Smooth Sailing
Celebrating two years at the helm of The 10 O'Clock News, anchors Lars
Larson and Kim Singer take a nautical break aboard his sailboat.
Captain Lars Larson sounds like a character lifted from a Viking saga, or at least a Jack London novel.
"Lars Larson, Nordic raider," jokes the man in command as he maneuvers his white sailboat next to OMSI's submarine USS Blueback on the Willamette.
The riverside stop, within camera shot of KPTV's new building, is a fun break for the news team of Larson and Kim Singer. But the boat is more than recreation for Larson, it's also his residence.
Larson lives aboard the Hunter Legend 35.5 sloop, which he moors on the Columbia River. "It's pretty fast, although it's not a racing boat," says Captain Lars, who looks salty
his Nautica jacket, as Singer clambers aboard in windbreaker, jeans and deck shoes.
"It's a great way to live," he says. There's no grass to mow, but a liquid "lawn" does pose dangers. February's flood raised his dock within 22 inches of washing the whole moorage and all its boats away. Before leaving home to report the flood stories, Larson set his bilge pump on automatic and hoped his boat didn't sink.
"I could live on a boat if it were the Ark," quips Singer, who needs wide open space for her four dogs. "I tend to be a packrat."
With the enthusiasm of the newly converted, Larson talks of hulls and sails with the same ease he speaks on-air of presidents and governors. He picked up his seamanship through a live-aboard cruise in Florida and hones it during frequent outings on the Columbia.
Living on a sailboat "changed my life," he says. "I thought I was organized before. I moved onboard and I became very organized." He had to seriously unclutter his life by putting books in storage and jettisoning appliances. Nowadays the only breeze in his hair is the East wind: "I don't even own a blow dryer."
Below deck, the sloop is a shipshape blend of polished wood and comfy seat cushions. (What's a KATU baseball cap doing aboard? Larson jokes it's so he can pretend to be rival anchor Steve Dunn.)
Although sailboats are symbols of freedom, they bring huge responsibilities. Backing a 13,000 pound boat out of a moorage surrounded by $250,000 yachts makes him "very careful and attuned to what's around me."
He adds, "If you want a feeling of power, call the Steel Bridge and tell them you want the bridge raised.
"I have my own property tax relief," he says, noting that residential boats are not taxed like houses. Another benefit he's quick to point out is that geese, ducks, herons and beavers share his moorage. Plus, after a day of hard news, "You get rocked to sleep every night."
BY ERIK M. BERGMAN
