This Tacoma ferry became a luxury home and still runs. It can be yours for $825,000

A Tacoma family who has called a 1938 car ferry home for close to 30 years has put the boat up for sale, reluctantly.

Docked below the Murray Morgan Bridge on the city’s Foss Waterway, the 70-foot Annabelle is home to Dennis and Katherine Redmon.

The 12-car ferry once served The Dalles, Oregon on the Columbia River and later Herron Island, off Key Peninsula’s western shore.

The Redmons bought the ferry in 1994 and soon made it their home by building what they called “a little house on the ferry.”

“We bought the ferry on a leap of faith,” Dennis Redmon said as he gave a tour last week. “It was something that we thought had potential, but not something that you find other people having done much.”

The deck that once carried whitewalled Packards and Ford woodies now holds book cases, comfortable furniture, and an upright piano.

In 2003, the deck and house were replaced with the current 2,300-square-feet, three deck home with stunning views of downtown Tacoma, the Narrows Bridge, San Juan islands or where ever they choose to take it.

This boat ferry is no dock queen. Although it no longer carries vehicles, it’s fully operational. The Redmons take it out on the waters of Puget Sound for weeks at a time or just a day trip to Titlow Beach, Olympia and Browns Point.

Annabelle is not sleek nor shiny. Most people recognize that it’s a ferry, Redmon said. Some ask if it’s still in service.

“It’s very approachable,” he said. “It’s not like you have a large fiberglass yacht, you have a lot of money, and you generally don’t want to be bothered.”

Now, the couple has put the ship up for sale. The asking price: $825,000.

“She’s a member of the family for me and my wife and my daughter,” he said. “So, there’s some mixed feelings on that side.”

History

Built at The Dalles, the open deck supported a mechanical room and wheel house. It ferried cars and passengers on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington.

Redmon has the original blueprints for the ferry.

When a bridge was built in 1955, Annabelle found itself without a job. But, not for long.

The ferry served Herron Island from 1960 to 1989.

Following retirement, Annabelle spent a few years idle in Shelton.

Seattle residents at the time, the Redmons first saw the Annabelle while cruising on their Chris-Craft in 1993. Later that year, he saw an ad for it in a yachting magazine.

He first checked the boat out with a friend.

“And it took us about six months to get my wife on board and go through our due diligence on it,” he said. They paid $29,000.

Since then, they have put $450,000 into construction and renovations, including brand new propeller shafts.

When they brought Annabelle to Tacoma, they told Petrich Marine Dock owner Clare Petrich they’d only be there six months.

“She just laughs when she tells the story now, because we’re the longest tenant they got in the whole facililty,” Redmon said.

Home on the water

A visitor would hardly know they’re on a boat until they see steeper than normal staircases, portholes and unsurpassed water views. And there is the occasional rocking.

The galley is cavernous by nautical standards. A refrigerator and freezer, both full size, sit near a washer and dryer.

The main, car deck level contains the kitchen, living room, dining room, library, guest room, full bathroom, pantry and workshop. There’s still enough room outside the structure to load a vehicle.

The second deck contains two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The top deck is made up of the ship’s bridge.

“I spend a lot of time up here on shore,” Redmon said. “It’s basically my office area.”

Ample outdoor space features lounge areas, a hot tub and probably the shortest fish-to-kitchen distance on Puget Sound.

The entire ship is able to fit under a 33-foot-high bridge. It can also use the biggest of the Ballard Locks to reach Lake Washington.

When the Redmons first bought the Annabelle in 1994, their daughter Sierra was two.

When she was in the second grade, Redmon was driving her to school when he noticed she was mopey.

“I said, ‘Is something bothering you?’ And she goes, ‘Well, my classmates think I’m a liar. I told them I live on a ferryboat and they called me a liar’.”

Soon, a ferryboat excursion was arranged for the entire class. Her classmates never doubted her again.

“We did one every year after that,” Redmon said.

Smooth sailing

The ferry gives a smooth ride, Redmon said. But it’s not built for the open ocean.

The ship can switch from offshore to onboard power using inverters and batteries. It has a generator but only runs about two hours a day to charge the batteries.

Below deck is the engine room. A bank of carbon dioxide tanks will discharge if a fire breaks out. If that happens, everyone needs to vacate, Redmon said, because the entire structure will fill with fire-snuffing CO2.

Like most working ferries, the ship has two propellers — one at each end.

With rudders at bow and stern, the bridge has two steering wheels. It maneuvers like a tugboat.

“She can spin like a top in place or go sideways,” Redmon said.

But, it takes two people to dock. It helps to have friends who can crew, he said.

The ship is a little more complicated than a Chris-Craft. Redmon is working on a manual for the next owner.

“But, if you’re not able to manage the stuff yourself, you’re going to need to pay somebody,” he said.

Redmon said it’s not expensive to operate.

“My 36-foot Chris-Craft burned about one gallon of gasoline per knot driven and that’s just about what this consumes as well,” he said.

Cruising speed is 5 knots and it can carry 1,400 gallons of fuel.

That slow speed makes it more vulnerable to currents.

“When we’re going down through the Narrows, you’ve got to pay attention to the tide,” he said. “At least not (go) against it.”

Why sell?

“She’s been a wonderful home for us,” Redmon said from Annabelle’s bridge.

Redmon is retired from the state Department of Revenue. Katherine Redmon retires from her physician’s assistant career in February.

Redmon said the couple is committed to selling.

“We’d like to do a little more traveling (on land),” he said. He also wants to be closer to his parents, both in their 90s, who live on Whidbey Island.

The ship went on the market in summer. Retired ferry captains have expressed an interest in buying Annabelle but no one has committed.

“It’s going to take the right person to come along and buy it,” he said.

How does the Redmons’ daughter feel about the sale?

“She hates it,” Redmon said. “She doesn’t want us to sell it and made it pretty clear.”

Tacoma birder has the biggest of Big Years breaking state record

A World War 2 ship gets a new mission even while it still protects boats in Tacoma