Shadow – Chinook 34 Hull # 50
Matt Richard posted a comment on the previous post, so I contacted him to find out more about his Chinook 34, Shadow. He was kind enough to send me a little history on the boat and some pictures to post here. She is a beautiful boat and Matt has done a great job maintaining her.
Email from Matt:
Shadow was originally launched in 1967 in Portland after a four year building project by Don Becker, my wife’s father. He and his wife Gloria cruised the lower Columbia from Cascade Locks to Astoria aboard her until he passed away in 1991. At that time Shadow came to Laura and I. As every Chinook is unique Shadow has her own list: the freeboard was raised three inches, as was the main cabin as the Beckers were tall and wanted amble standing room down below. A spade rudder was used in place of one hinged on the keel, I think from a modified one for a Cascade 36. The rudder post comes up into the cockpit to a sprocket where a chain connects to a more aft but same size sprocket that is connected to a tiller. In 2001 Shadow was pretty much totally rebuilt by Laura’s brother, Tom Becker with labor support from her and I. At that time Tom replaced the original 4 cylinder Palmer gas engine with a 27 hp 3 cylinder Yanmar diesel, rebuilt the icebox, repaired a lot of rot in the deck and laminated the cabin sides with 1/4″ marine plywood with 2 layers of 10 oz cloth and resin to stabilize the topsides, and much other work with an emphasis on retaining the boat’s original character and appearance. So she is very much a family boat. Shadow will celebrate her 42nd anniversary of being on the Columbia this April.
Click on the pictures to see a larger image.
