Ask an Expert Series

Chris Chase, Project Director at the Western Flyer Foundation, brings over thirty years of experience as a shipwright, project manager, and operational director. When the Western Flyer first arrived in Port Townsend, Chris was the lead shipwright and foreman of the Western Flyer restoration. What began as just another restoration for him soon turned into a deep passion and course-changing event.

A Professor of English at San Jose State University, Dr. Shillinglaw was Director of the University’s Center for Steinbeck Studies for 18 years. She has published widely on Steinbeck: A Journey into Steinbeck’s California (Roaring Forties Press, 2006, ’11, ‘19); Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage (U of Nevada P, 2013) and On Reading The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin, 2014). She also wrote introductions to several Steinbeck books for Penguin New American Library and is currently working on a study of Steinbeck’s ecological vision.

Andy Stewart has been working on wooden boats professionally for over 30 years. As a craftsman, his passion is to use tradition and appropriate innovation to keep wooden vessels and his trade alive.

Paul Bieker is the founder and owner of Bieker Boats, which recently relocated from Seattle to Anacortes, WA. He is one of sailing's most revered and prolific performance boat designers, and has drawn everything from the fastest International 14s in the world to the hulls of the most recent America's Cup multihulls, and many things in between.

Ernie Baird started his wooden boat career in 1978 as a laborer, then lead shipwright, eventually owning Baird boat Company. He worked for many years prior to that as a merchant seaman, as deck crew on fishing boats and square riggers. Ernie has mentored and taught many students through teaching positions and volunteering. He completed the Race to Alaska in Grace B, his classic open wooden boat that he built in 1985. He has served his community through many organizations, from the Planning Commission to Jumping Mouse, setting up Big Brothers and Sisters program in Jefferson County, and being on the advisory board to the Coast Guard for inspecting wooden charter vessels. He and his wife are avid tango dancers and enjoy gardening.

Shipwright, finisher, raconteur, and straight-talking mentor to countless women entering the trades, Diana owned the first and longest-run woman-owned boat shop in Port Townsend. From sleeping in the back of a pickup truck in Sausalito—inspired to the trade by Ray Speck—to salting her skills fishing with a husband and baby in Alaska, setting up her boatshop Taku Marine with partner Rick, and co-founding the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association, Diana has generously, doggedly, honestly, and often hilariously contributed to what most people love and admire about Port Townsend’s passionate maritime culture—authentic wit, grit, and passion.