PORT TOWNSEND — General contractor and occasional boat builder Doug Milholland milks his latest creation for all its worth.
Udderly Local happened when Organic Valley Family of Dairies Cooperative approached Milholland with an offer that was nothing to moo at.
It was a boat-building project to remember — and Milholland combined whimsy, competition and creative spirit to achieve that end.
Milholland designed the boat and recruited some of the most creative minds in Port Townsend’s vast artistic and marine trades communities.
The result: A 24-foot craft modeled after a Viking long-boat sculpture that normally hangs on Milholland’s backyard shed.
Udderly Local floats on 954 empty and sealed milk cartons he picked up and loaded onto his pickup truck during a visit to Organic Valley in Seattle.
After the boat was successfully test-floated on July 4 on the Fort Worden State Park waters near Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Udderly Local competed in the 34th annual Bafflegab Milk Carton Derby on July 7.
Part of Seattle’s SeaFair summer celebration, the event pitted amateur and professional boat builders against one another in a contest to see who could float the prettiest, fastest sea-faring vessels.
“We didn’t win, but the point was to show up with something, to produce something that was unreasonably beautiful for a dairy co-op as a prop,” Milholland said of the unique marketing tool, which carries the Organic Valley’s logo on the square sail designed by Hasse and Company based at Hudson Point.
Also equipped with an old-fashioned steering oar, the boat competed in the derby with six dairy farmers paddling.
Gerald Bishop, who owns the North Olympic Peninsula’s only Organic Valley co-op farm in Chimacum, was unable to participate.
Cow prow
Fashioned in part to celebrate Milholland’s Scandinavian heritage, the boat was topped off with a representation of a Holstein cow’s head instead of a dragon, softening an otherwise menacing appearance.
“I’m one-quarter Norwegian and the idea of building something that my ancestors once built appealed to me,” said Milholland, a longtime Port Townsend resident.
Port Townsend carousel builder Bill Dentzel designed and hand-carved the cow prow.
Dentzel is the only descendant of an American carousel company founding family.
Others involved in the project included Milholland’s wife, Nancy Milholland, artist and production assistant; artist Gunnar Thompson; artist Kathleen Burgett; artist Laurence Cole; rigger Bud Durdle and artist Sandra Stowell.
Also working on the project were artist Michael Pruitt; artist Helen Kolff; artist Mike Biskup; artist Deborah Shome; boat design adviser Ray Speck; Jay Pine, production; rigging adviser Raven; Randy Welle, production; and Noel Van Gisen, production.
Because it was built for Organic Valley, Udderly Local is now homeported at Garrit and Karen van Tol’s Organic Dairy Farm in La Center.
“The boat does have a future,” said Milholland, who was approached by Organic Valley through a family member who works for the company.
“It will show up in parades and it might show up on lakes” around Puget Sound.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
