Photo of the Week
by Freeman F. & Mary Daniels Brown
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Week of July 8, 2001
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On May 17, 2001 we were in Seattle and saw the Tole Mour cruising in Elliott Bay as we were happily being tourists at the waterfront. At the time she was just an interesting sight to us, and we had no knowledge of her proud history.
Tole Mour means "gift of life and health" in the Marshallese language. She was designed by Ewbank, Brooke and Associates of Auckland, New Zealand, and is the near sister ship of New Zealand's national training ship. In 1988 the Nicolas Brothers of Whidbey Island made her 156 foot steel hull. She was outfitted just off Westlake Avenue North on Lake Union. She is rigged as a three masted topsail schooner with square sail yards on her foremast, and spreads nearly 9,000 square feet of sail.
The Hawaii-based Marimed Foundation had the ship built to support health and educational need in Micronesia. By 1992 replacement of volunteer professionals by Marshallese counterparts and construction of new airfields in the Marshall Islands made the Tole Mare's mission unnecessary. Since 1992, the Tole Mour supported programs for special needs adolescents.
In May, 2001 the Tole Mour returned to Elliott Bay for a refitting at Fisherman's Terminal. The Tole Mour is now owned by a non-profit group in Claremont, California and will be used as a floating school house for young scientists studying ocean life around Catalina Island.