2006 CUSTOM Sprague

IRON WILL is a custom long range steel trawler designed by Bainbridge Island-based naval architect Scott Sprague and built by Dick Brown of Mile High Marine in Ft. Collins, CO. She was launched in 2008 and lightly used on Puget Sound and the Columbia River. She was purchased in May of 2024 by her third owner specifically for the Northwest Passage. After purchase, IRON WILL underwent comprehensive updating and outfitting for this expedition. She departed Seattle in early 2025 and navigated through challenging waters and ice over the top of Alaska and Canada completing the passage in September. IRON WILL is now in Rhode Island. She remains ready to take on the Northwest Passage from east to west and return to the Pacific Northwest. One will not find a better prepared, more capable, safe and economical vessel of this size for high latitude adventure cable of being operated by a small crew. Two were aboard for the Northwest Passage.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 175 hp Lugger dry stack, keel-cooled, main engine with 1965 hours
• 75 hp Lugger wing engine with hydraulic pump and hydraulic get home motor
• Northern Lights 10kw genset with 915 hours
• Paravane stabilizers
• 1400 gallons of diesel fuel with polishing/transfer system
• Webasto hydronic heating system with 5kw electric backup element
• MarineAir air conditioning
• Bullfrog tender with 15hp Tohatsu outboard engine
• EchoTech watermaker
• Lifeline AGM service batteries totaling 1600 amp hours
• Starlink, Iridium Go, and Iridium Sat phone for redundant communications

IRON WILL exceeded expectations on her Northwest Passage expedition. Much credit goes to her design and build. Further credit goes to the detailed preparations and “spare no expense” mindset of her owner/seller. He is a serial adventurer, world class chef, and successful restaurateur. He completed the Iron Man in Brazil, climbed the highest peak on each continent (including Mt. Everest), swam the English channel, and circumnavigated on a 48’ sailboat. Once he decides to complete a challenge, he does so with focus, planning, and attention to detail. The Northwest Passage was no exception.

I had the privilege to help with his “round the world” sailboat purchase and sale. I was also tasked with helping to find a Northwest Passage trawler. In 2023 and early 2024, we visited countless trawlers on the east and west coasts. These included Nordhavn’s, Kadey Krogens, Cape Horns, Selene’s, Northern Marine’s, and many others. IRON WILL was the hands down choice due to her rugged metal construction, simple and reliable systems, low hours and light use, large fuel tanks, and seaworthy design. But she needed some updates and outfitting.

 In June of 2024 IRON WILL motored from Portland to Seattle. Andy Wichert of Seattle Marine, a respected shipwright with five decades of experience, managed work in Seattle. His team updated joinery, installed new stainless steel dry stacks, a new watermaker, and fabricated storm shutters for pilothouse windows. Paul Erickson of Rider Marine Service completed a major update of the DC and AC electrical systems. The Webasto hydronic heater was rebuilt by Sure Marine Services. Later in 2024 IRON WILL visited Northern Marine in Anacortes for bottom paint, tender cradle, new propellor, and other jobs. Check this list of updates in the specifications below to appreciate how much went into preparing for the Northwest Passage.



The final element needed for the passage was a capable crew. The owner chose wisely, enlisting Jeremy Curkendall, an experienced large yacht engineer with the skills and tools to fix anything and ample time spent above deck to stand navigation watch. When visiting IRON WILL after her arrival in Rhode Island, I was blown away by the skill and diligence of this engineer/crew. He continuously maintained and tweaked the systems during the voyage so that IRON WILL is now far better set up for continued passages than when it departed Seattle. This optimization is only possible by someone aboard who lives day in/day out keeping the heat and lights on and engine running. It can’t be done by shoreside contractors.

The story of IRON WILL’s origins…… Dick Brown retired from his mechanical engineering job and was not one to sit still. A lifelong sailor and fabricator/tinkerer, he decided to build a trawler. He attended trade school to learn welding and purchased build plans from naval architect Scott Sprauge, of Hans Christian Yachts fame. Dick spent 12 years painstakingly building IRON WILL in Fort Collins. Finally, the steel hull and aluminum house were trucked (separately) to Port Townsend, WA where Goldstar Marine installed the electrical system and painted the interior and exterior. In February of 2008 IRON WILL was launched. Dick and his family used IRON WILL on Puget Sound until he passed away in 2014. His family continued to use IRON WILL until 2022 when it was sold and based in Portland, Oregon. Some updating was done by the second owner before failing health compelled selling. During the work in Seattle, a wood box with Dick’s ashes was found. Per his family’s wishes, the ashes were spread on the arctic waters of the Northwest Passage.