2017 Festival Boats

A Northwest 26ft lapstrake dory. Constructed from all mahogany and teak Totally restored.

This boat has been in the family for decades. It sailed the waters of Lake Washington for decades, being owned by an infamous Boeing aircraft engineer. Later its ownership passed on and spent decades unused and in dry storage. In 2014 it was hauled out of storage and given a new lease on life with a complete repaint, fiberglass restoration, and replacement hardware. Some strategic upgrades such as a British Seagull outboard and modern rigging touches enable confident salt-water sailing in the waters of Discovery Bay.

Following the 2014 repaint in flag blue, she was christened Admiral’s Barge as an homage to the former owner’s US Navy career, and its resemblance to the color scheme of Admirals’ tenders used by the US Navy. She sails beautifully in local salt waters, high freeboard, shallow draft and stout construction gives confidence and comfort in light swells. She seems to sail best with 2-3 people aboard and is a pleasant cruiser in most any conditions. Easily rigged, launched, and retrieved on unimproved ramps. She is towed well by a 1971 Holsclaw tilt-trailer, making easy work of launching into some of the desirable yet primitive Puget Sound launches.

Debuted at Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in 2016.

Sound Experience sails the historic schooner Adventuress to educate, inspire, and empower an inclusive community that works to improve our marine environment and celebrates our maritime heritage. Since her launch in E. Boothbay, Maine, in 1913, the B.B. Crowninshield-designed schooner has traveled the Strait of Magellan and the Bering Sea on an arctic expedition for naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews; served as a Bar Pilot vessel off of San Francisco; patrolled the west coast during World War II; and trained young sailors in seamanship skills in Seattle with Youth Adventure. Adventuress has sailed on the waters of Puget Sound for almost three decades under the stewardship of nonprofit Sound Experience, offering hands-on environmental education and leadership development to thousands of young people annually and partnering with youth-serving organizations to reach at-risk kids. Sound Experience offers programs for all ages and backgrounds and takes pride in providing many levels of training opportunities for volunteer and paid crew. Adventuress is a National Historic Landmark officially recognized as “Puget Sound’s Environmental Tall Ship.”

Ama Natura is a 36’ custom petroleum-free gaff motorsailer built by the NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding, and designed and used each year for Inside Passage and SE Alaskan voyaging. Under the guidance of Carl Chamberlain and with owner/architect Capt. Peter Wilcox’s prior green building and boatbuilding expertise, AMA Natura (“She Loves Nature”) was designed to be an extremely low impact NW cruising vessel, basically a floating laboratory.

While this could evolve to even cleaner and lower carbon propulsion in the future, the 10 ton displacement and nearly 10 years old motorsailer has consistently utilized 100% reclaimed source biodiesel for fuel in its 48HP Klassen-Mitsubishi naturally-aspirated, slow turning diesel, and as well for heating and cooking. AMA’s sailing salmon troller-inspired hull was solid modeled for efficiency and with its 3:1 gear reduction and 24” feathering MaxProp, AMA sips less than ¾ GPH at a non-cuprous coated hull speed of 7.6 knots. Her auxiliary is a modest gaff ketch sail rig with just over 500SF of canvas that both steadies her motions and can drive her near hull speed in ideal conditions.

Even the motor oil, transmission fluid and hydraulic fluid used in AMA are low carbon, low toxicity bio-based, the same ones that NOAA has employed in its “Green Ships” fleet for the last ten plus years. Finally, AMA utilizes a composting Air Head and has 175 watts of solar PV capacity to meet her electrical needs at anchor or dock. Later this year or early next, AMA will get an entirely new battery bank, more than doubling her electrical storage, probably Caterpillar Fireflies.

This is a stretched version of Iain Oughtred’s Arctic Tern. This quick and maneuverable boat is a six strake round-bilge hull, giving it the appearance of the traditional Shetland yoals.

Ariel of Victoria was built outside of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island from 1972 to 1980 by Ron Hunt and Fred Peterson at Fred Peterson’s yard. Her hull is 8 quarter Alaskan Yellow Cedar on oak frames and her deck was originally Western Red Cedar 2x4s. Owned and sailed by the Bond family of Victoria for 25 years, the current owners purchased her in 2009 and brought her to the US. Over the last eight years, we have undergone a significant restoration in two phases, the most recent finishing this summer. Recent work includes new deck, cabin, cabintop, bulwarks, cockpit, hull faired, re-corked and puttied, and stern carving restored. Previous work includes significant replanting and redecking, new bowsprit, new head, new galley, new electrical system, new water system, new fuel system, new steering system, masts repaired, new windlass and ground tackle/anchoring system, and engine rebuilt. We’ve also filled two logbooks sailing as far as Desolation Sound, but mostly Salish Sea generally. Ariel of Victoria has also won her class every year she has participated in Sloop Tavern Yacht Club’s Race Your House race and has participated in many other regional races. She is our home and favorite place to be.

The year 1998; we consulted with Paul Gartside and had several preliminary drawings produced. By 2000 we had the finalized plans and commenced building our dream. We lived in Revelstoke BC in the heart of the Monashee and Selkirk mountain ranges. Because of our heavy snowfalls and long winters, we built a shop with heated floor 32′ x 60′ with 16′ walls. December do 2000 we lofted the boat from the table of offsets and by Jan. 2001 we started laminating her back bone/stern post and frames. Averie Rose is constructed of fir from locally sourced logs custom sawn and kiln dried to 10% mc. All structural glue is Aerodux 500; a resorcinol glue rated water proof by Lloyds of London. Her hull is double carvel planked, glued and fastened with bronze ring nails. All bolts and fasteners are bronze. She was then completely clad in 12 oz. fibreglass cloth set in West Epoxy. Her interior was coated with three coats of West Epoxy and then painted to encapsulate the wood. Her ballast is seven tons externally hung. Her interior overhead is white v-joint fir staving. Bulkheads are white beaded staving with cherry sole, furniture and doors with bronze hardware throughout.

In 2014, we hauled her to Richmond, BC, had her electronics, electrical and mechanical systems completed.

August of 2014 PT Rigging built our mast, installed running rigging. Hasse & Co. built our sails. Presently we live aboard in Ladysmith, BC, and cruise local waters.

Commissioned by the Wooden Boat Foundation, Bear was built in partnership with Gray Wolf Ranch and the NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding. Greg Foster designed her from the lines of Pacific Crest Outward Bound’s Elizabeth Bonaventure. She’s used for a wide variety of on-the-water programs including Sea Scouts, Adventures at Sea and Puget Sound Explorers. She’s made a wonderful companion-ship to the Townshend.

Bimi is a custom gaff-ketch sailboat that has been in our family for over 60 years. She was designed by Basil Knauth & Christian Norgaard, with extensive modifications designed by Scott Rohrer. Originally built by Nunes Bros. and launched December 17, 1955 in Sausalito, California, Bimi was brought to the Pacific Northwest in 1984, where she was substantially modified (at CSR Marine) with new cabin top, inboard engine, heater, and (flushing!) head. Recent additions have been autopilot (nicknamed ‘Basil’ after Bimi’s first owner, Natalie MacLachlan’s father), GPS, AIS, and radar.

Bright Star is from a design by Renn Tolman of Homer, Alaska. The Alaskan Skiffs were meant for rough waters, and have been customized to be just what the builders want in a boat. Tolman boats began as open skiffs, primarily for fishing. Renn’s basic design evolved, and a few have been built at 26′. Most of the cabin boats are 22′-24′ long, and have been home-built by the people who plan to use them.
Our boat is a Jumbo 24. It is a plywood “”stitch-and-glue”” wooden boat, customized as a cabin cruiser for cruising and fishing. The boat has a Cummins diesel MerCruiser 1.7L, 120hp, inboard/outboard. Cruising speed is 18 knots and cruising weight is 3800 pounds. The boat is light for its size, gets great fuel economy, and is easy to tow. Cabin heat while underway has extended the cruising season in the Pacific Northwest, for early season fishing and fall cruising.

As we explore the rivers and salt water of the Pacific NW, we continue to refine both the boat and our ideas of what we need, adding things for safety, and comfort. For cruising, we have a swim platform. For safety, radar was added. For cool weather, there is a “”red dot”” heater, which works while underway. Helpful equipment includes a crab-puller/davits set-up, for easier stowing of the inflatable dinghy and our new electric auxiliary motor. We have added more solar panels to up the energy efficiency.

Local area cruising has been in the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, but we have more miles under our keel in salt water. Having a trailerable boat allows us freedom to easily go farther, and to enjoy salt water cruising in Washington and BC. We’ve explored the South Sound area between Olympia and Seattle, and spent time in the San Juans, Gulf Islands and beyond. Pre-Festival, we like being in Deer Harbor for the Wooden Boat Rendezvous. Post-Festival cruises with some excitement include the Broughton Archipelago, off the far end of Vancouver Island. For the Broughtons, Bright Star crossed to Victoria on board the ferry Coho, and was hauled to Port McNeil, for launching. Another cruise’ up the “”outside”” of Vancouver Island saw Bright Star make it almost to the Brooks Peninsula.

Future cruising plans include the Delta out of San Francisco, the Great Loop on the east coast, and taking this Alaskan Skiff up to Alaska.

Sometimes you pick the boat, and sometimes the boat picks you. Port Ludlow resident Joseph Guillien showed up to look at a wooden boat and found it was sold the day before. As luck would have it, a similar boat was tied up to the dock with a for sale sign on it. As the vessel name came into view, Joseph did a double take. It was the same name as the tiny Minnesota farm-town that he was born in, Caledonia. This 32 foot wooden Grand Banks was the exact model he had been searching for and was already named perfectly for him.

The boat followed him home that day and he has been painstakingly bringing it back to perfect condition ever since. Hull number 310 launched in 1972, the year Josephs first child was born, is one of the last wooden 32 Grand Banks every built. This legendary model brought the 8-knot trawler concept to the masses in cruising grounds around the world. Caledonia is the perfect blend of original right down to the 45 year-old Ford Lehmans motor that’s still pushing strong, combined with meticulous restoration making it look like new.

The boat has benefitted over the last 5 years from a perfectionist owner and the shipwrights and wisemen of Port Haven. If you want to see what a Grand Banks looked like in 1972, this is your chance. Caledonia is an active member of the Port Ludlow Yacht Club and spends months each year cruising the Salish Sea.

Well laid out custom built cruising yacht for a family of 4 and crew of 2. Alaska yellow cedar over oak frames on 10 inch centers. Power truster installed in 2007. New kitchen counter.

Carlita is a Core Sound 17 Mark 3 Cat ketch designed by Graham Byrnes of B& B Yacht Designs. She is built from a plywood kit from B&B Yacht designs. She is water ballasted and has self righting capability to 100 degrees. The design brief was to create the smallest trailer sailer that has reasonable “”cruising”” amenities for two, and can be towed by a small family car. She can be used as an RV when travelling . In practice she has proven to be both comfortable and economical. I tow her behind my VW Golf diesel (getting 31mpg on the highway), and we have completed trips to Florida (2X), Texas, Connecticut and will be coming on our cross country trip to Port Townsend for this show, and visiting B&B family and friends along the way. She has competed in two Everglades Challenges and won her class in her first race. She has just completed the last Texas 200.

Because her hull is based on the well known and proven Core Sound 17, she has, like all B&B boats, exceptional performance. Because I sail singlehanded so often, she is fitted with wind vane self-steering (will be available in kit form from B&B in the future).

If you need a little more room and have a van or larger car, you can opt for her big sister, the Core Sound 20 Mk 3. You can see pictures and more information at the B&B website (www.banbyachtdesigns.com) or on the B&B Facebook page.

Ceridwen was lofted in the fall of 1982 at Magner and Sons Boatworks by John and Kevin Magner and Matt McCleary. Matt continued on with the building project along with his wife Stephanie. Ceridwen has a lead keel and steam bent oak frames. Ceridwen was launched in 1994 in Port Angeles, Washington and made her maiden voyage in 1996 to her home in Port Hadlock. Ceridwen was recently featured in Wooden Boat Magazine in January 2017.

Chesuki’s design is in “The Dory Book” by John Gardner, from which I traditionally built her of fragrant Port Orford cedar and Oregon white oak. The building of her was quite enjoyable, with just a couple of heart ache mistakes easily remedied thanks to miraculous epoxy, after 3 years the anticipation of her use made the launching a real celebration! I did mess up on the waterline another heartache but soon repainted. The rather large racing sail was adopted to a gunter rig with a curved spar and cream colored sails for beauty (well after a few corrections) and a lively feel with the fun of handling a more challenging rig. We camp cruised the San Juans and Gulf Islands regularly in the late 80’s and 90’s when people were more forgiving and shared their beaches with us, well we were prettier back then too!

Built by J. Wass for himself and his growing family. He was a professional shipwright and Cito was not his first Spidsgatter that he built for himself. He built her in his backyard in Copenhagen, as there was no room at the yard he was employed at. She lost her lead keel when stored away during WWII by the Germans, for bullets. She went through the war otherwise unharmed, returning to the salt after the war, later sold along with others of her class and sent off to new owners in Vancouver Canada in the mid 1950’s. Decades of different families have enjoyed her over the years up in Canada till she was sold and brought to Port Townsend in 2002. We acquired her in 2005, and spent 8 years restoring her. We enjoy her for her many wonderful sailing qualities, and enjoy cruising her here in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Clementine was the first “Belhaven 19” to be built back in 2006. She was discovered by her current owner for sale in North Carolina in 2014, purchased “sight unseen”, then towed back to Seattle via a 6,000-mile road trip to her new home in Seattle. She now trailer sails Puget Sound, Hood Canal, Lake Washington and the Suan Juan Islands.

Construction is “stitch and glue” plywood covered with fiberglass. The 300 lb lead keel is shallow and flat on the bottom and the center board is offset to port allowing the boat to draw just 10 inches of water and sit flat when beached. A 3.5 hp outboard motor hung off the transom moves the boat along at 5.3 knots at about 26 mpg.

The position of the centerboard off to the side and the lack of a mast compression post in the cabin results in a clear cabin and full double berth. Clementine’s framed cabin top was replaced with a laminated roof at the Port Townsend Maritime Center in 2017 to create sitting head room for her tall Owner.

Both masts are on tabernacles and unstayed which simplifies set up. Main and mizzen sails are “leg o mutton with sprit boom” totaling 164 square feet and a mizzen staysail can be added for reaching or downwind sailing in light wind. She is typically limited to hull speed but will plane on a reach or downwind to about 7 knots in ideal conditions.

Compadre is a 43-foot bridge-deck cruiser built in 1929. She is one of three yachts built to this basic design by Stevens Brothers in Stockton, California. Her hull is Port Orford cedar on white oak frames, and her house is solid teak. She was originally powered by twin 6-cylinder Lathrop Mystic gasoline engines and was recently repowered with twin 80hp Yanmar diesels. Her interior layout and cabinetry are nearly all original. She was built for Mr. Leland Adams of San Francisco, a vice-president of Leslie Salt Co. She spent many years cruising the sheltered waters of San Francisco Bay and the San Juaquin River delta. She relocated to the Pacific Northwest in 2007. Compadre is her original name.

In 2011 “Corsair II” was visited by Frank Jacobs, the original owner’s grandnephew. He shared stories of adventures in the 1920’s. We learned that she and Jacobs had been commissioned by the federal government to do mapping work in Alaska. It brought dimension to a vintage photo we have of fur coated men with rifles and women on the bow. Another photo shows the hull scraped up rather badly. We learned that she had been sucked into a fish weir by a strong current, but escaped when the current abated to go on without the need of repairs.

I built my first St. Pierre Dory 21 years ago and decided to go all electric when I found out they needed to be heavily ballasted. At that time steel nails were $0.50/lb and batteries were $1.00/lb. The choice was obvious. My third version of the Glen-L Lucky Pierre is powered by two 36 volt trolling motors that can get it up to hull speed (5.2 knots) without a problem. Originally I used 12 golf cart batteries (6 per motor) and had a range of 20 nautical miles. When I switched to lithium batteries that fit in the same battery boxes my range jumped to 50 nautical miles. Two years ago I added solar panels that will extend my range. In direct sunlight they will power the boat at 2.8 knots, and it takes 4 hrs of sunlight to get 1 hr of cruising at hull speed. This is the perfect boat for cruising in Puget Sound; safe, quiet, and a great conversation starter. Our first visit to the Festival was last year and we really enjoyed it, so we want to come back!

This sweet custom Tugboat was built on a Clipper Craft dory body built in Portland, OR in 1986. She fell into our lap as another “free kitten” and is the third boat we have restored and the second wooden boat. She has many custom features, lots of brass and a beautiful line. We are especially excited for our grandkids to enjoy this fun boat when they visit us in Port Ludlow. She is currently still under restoration at the WBC but will be ready and beautiful by the WBF. We are so excited to share her with the community.

Built for the U.S. Lifesaving Service, her design and hull shape are similar to the lifeboats used in Shackleton’s epic voyage. In 1937 she sailed through the Straits of Magellan on a trip documented in National Geographic. She sank in the 1946 Portland flood, and spent several years on the mud before being rescued and stored. In 1992, Dorjun was brought to Port Townsend for a loving restoration and re-launched at the 1992 Wooden Boat Festival. She’s been used for WBF programs ever since (including a legendary racing career in the hands of the fabled Team Dorjun). After some additional recent work, she’s ready for her next hundred years.

This is the Graduate 25, design #712, from the Build-a-Boat Plans catalog from Sydney, Australia. It was built near Portland, Oregon at Heydon Island on the Columbia River in 1987 by Garry Weber. The hull is of Cold Molded Construction with the first/inside layer of 3/8″”Alaskan Yellow cedar and 3) 1/8″” diagonal layers of Red Meranti, the deck and house are plywood, the entire vessel is covered and sealed using fiberglass cloth and epoxy. The fin keel sports a lead ballast of 1670 pounds and combined with the spade rudder is very maneuverable. The masthead sloop rig sail area is 300 square feet and all inboard. Auxiliary power is by a single inboard diesel. The cockpit foot well is self draining.

After launching, Garry lived aboard for 7 years and cruised up and down the coast. One cruise took Garry from Astoria to San Francisco in 5 1/2 days. Then it was down to the Sea of Cortez for a winter of exploring the rugged coast as far as Bahia de Los Angeles. He traveled north into British Columbia every season and always made being in the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival part of his sojourn.

“Ebb” is a glued lapstrake varient of the 1911 Lake George Boat “Winona” which is in the Mystic Seaport collection. The Lake George Boats were recreational boats derived from the working Whitehalls. The LGBs had a simpler and lighter construction than the Whitehalls, and also didn’t feature their wineglass transoms.
“Ebb” is built for our own use. We needed a fast pulling boat with a traditional appearance, but built as lightly as reasonable without sacrificing aesthetics.

In designing “Ebb” we reduced the beam and made the transom narrower, while keeping the nearly semi-circular cross section of “Winona”. “Ebb” will be more tender, but we’re happy to trade a bit of stability (“Winona” had plenty) for a boat with less wetted surface. A bit of rocker was added to improve maneuverability, and the forefoot was extended to create a finer entry.

A 32′ customized for Puget Sound cruising. Flybridge removed and a new roof built in its place, mast and boom removed, solar panels installed on the new roof. Hardtop cockpit cover integrated into new roof. New dashboard designed and all instrumentation now shown through chart plotters. Propane fireplace installed in salon. Ironwood band installed along waterline for ice protection.

From Pacific Motor Boat magazine, January 1928 “El Mistico”, a 44-Footer with Diesel Power. The application of the low powered oil engine to the propulsion of medium-sized yachts and work boats is a comparatively new thing. A number of such installations have been made on the West Coast and are being watched with keen interest by motor boat operators everywhere.

A particularly striking yacht installation was that made in the 44-foot power cruiser El Mistico owned by E. Michelson of the Seattle Yacht Club. The El Mistico was built by the Ballard Marine Railway of Seattle from designs by Thearle and Nordstrom and embodies a number of striking features in design, construction, and arrangement.

The power plant is one of the new four-cylinder Fairbanks-Morse marine Diesel engines developing 40 h.p. at 650 r.p.m. This engine is of the two-cycle type. The installation was made under the personal supervision of A. F. Whitehead, manager of the service department of the Seattle branch of Fairbanks-Morse & Company.

The lines of the boat are exceptionally pleasing. El Mistico is easily handled, and an insight into the economy of the craft is given by data which Mr. Michelson has complied. She was recently run to Vancouver and return, and on four week-end trips with at total fuel cost of $6.10. No additional expense was incurred for the trip outside money expended for food and incidentals. The return from Vancouver, according to the owner, was made in 12 hours.