Historic Presbyterian mission yacht Princeton Hall for sale

The 65-foot Princeton Hall, built by the Presbyterian Church with the help of students at the old Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka to ferry missionaries around Southeast Alaska, is for sale. It was owned most recently by Bill and Kathy Ruddy, both who passed in recent years.

For about 80 years, starting in the early 1900s, the “Presbyterian Navy” visited Native villages in Southeast Alaska. The Anna Jackman was the last of them, and it was sold by the Alaska Presbytery (and renamed the Discovery) after ending mission service in 1982.

The Princeton Hall is well-known by old-timers in Juneau, where it has been home-ported.

Missionaries from the Lower 48 and Alaska Native evangelists who became Christian because of their efforts used the boats to spread the gospel in towns, fishing villages and logging camps throughout Southeast Alaska, said the Rev. David Dobler, pastor to the presbytery for Alaska Presbytery, who was later elected to lead the Presbyterian Church as moderator of the General Assembly.

“Their names evoke the mission heritage of Southeast Alaska: the Ruby, the Lindsley, the Marietta, the Good Tidings, the Vermay, the Princeton, the Princeton Hall and the steel-hulled Anna Jackman, among others.” Dobler was quoted in a story about the Presbyterian Navy at this link.

“I don’t know why, but the Presbyterians were the only denomination that organized their evangelistic work in Alaska by a system of boats,” said the late Kathy Ruddy, who was an elder at Chapel by the Lake Presbyterian Church in Auke Bay, quoted in the same story. “That’s one of the reasons the Presbyterian Church is so prominent in many Native communities.”

The details of the wooden yacht, as listed on Craig’s List:

Engines
– 215HP John Deere main engine with minimal hours (3,745.4 hrs). 
– 8 KW auxiliary engine with minimal hours (3,465.5 hrs).

Meticulously maintained every year:
– Painted, oiled, cleaned, and planked regularly
– NEW Dickeson oil stove – July ’23
– NEW sump pump – May ’21
– NEW washing machine – May ’21
– NEW Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) with 20HP motor – April ’21

Interior 
– Spacious, ample space to entertain or spread out
– U-shaped galley
– Large dinette area with table that can seat 8
– One main bedroom, two bunk rooms, and captain’s quarters
– Two heads (bathrooms) with showers

See the entire listing and more photos on CraigsList here.

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