RIP Wolfenzee (David)

[inkslinger]

David "Wolenzee" Ewoldt was my friend for 6 years here in Port Townsend, Washington. He was born in the northeastern states, Portsmouth Maine I believe. He had a degree in Molecular Biology and if memory serves me correctly that was at Princeton. Sometime in his 30's I believe he had a serious car accident which left him with a permanent brain injury. His short term memory mostly was affected but true to form he carried on. His love of sailing came at an early age as he and his brother and Father would sail often. He spoke alot about these times. He purchased what is now "Waltzing Matilda" about the time I met him. He would often say to me "I need some help" to which I would sit down and discuss sometimes for hours how he could do something himself. And even if it took a month or more.to complete the job he was proud as hell because he would realize that by golly Inkslinger is right....I can, I did, and it looks classy! David was nearing completion of adding his personal touch to "Waltzing Matilda" and was awaiting a crew member to head south and eventually to Panama. He is survived by his brother Eric of Panama and Florida and his sister Jennifer of California. I am proud to have been his friend and to see how loved he was by all who have passed kind word both on this forum as well as locally. He will be missed by all. David touch many lives and he was like a brother. Sail on my friend with your Father and may your journey be peaceful.

[Jeff H]

I am absolutely devastated by this news. As I noted on SailNet, the internet is a strange place, a community of people you come to know over time in small snapshots of their personality, interests, and life. It is at times like this, that I realize how much I have connected with our online sailing community, and how important its members are in my life. While I am mostly a lurker over here these days, being more involved on SailNet, this site was once equally my home, and this community equally my friends and sailing colleagues as well. And when our community loses an active participant, it is a gap left in all of those communities where that person spent their time. David's passing casts a very large ripple across our waters.

I had come to know David over on SailNet, where he was a frequent participant, and where I had started a thread, which initially was intended to talk about issues which he had raised regarding 'Walzing Matilda', his beloved Atkin.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/sailboat-design-construction/98538-bob-perrys-take-wolfenzees-dream-boat.html
He and I also exchanged emails giving me additional insights into his life.

I had come to have a sense of a person seeking to regain his life after the wretched hand fate had dealt him. I had rooted for him to pull off his dreams; hoping that he could find peace and a new life. I had come to believe that this was about to happen, making his suddenly loss all that more heart rending.

David, where ever you are may you find peace, fair winds, and joy. And to David's family, and to all of my fellow denizens of the online sailing world, I hope that you can find some consolation knowing that he was cherished as one of us who chose to voyage by the wind.

Jeff

[boatman61]

Damn... gonna miss him... had some good laughs on here with him.. great sense of humour...
Have a good one mate..
I'll raise a glass or two for a grand voyage over the horizon...

[barnakiel]

Very sad.

b.

[sailcruiser]

Sad. Fair winds and following seas on your next journey wolfee.
SC

[SmartMove]

Very sad indeed. I enjoyed his posts. RIP David.

[Ocean Girl]

His dream boat( besides his own). So I gather he is screaming on a nice broad reach right about now. Godspeed.

[zeehag]

from the other forum...

UPDATED: PT liveaboard found floating near sailboat, dies at hospital
Man had history of seizure activity and had been rescued last year in similar incident



Posted: Friday, August 9, 2013 12:32 pm
A 53-year-old Port Townsend man found unconsci
By Patrick J. Sullivan of the Leader |ous and floating near his boat moored outside the Port Townsend Boat Haven died Aug. 9 at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
According to Capt. Ben Stamper, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the victim was liveaboard David Ewoldt. He died of asphyxiation due to drowning, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled the death accidental.

This is not the first such incident with Ewoldt. On Oct. 18, 2012, he lost consciousness and fell off his boat into Port Townsend Bay. That time, he was kept afloat by a Northwest Maritime Center volunteer who was boating nearby. The men were in the water for about 25 minutes before being rescued by a passing boat. Both were treated for hypothermia.
“We do know that the gentleman was prone to seizure activity,” Capt. Stamper said of Ewoldt.
The victim’s only known Washington address was his boat, Stamper said. Ewoldt had carried a Louisiana ID.
THE RESCUE
About 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, Daniel Putich, 26, of Bellingham was with grandfather Lee Arey of Port Townsend in Arey's 18-foot powerboat pulling crab pots from Port Townsend Bay. They saw a man in a small skiff about 200 yards away, near the boats moored south of the boat haven, waving to get their attention.
"We motored over to the man and he said his neighbor was in the water and he needed help," Putich said.
Arey and Putich took the man aboard their boat and they went quickly to find the victim, Ewoldt, who was floating face down and beginning to drift out from the moored boats into the bay. He lived aboard the sailboat moored nearest the Port Townsend Paper mill.
"It appeared by the rigging that he had on the boat that he was getting ready to haul his skiff on board," Putich noted.
Putich said he used his cell phone to call 911, and then they pulled the victim aboard, and Putich began administering CPR.
East Jefferson Fire Rescue personnel were waiting at the fuel dock inside the Port Townsend Boat Haven when the boaters arrived with the Ewoldt. He was moved onto the dock where EJFR personnel took over the CPR for an about 45 minutes.
According to a preliminary report from EJFR, a liveaboard had noticed the man standing on his boat, and wearing a life jacket. Some minutes later, the man was seen floating in the water. He had a personal flotation device, but not the type designed to keep a person's head face-up when in the water.
The EJFR worked to warm the victim's body while performing CPR, and eventually transported him for medical airlift, about 8:24 p.m. Aug. 8, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
An EJFR spokesperson early on Aug. 9 confirmed the victim had died while at the hospital.
This is the second fatality involving a liveaboard this year. On April 21, Richard B. Finn, 50, was found floating in the boat haven where he lived aboard a sailboat. Authorities do not know how or why Finn went into the water, but foul play was not suspected.

[Astrid]

Absolutely tragic.

[sailcruiser]

Originally Posted by zeehag

from the other forum...

Very sad and hopefully if anyone with similar medical conditions on the forum reads this they may learn from this very tragic accident.

Hopefully he's having a blast on the other side.
SC

[SaucySailoress]

I will miss Wolf. Happy Sailing, Mate x

[inkslinger]

ATTN: DAViD "WOLFENZE" EWOLDT A CELEBRATION OF LIFE. WILL BE HELD IN PORT TOWNSEND WA. ON TUESDAY AUGUST 20 AT THE MARINA CAFE. ALL ARE WELCOME POTLUCK FROM 3 PM TILL 7 PM. COME CELEBRATE WITH HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

[dohnvenger]

RIP David.

[onestepcsy37]

From Psalm 107...

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do
business in great waters;
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in
the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which
lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the
depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wit's end.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he
bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof
are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he
bringeth them unto their desired haven.

[Stonefloat]

Rip David , see u on the other side