Safe Return (statue)

Safe Return
Map
48°45′14.4″N 122°30′3.1″W / 48.754000°N 122.500861°W / 48.754000; -122.500861
LocationZuanich Point Park, Bellingham, Washington
DesignerEugene Fairbanks
Material
  • Bronze (statue)
  • Granite (base)
Height16 ft (4.9 m)
Weight38,000 lb (17,000 kg)
Dedicated dateMay 31, 1999

Safe Return is a memorial to deceased fishermen at Zuanich Point Park in Bellingham, Washington, United States. It is adjacent to the fishing port of Squalicum Harbor. Designed by Eugene Fairbanks, son of sculptor Avard Fairbanks, it features a bronze statue of a fisherman casting a mooring line, symbolizing a return home after fishing. A scale model of the statue was produced by 1996, after several years of fundraising by a memorial committee and the Whatcom Maritime Historical Society. Following a public exhibition in 1998, the statue was erected at a public ceremony on Memorial Day 1999.

Succeeding a simple plaque erected at Zuanich Point in 1975, the statue stands atop a large granite plinth featuring the names of local fishermen lost at sea. Since the monument's erection, additional names have been added. Plaques along the base of the monument depict scenes of regional nautical life, including reliefs of Squalicum Harbor and a depiction of a Native American fisherman.