Young’s at heart

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, August 12, 2006

Once restored by island architect Roger Katz, rock legend Neil Young’s 1913 schooner visits Eagle Harbor.

It was the gentle sway of this creaking old ship that helped inspire a rock legend’s most memorable songs.

“When he was alone below deck and relaxed, his voice had a different timber,” islander Roger Katz said aboard the Ragland, a 93-year-old Baltic schooner he once captained for music icon Neil Young. “One of the loves of his life was being at sea and writing music.”

Remnants of Young’s time mixing sailing and song are scattered below deck.

A stack of sheet music gathers dust on a shelf under a pile of harmonica gear. A white-painted pipe organ shines among the deep red wood of the cabin’s walls.

“He recorded ‘Like a Hurricane’ on that organ,” said Katz. “He had it built right into the boat.”

The Ragland made a stop in Eagle Harbor Tuesday, tying up to the Waterfront Park dock as Katz prepares the ship for its eventual sale.

Built in Denmark to haul coal and lumber in the Baltic and North seas, the 1913 vessel was converted into a yacht in the 1960s.

When Young purchased the ship in 1976, it was rife with termites and worn with age.

“I spent two years rebuilding it,” said Katz, who met Young in Florida during the mid-1970s. “I completely took it apart. It was touch-and-go and there were times I wanted to take a chainsaw to it and throw it all in the dump. But I put it together and we set sail.”

The Canadian-born singer-songwriter achieved counterculture stardom as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and with his own band Crazy Horse in the 1970s.

He is perhaps best known for his 1972 hit “Heart of Gold,” but has enjoyed a prolific recording career spanning some 40 years. He now resides in Northern California.

At least two Young albums were composed on the Ragland, according to Katz, including such anthems as “Look Out for My Love” and “Motorcycle Mama.”

“I was a fan of Neil’s, so it was great to be present and watch him create music,” Katz said.

Katz, now a Bainbridge architect, helmed the 101-foot Ragland full-time until 1984, after years leading Young’s four-man crew on many adventures.

On one occasion, customs officials boarded the ship off the Virgin Islands. They were sniffing around for drugs, but Young kept his cool.

“He was sitting at the table and got a seed out of an ashtray and started playing finger hockey with it,” Katz said. “He looked up at them and said, ‘There’s never been pot on this boat.’ He was being a real wiseass. He liked walking on the edge.”

That same table, hewn from a log harvested at Young’s California ranch, still gleams as it did then.

“It hasn’t changed much,” Katz said. “I can remember Neil coming on board. All he ever brought was his guitar in that brown leather (case with) that bamboo luggage handle.”

Katz kept the ship crewed and at sea, often catching up with Young as he toured the world.

“We’d just constantly sail,” he said. “I’d say, ‘Neil, we’re at such-and-such place’ and he’d meet us there. Sometimes New Zealand or wherever, and sometimes we’d sort of follow his tour route.”

The job of crewing a rock star’s ship wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds.

“In many respects, it was a dream job,” Katz said. “But it was 24 hours, seven days a week, 360 days out of the year. After eight years, I wanted a life of my own.”

Young reduced the crew’s size and his trips became less frequent after Katz left.

It was at Young’s 60th birthday party last November that Katz learned his old friend wanted to let go of the ship.

“He made it clear then that the time had come,” Katz said. “He knew I was pretty attached to the boat, but I told him my birthday present would be to sell it for him.”

It’s not exactly clear why Young decided to part with the ship, not even to Katz.

“There’s a lot of theories about that,” he said. “Life’s evolving for Neil. He’s got his family, he’s older, he has a lovely home on the island of Hawaii. It’s just time to move on.”

The Ragland is now moored part-time in Port Townsend.

Replete with a wood stove, berths for 11, a kitchen, a bathroom and loads of history, the ship won’t go cheap. The listed price puts the Ragland at $1.6 million.

“Neil helped support (the Ragland) and kept it as a labor of love,” Katz said. “I put a lot into it and now my mission is to find a good home for it.”