Or if there was, you know, what would it be just to get a couple of guys to shore? Would it have been to bring food back and forth? Or or what would have its primary duty have been?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:29:53]:
They were used for a number of things. So if we’re talking the smallest cutter

Scott Cowan [00:29:57]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:29:57]:
Like mine, they were typically suspended from davits that were on the back of a ship Okay. The smallest one, because that was fairly easy to do, and then you could lower them very quickly and use them very quickly. Mhmm. So, yes, as as you said, they were used for transporting, people from ship to ship, if there’s more than one ship, or from ship to ship to shore Okay. So people get to shore for light light goods, light cargo, things like that. However, there are there there is evidence of people doing, extended exploration voyages in boats even as small as mine. Okay. So for example, in 18/24, Hudson’s Bay Company, fur trapper and trader James McMillan, along with a man named John Work and and their crews, they left the Columbia River in 18/24 in small boats

Scott Cowan [00:31:03]:
Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:31:04]:
That had sails. Now they there there isn’t a lot of description of the boats, unfortunately, but they were small enough and light enough that they were able to go out into the ocean, into Grays Harbor, up the Chehalis River, and then portage the boats overland to Puget Sound, go up Puget Sound into what is now Canada, and do the reverse of that trip. And in order to portage a boat, you know, drag it over land aways, it’s it can’t be very big.

Scott Cowan [00:31:32]:
Right. And can’t be particularly heavy either. I mean, in the grand scheme of

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:31:36]:
things. Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:31:38]:
And this was an 18/24. Okay. All right. Let’s go back to your boat though. You, you, where did you get the, the plans or what was it? Where did you get the data to start building this boat? You just said, for example, in 18, 24, there wasn’t a lot of research or Scott, not a lot of data on the boats that were used for that, that, Where were you able to find your your information?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:32:13]:
So, in terms of the information to put my boat together and by the way, I probably should say, that my boat’s name is Boq.

Scott Cowan [00:32:24]:
I’m never gonna pronounce that. Can you repeat that, please?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:32:27]:
I’ll tell you what. So just so you know, the easiest way to remember it is it sounds like the word poke Uh-huh. Like I’m gonna poke you with my finger, but with a b. Poke. K.

Scott Cowan [00:32:37]:
Why Poke. Why why did you pick that name? What’s the significance for that?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:32:43]:
It’s actually leachute seed. So, for for those who are listening who don’t know, Le Choute seed is the local family of Native American languages on Puget Sound

Scott Cowan [00:32:55]:
k.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:32:56]:
And and and in the the area of Western Washington. And in Le Choute Seed, the word, and it’s actually pronounced more like bo k. Okay. Bo k. It means duck, as in the bird. Okay. So, the story is that, you know, my sailor my sailor persona, he he rose his boat up to a beach, and he sees a young Native American girl who points to his boat. And he says, it’s my boat.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:33:32]:
But she thinks he says, boat. It’s my duck. So, the duck. Yeah. Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [00:33:39]:
Okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:33:41]:
So so that’s her name. So but to to answer your question about how did I figure out what she looked like?

Scott Cowan [00:33:47]:
Yeah.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:33:49]:
Okay. Well, I had to draw from a lot of different sources because there’s a little bit of description here and a little bit of description there and a little bit of description there and a little bit over here, you know, it’s doing this kind of research, it’s lots of fun, at least I think it’s fun, but it’s kind of like trying to figure out what a 3,000 piece jigsaw puzzle looks like when you only have 30 pieces. You know, you’ve you’ve you’ve Scott, like, a a collection of pieces over here, you’ve got a piece over there, you Scott a piece over there, you got a little bit of the border down here, and so you take a look at that and then you have to try to guess what the entire picture looked like.

Scott Cowan [00:34:33]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:34:35]:
But what I will tell you is this, the main document that we used is that the Smithsonian in Washington DC, they actually have an amazing collection of ships plans.

Scott Cowan [00:34:47]:
Oh, okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:34:48]:
Historical ships plans that come from a number of sources and, the the system they have is a little clunky but but, you know, it works. You what you what you can do is you you write to them, and then you send them a check, and they’ll send you they have catalogs of ships plans, and they have, civilian ships and warships. Really? It’s 2 2 separate catalogs. And, excuse me, in the warship plans, I found, plans for navy cutters from 18/54. K. So then again, then you have to write another check and send that off for the plans and fill out a form and send it off for the plans. But then, eventually, they sent me the copy of the plans. And so we were able to spread them out on the table and take a look at them.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:35:41]:
But the problem is, those Navy cutters were huge. They were like 28 feet long.

Scott Cowan [00:35:46]:
Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:35:48]:
And so, Tim, Tim Lee, who is a brilliant man, he was like, Okay, I’ve got an idea. And I said, oh, what’s that? And I said, well, you could pay a ton of money and and have a naval architect, you know, a person who draws boat plans, redraw the plans from the Smithsonian plans. Or what we could do is we could find a boat whose plans already exist that’s similar to this one, and then we’ll just alter it, which will save you tons of money. And I was like, okay, fine. So, what happened was, there’s there’s a book out there, which I I recommend to anybody who’s interested in traditional boat building. It’s by a guy named John Gardner, and, I think it’s called Building Classic Small Craft. And, John Gardner is is given lots of credit for saving the art of traditional wooden boat building. And, anyway, in this book, volume 1, there were plans for a type of boat that was called a white hull.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:36:52]:
And white hulls were very similar to, cutters. And so what we did was we took those plans from the white hull, We shortened them, a little bit, and then so, the shape of the stern or back of my boat, it’s it’s a different shape than the white hull. So we we made the the back of the boat the right shape. And, and, like, the the front of the boat, the curve was a little different on the front of the boat, so we we changed that and things like that. Okay. But but it that actually ended up working very well. And it probably saved me 3 or $4,000

Scott Cowan [00:37:37]:
Okay. Scott

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:37:38]:
By doing that. Yeah.

Scott Cowan [00:37:39]:
Not not an insignificant savings. Okay. Yeah. Alright. So a boat’s built. You you do you’re working you’re contributing while you’re on breaks and all that. So Mhmm. Where was the maiden voyage?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:37:55]:
Well, I guess, it it kinda depends on how you count it. So just the well, the the boat wasn’t even completely finished yet.

Scott Cowan [00:38:06]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:38:06]:
And we launched her in the water, at Port Townsend in the marina so that Tim could get an idea of where the waterline really was. Okay. Because, when when he saw the boat in the water, he could really get a good idea of where the boat was gonna float. And so and and for for those of you who are not familiar with with boating, boat building, all that kind of stuff, especially if you’re talking about a wooden boat, the area below the water, needs to be on a wooden boat, you need to put on paint that will keep shipworms from eating your boat. Mhmm. So that’s one big issue. The other is barnacles and marine growth. Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:38:48]:
So there are special paints for the bottom of a boat.

Scott Cowan [00:38:51]:
Well, what what did they do in the 18 fifties though? Did they have, did they have special paints back then? Or do we know? I mean, did they just, like, put tar on it? Or, I mean, what what did they do in the 1850s?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:39:03]:
They did. And they they they did have paints, and they did use them. And for the most part, they are highly toxic. Of course. Which is which which is why they’re illegal for health and environmental reasons today. But

Scott Cowan [00:39:17]:
Okay. Yeah. So So we had to make a However. We we made a concession with paint. Okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:39:23]:
Well, but so so, now one of the great things about Volk is that she can actually depict a ship’s boat from the early 1800, like, early fur trading vessels, all the way to the present, really. I mean, people are still building boats that look like her today.

Scott Cowan [00:39:46]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:39:47]:
So, she’s a time machine. I can slide back and forth through time in her, which is a lot of fun. I originally intended, though, that she would be the ship’s boat of the USS Massachusetts.

Scott Cowan [00:40:00]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:40:02]:
And the USS Massachusetts and in fact, I can I can, I can give you a picture of what the Massachusetts looked like?

Scott Cowan [00:40:09]:
Hold on. Hang on a sec. Do you wanna? And we’re gonna hold it. Okay. We got the phone. Yep.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:40:19]:
And so there, there is one and only one full color illustration of the USS Massachusetts that I found at the Mariner the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia. And the ship’s boats were, kind of reddish brown above the waterline Mhmm. And they were white below the waterline. And so that’s the color scheme

Scott Cowan [00:40:51]:
that we went with. Idea why?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:40:53]:
For the boat. So my guess is the white paint on the bottom, was probably a mixture. It probably had some copper in it because shipworms don’t eat copper. K. And it probably had some white lead in it as well. And then the paint above the waterline was probably what they called tanbark Cowan tanbark is where they they took the bark of cypress trees, like the western red cedar in Washington, and they would boil it down until it was this thick syrup and, if you’ve ever seen some some sales of sailing vessels are, even today,

Scott Cowan [00:41:37]:
are

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:41:37]:
a reddish brown color.

Scott Cowan [00:41:38]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:41:39]:
That’s that’s tan bark. They they would I mean, now, we just do it because it looks cool.

Scott Cowan [00:41:45]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:41:46]:
But in in the past, they would dip the canvas of sales in the tan bar because it was a preservative.

Scott Cowan [00:41:54]:
K.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:41:54]:
It it would it would preserve the So my guess is that’s what happened. K.

Scott Cowan [00:42:02]:
So what color is what is is your boat this tan bark and white? Is that the color pattern that you picked? Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:42:09]:
Yeah. So that, so above the water it’s tan bark and then below the water’s white.

Scott Cowan [00:42:13]:
So just, just out of curiosity, since you’re not able to use historically accurate paint for various reasons, what, what a boat, what are we painting boats with in today’s day and age?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:42:29]:
Well, there’s, there’s all kinds of oil and water based compositions that are used for marine paint. Mhmm. And and some people say there really isn’t any difference between marine paint for the top of a boat versus, like, good exterior paint for a house.

Scott Cowan [00:42:48]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:42:48]:
They just charge more for it. I mean, there’s a big debate about that. Okay. In the case of Boke, my boat, the painting scheme actually presented a huge problem, because remember what I said about the shipworms earlier? We needed a copper based paint to paint on the bottom of the boat because that’s the only thing they won’t eat through. They they won’t eat copper. But the problem is there’s no white copper based paint.

Scott Cowan [00:43:14]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:43:16]:
So what we did instead was we painted the bottom of the boat with a light brown copper based paint and then painted a white paint over the top of that, which actually made the bottom look off white, which is exactly what it’s supposed to look like according to the painting. So it was perfect.

Scott Cowan [00:43:35]:
Okay. So you’ve got a copper based paint on the boat. Okay. All right. Yep. Okay. So the initial launch was to see how, how she sat in the water. Uh-huh.

Scott Cowan [00:43:46]:
When was its completion and where was its maiden maiden voyage, if you will, as a completed vessel?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:43:57]:
So, well, again, it kinda depends on how you count it. But, I when I put her in the water, I, rode across Port Townsend Bay Mhmm. And back. So I I went to Port Hadlock, which is at the southern end of Port Townsend Bay Mhmm. And back. I took her to the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend

Scott Cowan [00:44:18]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:44:18]:
Which I can tell you a little bit more about later. And then, I also took her down to Tacoma because my friends at Fort Nisqually, I wanted them to see her, And so, I invited them down to the dock to see to see the. And, I was like, hey, I have a period correct 19th century boat here.

Scott Cowan [00:44:41]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:44:42]:
Let’s go for a ride.

Scott Cowan [00:44:42]:
Let’s go for a ride. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:44:44]:
Yeah. Alright. Last summer, I I wanted to take a fairly long voyage in her just kind of to show that I could I guess, and so my my hometown of Stanwood I mentioned earlier.

Scott Cowan [00:45:01]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:45:02]:
I left from the Stillaguamish River, which is where I near where I grew up, and I went to Tacoma, entirely in this boat by water, under oar and sail. And it took me about a week

Scott Cowan [00:45:17]:
Okay. To

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:45:18]:
complete that voyage.

Scott Cowan [00:45:20]:
And, approximately percentage wise, how much of that did you row?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:45:29]:
I would say about 30%, 40%.

Scott Cowan [00:45:33]:
Maybe that’s a lot. That’s a lot of work. Okay. And what how did the adventure go? Tell me more about

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:45:41]:
it. Oh, it was great. I mean, well, I mean, it it was very uncomfortable, and, and and and it was it was very, like, I I had a really period correct experience. I mean, there’s, there’s, there’s no question or doubt about that. I mean, it was like, okay, yeah, this is hard. It was really hard work when you’re rowing against, like, if there’s contrary wind or. Mhmm. So, small boats today, if they have a sail, they’re often equipped with some sort of a keel, often that can retract up into a trunk for going into shallow water.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:46:17]:
Well, the philosophy for ships’ boats in 18/50 and earlier was if the wind is favorable, pop in the sail. If it’s not favorable, you’re rowing.

Scott Cowan [00:46:27]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:46:29]:
And so that’s what I had to do. And so there were times when I had to row into the wind and the current and, there were times when I I had to just keep glancing at shore to see if I was even moving forward, you know, in in the right direction. But, but then so I went from, stillaguamish River to Everett, stayed overnight in Everett, and the next day, I went to Edmonds and I was trapped there for a little bit because of inclement weather and, then and stayed stayed with some friends and then I went to, Shilshole Bay in Seattle. And then the the the next day that I traveled, I went to Blake Island, which is an amazing, state park. That’s, it’s an island on the, west side of Puget Sound. Right. Somewhat near Bremerton. And I stayed there for a couple days, again inclement Wenatchee, and I had the wind with me that time, so that was amazing.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:47:36]:
But then the final day was the most impressive, because the wind was in my favor all day. And so I sailed from Blake all the way into Tacoma. And I didn’t drop the sail until I was basically in the marina where I was gonna pull in

Scott Cowan [00:47:53]:
Wow. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:47:54]:
In Tacoma. So I was that was 21 nautical miles in a single day, which is not bad for my boat.

Scott Cowan [00:48:00]:
Oh, that’s that’s a lot maybe. Okay. And what do your friends from Fort Nisqually, what are what are they what was their reactions to your

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:48:07]:
boat? Well, I I sometimes have a flair for the dramatic as maybe you have been able to pick up on. And, so I didn’t tell them why I asked them to come down to the dock. I just said, well, you know, I’m there in my boat. But I didn’t tell them exactly why. So, you know, when they came down, you know, at first, you know, one of my friends was kind of like, wow, okay, you know, you didn’t tell us about this, but then but then she was like, yeah, but, you know, you having a period correct boat from 1850s, well, that’s just you. So, okay.

Scott Cowan [00:48:45]:
That’s just you.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:48:46]:
Let’s let’s go for a ride. You know, it’s like at at at first, they were kind of surprised and then they were like, oh, that’s just tug. So, of course, of course, he’s gonna have a period correct boat from the 18 fifties. But yeah, we, we had a really fun time. They, we, we had like a little picnic on the dock and I, I took everybody out for a ride in the boat and, you know, wrote them around a little bit in Foss Waterway. I I was at the dock at, Foss, Foss Waterway Seaport Museum Mhmm. In Tacoma, which by the way and and I I don’t get paid or anything to plug these places, but they’re they’re they’re, that’s a really cool place. It really neat museum.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:49:24]:
If you’ve never been there.

Scott Cowan [00:49:24]:
I haven’t, I have not been to that one, but yeah, I, I love it. All right. So what are you doing with the boat? I mean, what’s, what does, you know, which plans what’s what’s it look like?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:49:40]:
Well, so of course, I, I kinda got the cart before the horse. I, I built the boat and then I started looking for a place to take her.

Scott Cowan [00:49:52]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:49:54]:
Whereas I probably should have done it the opposite way, but, oh well.

Scott Cowan [00:49:58]:
Where’s the phone number?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:49:59]:
So I right right right why make it easy?

Scott Cowan [00:50:03]:
Right. Uh-uh

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:50:04]:
so anyway I one of the places that I’m I’ve taken her is, like I said, the dock at Foss, Waterway Seaport. And, I’m right now I’m working with Foss Waterway Seaport, the Washington State Historical Society Museum, and the Tacoma, Historical Society Museum that are all all in Tacoma to try to coordinate it so that, when I’m there in in future summers, I’m not just talking to people who are crab fishing on the dock. Right? You know, and and and because the the boat was just finished, last year, really. Right. Was when she was, like, completely and totally finished. So so there’s that. And for anybody listening to me, I haven’t been able to lock it down yet exactly when that’s gonna be when I’m going to be in Tacoma this summer, but it’s probably going to be in late July or early August, so be watching the websites of those museums that I talked about because they’re probably gonna they’re probably gonna promote it. One thing I will definitely tell you is that on Saturday, May 11th Saturday, May 11th of this year at 1 o’clock PM, so 1 o’clock in the afternoon, at the Coupeville Public Library in Coupeville on, Whidbey Island, I will be giving a presentation that’s actually about, that will that that well, I I I don’t wanna I don’t wanna give away too much Okay.

Scott Cowan [00:51:45]:
That’s right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:51:45]:
But I’m going to be revealing information that no one has known since the early 19th century

Scott Cowan [00:51:52]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:51:53]:
In this area. And the reason I chose the Massachusetts was she was the 1st American steamship on Puget Sound.

Scott Cowan [00:52:05]:
Okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:52:06]:
And and I’m really interested in steam. So I was like, okay, I’ll I’ll do that. But then it got me to wondering what was the first American vessel period on the Salish Sea or Puget Sound.

Scott Cowan [00:52:20]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:52:20]:
And so that’s what this talk is gonna be about.

Scott Cowan [00:52:22]:
Okay. And repeat that again. The date?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:52:26]:
Yes. So it’s, Saturday, May 11th at 1 o’clock PM at the Coupeville Public Library in in Coupeville, Washington on Whidbey Island.

Scott Cowan [00:52:41]:
I’ll put a link in the show notes for that too. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:52:43]:
Okay. Great. Great. And then bulk will be on display, and and well and so I guess I should say depending on how that goes, bulk may be in Coupeville and maybe in Oak Harbor, possibly, I might be doing stuff with them. That’s that’s what I’m trying to kind of do. You might so, every couple of years they’re gonna have a reenactment on, San Juan Island of the pig war

Scott Cowan [00:53:15]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:53:16]:
That happened in 18/59. It was a boundary dispute. Yep. And, so she might go up there. I might take her up there for that. Alright. But for sure, I can tell everybody that at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, which is September 6th through 8th, so the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, September 6th through 8th, you will most definitely see Boke and I there. Alright.

Scott Cowan [00:53:49]:
So what do you envision your role in the future with the boat to be is just as a way of, of helping us connect and understand more about maritime in the 1850s range, or is this the first of a series of boats that you envision or I don’t know. What what what do you what’s the future look like for this this project?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:54:19]:
So as as we talked about, before, I’m a school teacher, and, I was very fortunate to have some funds that I inherited from my from my late grandfather and my late father, which I used to build this boat. It’s really quite amazing how expensive it is to have a boat like this built. I mean, even a 16 foot boat, it’s like it’s it’s quite shocking, actually. I mean, if you want it done right. Mhmm. I mean, if if somebody just cobbles together something and, you know, whatever. But this boat, if properly taken care of, will outlive me.

Scott Cowan [00:54:56]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:54:56]:
And and that that was that was the whole idea. So, so, no, I I don’t anticipate building any other boats right now, for the project But I I am collecting and making, artifacts that I can use to tell stories.

Scott Cowan [00:55:25]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:55:25]:
And I so I either collect originals or I make reproductions

Scott Cowan [00:55:31]:
Can you give me an example?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:55:32]:
Of them or have them make well, I’m gonna show you some. Alright. I hope if we if we have time.

Scott Cowan [00:55:37]:
Yeah. We do. We got time. But yeah. So I’m I’m curious because, well, depending what the artifacts are, they’re not inexpensive. I mean, that they, they could be probably not nothing. Anytime people collect things, the Scott can get prohibited no matter what I collect baseball cards. So even pieces of cardboard can get very expensive very quickly.

Scott Cowan [00:56:00]:
Yeah. What got you going on that, on the artifacts?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:08]:
So believe it or not, there are many, many original artifacts that are shockingly low in price.

Scott Cowan [00:56:15]:
Really? Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:17]:
Well, the the So

Scott Cowan [00:56:17]:
you’re ruining it for you. You gotta you should you should be scaring everybody off. You should be saying, oh, they’re safe. So Oh, don’t they’re hard to find, and they’re so expensive. Don’t even bother.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:25]:
Better believe it.

Scott Cowan [00:56:26]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:26]:
Well, okay. So so here’s here’s the honest answer. Okay. Some are expensive.

Scott Cowan [00:56:31]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:32]:
There there are some things that are incredibly expensive.

Scott Cowan [00:56:34]:
Yeah.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:35]:
And there are some things that are incredibly hard to find. It it just it depends on what you’re looking for, and what condition it’s in.

Scott Cowan [00:56:42]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:56:43]:
So, so there there are certain things like you mentioned that are that are highly collectible, that people have collected for a long time, like baseball cards, or coins, but the thing about coins is that coin collectors are very persnickety, and, and and I and sorry, I didn’t mean to insult

Scott Cowan [00:57:03]:
any condition. I know that.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:57:05]:
I’m a coin collector.

Scott Cowan [00:57:06]:
An 1850 silver dollar could be worth an astronomical range of values depending on the condition of it and what a collector might consider to be unacceptable you and I might be thrilled to have. Yeah.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:57:18]:
And I’m gonna give you an example of that right now. So this necklace that I’m wearing around my neck

Scott Cowan [00:57:25]:
Okay. Hang. Okay. Go for it.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:57:28]:
We’ll get a picture?

Scott Cowan [00:57:29]:
Yeah. Let’s get a picture. There we go. We have the picture and it’s okay. So it’s a it looks like it’s copper.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:57:38]:
Yes. Okay. So, copper was consistently an item that was valued by Native Americans on the Pacific Coast.

Scott Cowan [00:57:48]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:57:49]:
And so as a sailor who’s out here, if I get shipwrecked, 99 times out of a 100, I’m probably gonna be picked up by Native Americans. So I’m gonna want something that I could potentially trade

Scott Cowan [00:58:01]:
Right. For your life.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:02]:
For food and shelter. Right. Exactly. So that’s why I have it I mean, the the large copper disc is just that. It’s a piece of copper. Okay. I just I have a piece of copper to trade if I need to. The coin, however, that’s also hanging from the necklace Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:18]:
Is an 1802 copper 1¢ piece. So it’s basically a penny Mhmm. From 1802. It’s an American 1802 copper 1¢ piece, and it’s an original. It’s over 200 years old. But because the condition is not it’s not perfect condition

Scott Cowan [00:58:38]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:39]:
And also it had a hole drilled on it.

Scott Cowan [00:58:41]:
I was gonna say, you you you somebody drilled a hole in it. For your uses

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:46]:
Not me.

Scott Cowan [00:58:47]:
But for your uses, that’s fine. Not for a collector’s.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:51]:
Actually, for so it it it it just goes to show the old saying, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Scott Cowan [00:58:57]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:58:58]:
So for coin collectors, that’s considered a flaw. Right. But sailors often did that. They often drilled holes in coins and wore them around their necks. Because if you think about it, if you’re climbing up in the rigging of a sailing ship, anything in your pockets is gonna come out.

Scott Cowan [00:59:13]:
Absolutely. No. Absolutely. That’s a good point.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:59:16]:
Right? So why it why do I have an 1802 penny? Well, come to the talk in Coupeville, May 11th, Coupeville Public Library, and you’ll find out because that’s when I’m gonna tell the story

Scott Cowan [00:59:30]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:59:30]:
Of of that

Scott Cowan [00:59:31]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:59:32]:
But, I’ve got I’ve got other coins as well, and believe it or not oh, you want me to show you?

Scott Cowan [00:59:38]:
Let’s do this. Let’s get this.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [00:59:40]:
This is the other necklace, and I’ll try to show the k. The coins and

Scott Cowan [00:59:45]:
There we go. Alright. So that’s an interesting, so those are other coins. I would not have from looking at them as you’re wearing them. I would not have, guessed those to be, if that makes sense.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:00:02]:
Well, they’re not all coins.

Scott Cowan [01:00:03]:
Okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:00:04]:
They’re they’re not all coins. So, the Massachusetts first came out here, in 18/50. Mhmm. And when she was here, Zachary Taylor was president of the United States. Mhmm. I know. Everybody’s favorite president. Right?

Scott Cowan [01:00:23]:
Well, mine was Franklin Pierce. I went to Franklin Pierce High School. I’m just it’s the only reason I would have known he was president of the United States. Anyway, I I digress. I don’t think he was a very good man either now that in historically, he’d be looking back. But anyway

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:00:37]:
Well, I’ve actually been fascinated with Taylor and the Mexican American war for quite a while, but that’s a whole another story.

Scott Cowan [01:00:42]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:00:43]:
Anyway, so what you see on my necklace and be with the picture, I’ll try to go basically from, my right to my left. Okay. So the blue objects are trade beads. Mhmm. They were glass glass beads that were traded to Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest by fur traders, and the ones that I’m wearing are originals. My mom bought them from a Native American antique dealer.

Scott Cowan [01:01:10]:
Okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:01:11]:
So they are originals. The next the coin like thing, the the first coin like thing from my right is actually not a coin at all. It’s a Zachary Taylor presidential campaign medallion. So if you if you wanted to vote for Taylor, it’s basically kinda like a presidential campaign button back in the day. You’d wear it around your neck. Okay. And people be like, oh, okay. Alright.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:01:37]:
You’re voting for Taylor. The wooden object is actually the propeller of the Massachusetts. I I hand carved this this pennant that’s basically the propeller of the Massachusetts. She was a propeller driven steamship, which was very rare at that time, but she was. The next object is a coin It’s an 1838 US No Star New Orleans dime.

Scott Cowan [01:02:07]:
K.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:02:08]:
So in the year 1838, the first branch mints opened in the United States outside of Philadelphia.

Scott Cowan [01:02:16]:
Oh, okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:02:17]:
This was made in New Orleans, and many people think this coin was the first, coin ever made at a US branch mint.

Scott Cowan [01:02:25]:
Interesting. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:02:27]:
And so why this coin? Well, New Orleans was and still is one of the biggest ports in America. Right. And so a sailor would probably have a coin, from New Orleans and, this one had a hole in it as well. So the two coins that I’ve showed you, the combined value of them, was including shipping, was less than a $150

Scott Cowan [01:02:57]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:02:58]:
For those two coins. So the the the penny was like $35 plus shipping. So not as expensive as you might think. No.

Scott Cowan [01:03:06]:
Not not not terrible at all.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:03:09]:
And then the final object is actually a brass button that has Zachary Taylor on it. It is literally a campaign button. You would sew it on your your coat. So they they they would get these packs of buttons, And so that’s that’s the necklace. That’s that’s that’s very And so that’s that’s the necklace.

Scott Cowan [01:03:37]:
That’s that’s that’s very cool. That’s a cool set of stories. Alright. So let me see if I can kind of sleuth together a little bit. Your upcoming talk has something to do about 1802, and you’re not going to decide. I know I’m not trying to get a disclosure, but I have a, I have a suspicion that it, it might be tangentially related to your boat. And that’s interesting. So how do you how does where do you store your boat at? It’s it’s not in the water all the time, is it? Do you keep it in the water?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:04:18]:
No. Thank goodness.

Scott Cowan [01:04:19]:
Yeah. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:04:21]:
She’s, on a trailer.

Scott Cowan [01:04:22]:
On a trailer. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:04:24]:
And,

Scott Cowan [01:04:26]:
So, I mean, a 16 foot boat, you should be able to tow on a trailer with a with a, you know, a reasonable a pickup truck should pull it around pretty easily. Correct? Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:04:37]:
And and a fairly light duty one too. You you you don’t need a a super heavy duty truck. And, I and I have in fact, I had to shop for a new vehicle, and that was, like, the number one thing. I was telling the dealers, okay, I want a truck that’s capable of towing this much weight.

Scott Cowan [01:04:55]:
Mhmm. How about how much approximately, how much does the boat weigh? Just out of curiosity.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:00]:
Well, actually, I’m glad you asked that question because it’s a more interesting answer than you might think. Okay. Because she weighs about 250 pounds dry. She weighs about a 100 pounds more when she soaked up water.

Scott Cowan [01:05:14]:
That’s all? She only weighs 250? Dry?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:19]:
Dry. So remember I said that that lap straight construction was really light? Mhmm.

Scott Cowan [01:05:23]:
Yeah.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:24]:
And that’s that’s one of the main that’s one of the main advantages of it, is that it’s it’s very, very light. But in order to become truly watertight, she has to so what happens is when I first put her in the water, she leaks

Scott Cowan [01:05:37]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:37]:
Quite a bit, in fact. So I have to I’ve gotta put her in the water, and then I gotta babysit her for a while Mhmm. And mop the water out of her because it takes at least a couple of hours for her because what happens is the the wood in the boat absorbs the water, and it swells.

Scott Cowan [01:05:52]:
Swells up. Right. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:53]:
And then when it swells, the the planks squeeze together, and then they become watertight.

Scott Cowan [01:05:59]:
Interesting.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:05:59]:
And that’s that’s how it works. So, so, yeah, it’s not just quick launch and then away we go. It’s like you gotta launch and then you gotta bail a boat for a while while she swells up. But that’s

Scott Cowan [01:06:12]:
Interesting. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:06:14]:
That’s how it works. But I I I keep her in a garage. Okay. My my my mother has been very kind, and is letting me keep the boat in the garage so that she stays in really good shape.

Scott Cowan [01:06:25]:
Right. And so what Scott of maintenance does a a boat like this require of you? I mean, she’s fairly new, so hopefully not a lot. But what what do you foresee the the maintenance to be over, you know, the next 5 years?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:06:41]:
Well, so you may have heard, the old acronym, BOAT, b o a t, means breakout another 1,000.

Scott Cowan [01:06:49]:
I’ve heard the other one I’ve heard though is that the 2 happiest days of a boat owner’s life are the day he buys and the day he sells. So, yeah, it’s it seems appropriate. Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:06:57]:
I’m not planning to sell anytime soon. So, so the the routine maintenance on this boat is that I need to flip her over, and then I need need to sand and paint the bottom paint

Scott Cowan [01:07:10]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:07:10]:
Particularly. The the the tan bark paint on the sides is probably fine for a while yet. Mhmm. But within the next 5 years, that’ll probably have to be repainted. Okay. And, and then, the so so what happens with a lapstrake boat is that on the interior of the boat, that it creates a lot of little pockets and holes and stuff like that. Because, for example, when you put the ribs in the boat that that are the real the structure of the boat, there are all these little gaps under each plank.

Scott Cowan [01:07:48]:
Right. Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:07:49]:
Right? So it’s rare that people will paint the inside of a lapstrake boat because it’s really difficult to repaint it. So, typically, what’ll happen is the inside of a lapstrake, and this has been the case since, like, the Vikings, for for a long time, usually the interior will be oiled. Mhmm. And so, what what we’re what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna take her back to the shipwright’s co op, probably in June after school gets out. Mhmm. And then, Tim has got one of those garden sprayers, you know, that you spray weed killer with, stuff like that. But what he does is he there’s this this, this type of oil that’s it’s a mixture and it’s usually referred to as boat sauce and I’m trying to remember what’s in it, linseed oil, japan dryer, some tar, a bunch of stuff. And anyway, he pours it into the garden sprayer, pressurizes it, and then he’ll spray it so that it gets inside those little crevices.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:08:48]:
Okay. And then and then you even it out with a paintbrush, and then you mop it up. And that’s really important that you do that every year because the if the planks dry out, then they’ll start to crack. Right. Which, as you can imagine, is very problematic, in a boat if the the planks start to crack.

Scott Cowan [01:09:09]:
Yes. It would be. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Well, let’s I got 4 questions for you as we’re going to wrap

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:09:16]:
this up.

Scott Cowan [01:09:17]:
Okay. So 4 questions. Number 1, what didn’t we talk about that we should have talked about?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:09:22]:
keep going here.

Scott Cowan [01:09:23]:
So, I mean but what what what didn’t we talk about?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:09:27]:
Okay. So, I would like to give you my email address, in case anyone wants to know what’s going on with the boat, because at present, I don’t have a website. That’s gonna change. I’m gonna build a website eventually. But, like I said, I kind of got the cart before the horse. So I’ll give you my email address.

Scott Cowan [01:09:44]:
And I’ll put it in the show notes as well. So okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:09:46]:
Okay. And then, let’s see. I think I covered pretty much, everything that

Scott Cowan [01:09:53]:
Are you on social media? Or or do you have any social media accounts that have more information?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:00]:
I’m on Facebook.

Scott Cowan [01:10:00]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:01]:
I’m on Facebook. If if you look, I think it’s Michael Busey, my my real name. Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I Cowan be communicated with through there. Okay. At present, I don’t have a website for the project specifically, but again, that’s coming.

Scott Cowan [01:10:18]:
Mhmm.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:18]:
I just I’ve been Yeah. I’ve been dealing with the logistics of just keeping the boat afloat

Scott Cowan [01:10:24]:
Right. Right. No.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:25]:
For the first part of it. Oh, it’s good. It’s okay. Right. Right. Okay. So what’s the email? So oh, it’s my my name my or my my nickname, which is tug, like to pull or tugboat. And then my last name, which is B as in boy, U as in umbrella, S as in Sam, and E as in elephant atgmail.com.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:46]:
Okay. Altogether and all lowercase. So tugbuse@gmail.com.

Scott Cowan [01:10:52]:
We’ll put that in the show notes. Okay. Alright. Alright. You ready for the

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:57]:
And then

Scott Cowan [01:10:57]:
you ready for the 3 questions?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:10:59]:
Go go go ahead.

Scott Cowan [01:11:00]:
Number 1, I’m a coffee fan. Where’s a great place for me to get coffee around you.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:11:06]:
In Olympia? Yeah. Oh,

Scott Cowan [01:11:09]:
Give a shout out. Who who I I didn’t prepare you for these. Oh, this will be fun. I did not prepare you for these three questions. Well, audience, here we go. So So our place Are you a coffee drinker?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:11:20]:
I am.

Scott Cowan [01:11:21]:
Okay. Alright. So where’s a good place?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:11:24]:
I I I tend to make my own because, it can be I can be persnickety about how I like my coffee. And, also, by the way, coffee was often listed in naval stores ahead of ammunition. As they should be. They really they really wanted coffee in the navy. But, ever since I was a child, I went to the the tugboat races with our tugboat in Olympia for Harbour Days.

Scott Cowan [01:11:48]:
Right.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:11:48]:
And my family would all would often eat at the Spar Cafe, which is on Fourth Avenue in Olympia. Yep. Famous old restaurant. And, now it’s owned by McMenamins. And so the the menu is different than what it was when I was a kid. It was just a classic diner when I was a kid. But it’s still a good place to go and, their coffee’s good.

Scott Cowan [01:12:09]:
Okay. All right. Question number 2. You might be giving me the same answer. I’m getting into Olympia around lunchtime. Where’s a great place to go grab lunch?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:12:18]:
Well, there you go. Okay. There’s a spot. I mean, there are lots of great places in Olympia. I’m trying to think off the top of my head. I know up Fourth Avenue, I think there’s a really good bakery up there I’m trying to remember what it’s what the name of it is, there’s, there’s a restaurant that’s kind of catty corner, from the spa that, it’s called like oars or rowing or something like that. They’ve got like like or blades.

Scott Cowan [01:12:50]:
Okay. Yeah. I I

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:12:51]:
I I I I have to do that.

Scott Cowan [01:12:52]:
I’m kind of visualizing it, but I’m drawing a blank on the name. Okay. Alright. Okay. All right. All right. Here’s the last question. You have to answer this question.

Scott Cowan [01:13:00]:
You can’t, you can’t pass and you have to give me your reason why too. All right. This is very important. The whole episodes, the successful episodes right now. Okay. Cake or pie and why? Oh, folks, he’s got that he’s he’s pondering looks. Some people it’s really easy, some people it’s not. What do you got?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:13:24]:
And and I and I understand full well that I cannot, give the answer I like both. Right?

Scott Cowan [01:13:31]:
That is correct. Yeah. Sorry. That that that answer is is unacceptable to to the judge.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:13:37]:
Alright. I’m gonna go with pies. And the reason I’m gonna go with pies is because they were more often made and served on the frontier if you’re talking about cake as in a dessert.

Scott Cowan [01:13:52]:
Okay. Which we are, but okay. Your your point historically, you’ve got a point. You’re you’re valid there. So you’re gonna go with pie. What type of pie?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:14:02]:
Well okay. So in that case, I have to answer. That in that case, that’s an easy answer, though. It’s not period correct, because I don’t think there was any out here at that at that time, but rhubarb. I’m a huge rhubarb fan. Love rhubarb pie, rhubarb, strawberry pie, any pie with rhubarb. I I don’t think rhubarb was available in the 1850s in Washington, so I don’t typically have that as a living history interpreter.

Scott Cowan [01:14:31]:
Interesting. The reason I say interesting is earlier today, I recorded an episode. Okay. So today, two examples. Last couple of guests have also said Rhubarb. So I’ve had this run of Rhubarb aficionados. It’s really, it’s really interesting to me in the, in the same thing I’ve been saying for a few episodes. Now I’m going to get to it.

Scott Cowan [01:14:55]:
I just haven’t, as long as I’ve been asking this question of people, I should be keeping track of the answers. Right. You know, so there’s this running that, you know, is pie in the lead is cake in the lead, you know, who, who, you know, blah, blah, blah. I th I do believe pie is in the lead. And I’m going to say right now that there has been a strong run on Rhubarb And I don’t know. Is it the time of year? Is that is that I wonder what it is. It’s like Rhubarb is is rising up. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:15:22]:
However, since you asked the question Yes. I am going to say this in terms of period food.

Scott Cowan [01:15:29]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:15:29]:
If you’re talking about non sweet cakes or or sort of sweet cakes that are not for dessert but for like regular eating Mhmm. Those were very common. So, at the time they would often call what we would now call flap jacks they would call them flat jacks which is what what they are. You know, like they’re they’re flat. Right? So eventually the the consonant got changed to flap.

Scott Cowan [01:15:56]:
Interesting.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:15:57]:
Flapjacks, but they were, you know, flatjacks, which you know were our form of cake there there were these simple you know breads or cakes

Scott Cowan [01:16:05]:
right

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:16:06]:
that people would make out here. The famous American, like, quintessentially American thing in the early days was what they called Johnny cakes or journey cakes. And they were made out of usually like corn I mean, often very simple ingredients, Cornmeal, water, and salt often

Scott Cowan [01:16:28]:
was, you know,

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:16:30]:
all that they were really.

Scott Cowan [01:16:32]:
Yeah.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:16:33]:
And and those were very popular and those were eaten an awful lot. Now, in the navy, corn was actually not issued as a regular staple. And my guess is is because I think cornflour tends to mold or mildew more than other grains. However, the Massachusetts had cornmeal on board, and the reason she did was she got it in California before she came up here. Interesting. And so it’s possible that there were Johnny cakes, cornbread, that kind of thing, on Puget Sound on the Massachusetts. And, by the way, I will say the first newspaper that was ever published in what is now Washington State was called The Columbian, and it began publication in September of 1852 in Olympia. And, the earliest recipe for a food product that I’ve ever been able to find on Puget Sound, there was a recipe for cornbread that was printed in the Colombian on August 13, 18 53.

Scott Cowan [01:17:45]:
Interesting.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:17:46]:
And it’s it’s a very simple recipe, but it’s if it’s made well, it’s it’s not bad.

Scott Cowan [01:17:51]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:17:52]:
And, like, I’ve made it many times, and it’s really kinda precious because, it’s one of the few recipes that we can be reasonably certain people actually made here in the 18 fifties because it’s in the newspaper.

Scott Cowan [01:18:06]:
That’s interesting. Awesome. Right? Well, this has been fascinating. And I know we could keep going on and on, but for for sake of being respectful of everybody’s time, we’ll we’re gonna cut this one off. I’d like to have you come on back Cowan we I’d like to talk Washington history with you one of these days if you’d be willing to do that. Maybe give us a, you know, maybe maybe give us a high, high level overview of the class that were high schoolers have to pass before they can graduate and see how many of us could actually pass these days. It’d be really kind of fun to see. But thank you so much.

Scott Cowan [01:18:40]:
This is really cool. And, and I’m really glad that you’re, you’re taking the time and making the effort to do this and share it with the public and get, and help people understand a little bit more about life in the 1850s in here in our area. And what be in the Washington territory at that time. Or would we still have been the Oregon territory at 18 50? That’s where my Washington history is, struggling.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:04]:
At the 1853 was when Washington broke off from Oregon.

Scott Cowan [01:19:08]:
Okay. So 18 so Yeah. Okay. See, I wouldn’t have passed the class. If you had, I would have gotten a bad grade. But the the point is I think it’s really interesting because the state does have as do a lot of all all our country has a nursing history, but I’m a Washingtonian guy. We have a really fascinating history here. And I, I think it’s really great that you’re trying to help, shine a light on it.

Scott Cowan [01:19:29]:
So thank you for taking the time to be here.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:32]:
So can I do one last thinking? Take one last picture?

Scott Cowan [01:19:34]:
I will. Yes. K. What what am I looking at before I click on this? What is that?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:40]:
It’s it’s what’s called a dead eye, a dead eye block.

Scott Cowan [01:19:43]:
A dead eye block. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:45]:
Uh-huh. And it’s basically a pulley. Oak

Scott Cowan [01:19:48]:
okay. I’m sure I had a really perplexed look on my face when it comes up here in a second. Oh, I did.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:53]:
A ship’s a ship’s pulley that ropes would go through.

Scott Cowan [01:19:57]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:19:58]:
There there’s supposed to be 3 eyes and, of course, it re resembles a skull Right. Which is where the name comes from. But you can see that I put, copper sheeting

Scott Cowan [01:20:09]:
on it. Oh, when you hold it differently, now I see it’s a pulley. The way you were holding it before, I didn’t see the groove. Okay. Got it. Now Do

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:20:15]:
you wanna Yeah. Draw a picture? Yeah.

Scott Cowan [01:20:16]:
Yeah. Let’s do that because I was confused. And okay. So you put do you put the copper on that?

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:20:24]:
Yes.

Scott Cowan [01:20:25]:
Okay. Alright. Let’s see that one. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:20:28]:
So I plugged I plugged one of the holes.

Scott Cowan [01:20:31]:
Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:20:35]:
This this dead eye rattle is really worn out, which is why they retired it. It’s an original. I I don’t know how old it is, but it’s it’s an original, because I made it into a rattle.

Scott Cowan [01:20:47]:
Okay. Okay.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:20:50]:
And that kind of thing was done by sailors all the time, and I wanted to use it because it’s something that people can hear.

Scott Cowan [01:20:57]:
Right. Right. Very cool. Well, Michael, thank you so much or tug. I’d actually, I wanna, well, after we hit re stop, I got a question for you about the tugboat, so we’ll we’ll let you do that. So thank you for taking the time to be here with us today.

Michael ‘Tug’ Buse [01:21:15]:
It was my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Scott Cowan [01:21:18]:
Hope you enjoyed the show. You can reach me on Twitter at explore law state. I’d love to hear your comments. And also visit our website at explore Washington Scott dot com. If you know anyone who would like the show, it’d be amazing if you’d share the show with them. This is the biggest way that we grow this show. Good old word-of-mouth. Glad you were here with me today, and I hope to have you listening to the next episode.

Scott Cowan [01:21:42]:
See you then.