 In 1919, amidst a post-WWI economic slump, Otis Cutting and John McLean forged a partnership when together they purchased waterfront property on Lake Union and established Lake Union Drydock Company.Between 1920 and 1954 Lake Union Drydock Company constructed a total of sixty-three vessels, the majority of which were not yachts.During Prohibition, rum-runners used fast boats to transport alcohol along “rum-lines” where they risked passage between ports in the western waters of both the USA and Canada.