Current Boats

Named after the extinct penguin-like flightless bird named Alca impennis (commonly known as the “Great Auk”), the hull of Alca i is strip plank on frame heavy construction with keel, frame and floors of epoxy-laminated and glassed white oak with bronze, Monel and stainless steel fasteners. Each piece of the two-inch thick oak strip hull planking was epoxy-sealed prior to fastening and all fastener holes epoxied prior to the fasteners being driven into the frames. The hull was then double sheathed inside and out with epoxy-saturated glass matt, with four layers at the water line, providing additional strength for Arctic work. The hull is provided with 8 water-tight bulkheads, including a double collision bulkhead. Passageways include two bulkhead and three external water-tight doors. Alca i was used for fifteen years to conduct research on behalf of the Smithsonian on the effect of global warming on the growth of algae between Maine and Labrador. She laid dormant under shrink-wrap in Maine for four years prior to being acquired by her current owner in March of 2021. After an extensive refit was performed, Alca i finally set sail on November 1, 2021, for her new home in the Pacific Northwest. The six month passage from Maine to the West Coast began by heading south along the Eastern Seaboard, through the Bahamas, then to Jamaica, the San Blas Islands and through the Panama Canal. Once finally in the Pacific Ocean, we then headed up the west coast of Central America, mainland Mexico and Baja California, finally arriving in southern California in early May. Our voyage to the Pacific Northwest was delayed from May through July so the owner could prepare for the final phase of his journey. Finally departing southern California in mid-August, we arrived in Puget Sound on Friday, August 26, 2022, our new home!

The Aleutian Tern was designed in 1963 by the legendary Northwest designer William Garden, for Seattle builder Warren Teller. Teller built her in the yard at his home in Seattle over the next 3 years, launching her in 1966. She is very heavily built on lines paralleling those of the halibut schooners of the Northwest.

With a wheelhouse aft, a flush deck forward housing cavernous accommodations below, she feels like a much bigger boat than she is. The Aleutian Tern is 38’ long, 13’of beam, and draws 5’. Teller built her for his own use with plans to take her to Alaska regularly. Tragically he passed away before he could realize that dream, but she has been to Mexico and was even abandoned offshore on her return from there as she caught fire and was left to burn.

Thankfully the fire put itself out and she was repaired in California before being bought by her long-term owner Pat Dana, who knew her builder, and had hunted her down hoping to buy her for himself. He and his brother, Buzz Dana, brought her home to Seattle in a rough nonstop offshore delivery from San Diego, about 25 years ago.

Pat took especially good care of her for all those years and only recently decided to sell her to us. The Aleutian Tern is a unique vessel in design and construction. “Stout” would be quite an understatement. In Garden’s own words, “The Aleutian Tern is built of massive yellow cedar construction, she is a far cry from the average glassed in power cruiser, and her plans will be of interest as another man’s solution to the perfect ship.”

This hull was built with a combination of western red cedar and African mahogany laminations. Powerd by a single Perkis diesel, she cruises at 8-10 knots with ample tankage and battery capacity for extended cruising time away from services.

ANJA’s design is based on the legendary Bristol Pilot Cutters of Britain. These boats were able to weather strong storms as well as be sailed short-handed. They would take the pilot out to large ships waiting in the Bristol Channel. Modern racing yachts evolved from this design. Construction is of mahogany plank on oak frames.
Roger Long of Woods Hole, Massachusetts designed this boat in 1976, and two have been built, a fiberglass version in Norway and Anja.

Bought by Arnt and Valerie Arntzen in 2019 and sailed to their home berth at Vancouver Maritime Museums Heritage Dock they started upgrading right away.
-steering wheel removed
-tiller added
-new mast
-new rigging
-cabin added with 7 portholes
-galley and saloon added to the interior

Arnt’s first build was a 36’ on deck steel gaff-rigged Pinky Schooner which he built with his father in their back yard.

Arnt and Valerie sailed this boat in 1980 to Monterey, California, and back. He also worked on the refit of Ancestor, a wood 40’ gaff cutter built in Grenada, WI, his brother Leif’s boat, and was in wooden boat festival.
Arnt built his last sailboat from a salvaged 20-foot aluminum lifeboat with lots of fabulous local wood most cut by himself. He is a master wood and metalworker. ODIN was featured in Pacific Yachting Magazine in June 2008. They sailed this boat for 20 years all over the coast of BC and circumnavigated Vancouver Island with ERN in 2014.  This year we plan to take her up to the Broughton archipelago and then circumnavigate Vancouver Is next year.

My Two-masted spirit sailboat was hand-made in Alaska from Sitka spruce with oak and Purple Heart blocks. The plans can be found in the book called Pete Culler’s boats, titled Skiffs for Maynard and Anne Bray. Unfortunately, Anne never saw the boat,

Roy Jackson and his wife Dolores took on the 50-60 thousand hour build in their backyard and dedicated weekends and evening over the course of 35 years. In the spring of 2021 I was able to convince Roy to allow me to usher his beloved ship into her next season of life- to care for her for a while. Before his passing Roy imparted her story to me, sharing the history of every plank, fastener, and mechanism- each with its own tale. Roy’s love for his vessel never faded but as his age advanced, his ability to meet her demands slowly did. I have taken on her refit with care and am pleased to share her with the world while returning her to her former glory.

Aquila was found on the hard, as a derelict, on Lopez Island, WA, in 2011. Rebuilding her became our complete focus for two and a half years. Rebuild an old wood boat knowing little about it? We rebuilt Aquila in the best way possible considering that we had no money.

We scrounged high-quality logs of old-growth Fir, Yellow Cedar, and Black Locust from logging roads and beaches, and milled them with a band-saw mill to custom dimensions.

All the frames had broken at the turn of the bilge. We discovered ‘Laminate Frame Replacement’ in WoodenBoat magazine. In the article, the area a foot or so above and below where the crack was, is ground down forming a curved concavity. Locust laminates, slathered in epoxy, are pressed into this concavity using jacks and chocks braced against the opposite side of the hull. The resulting glue joint is a sort-off arched 9:1 scarf joint. We found the downed and seasoned black locust and used a band-saw mill to rip the locust into 1/8-inch laminates. Built a new coach roof out of old-growth red and yellow cedar all from the beach.

Whole planks and parts of some planks were replaced and others were splined along longitudinal checks using yellow cedar. Bronze screws and bolts for re-fastening were obtained by burning other derelict boats. Bronze fasteners were supplemented with hand-carved yellow cedar trunnels.

My Dad got a firewood permit to get wood from the logging road behind our house. We got those cords of wood in log form by giving the logging crew a cooler full of beer and a bottle of nice whisky. They pulled out old growth fir logs that had been remnants of logging in the 30s. The fir became a new toe rail, mast block, and a variety of interior wood. The only wood that we bought was the plywood bulkheads and the 1/4 in plywood that we glued over our old teak deck and then fiberglassed.

Years before we had gotten an Olsen 36-ft Yawl for free. She too was derelict. The Olsen was cut apart and all the usable parts then became parts for Aquila. Instead of replacing the floor timbers, we added floor timber sisters made of plate steel welded together and galvanized. They bolted through the floor timbers, the new frames and each bracket had two holes that got new keel bolts in addition to the originals. The new keel bolts, 8 total, got drilled and tapped four inches into the cast iron ballast.

A family friend lent us his corking tools and showed us how to reef out the old stuff and how to pack it back in, He was the first shipwright to see what we had done. Mike said we gave the boat sisters, mothers, fathers, and lovers to the framing.

Many of the planking seams splines of yellow cedar were glued in to create an ideal wedge-shaped seam. Hatches back on fresh paint Aquila was alive again. Despite what all of our Dads and everyone else’s too, recommended that we pay for the travel lift to launch our boat. Instead, we paid the port of Bellingham seven bucks to use their boat ramp.

Aquila weighs 10 tons. So launching it on a boat ramp with 60 ft of chain in between the truck and trailer seemed right up our alley. the launch went as expected, giant party, the boat floated, and 20 bucks to use the port crane to put the mast on. And we were sailing!

Since then she has been in the water for ten years, doesn’t leak, and sails like a Cadillac. We’ve been up the Straight of Georgia, through the Gulf Islands, to Tofino, and around the San Juan’s many times. Aquila is moored out in Friday Harbor, waiting to go sailing.

The Hvalsoe 16 is a comfortable and stable rowing boat. Bandwagon began life with a spritsail rig, since converted to a balanced lug yawl. The rig and many details have evolved over multiple seasons of exploring and camp cruising, from southern Puget Sound to the Broughten archipelago in British Columbia.

The Hvalsoe 16 lapstrake dinghy is considered by Eric Hvalsoe to be “the great compromise,” as it both rows and sails well. This craft’s fine ends make the Hvalsoe 16 an excellent rowing boat, while it carries enough beam to make it stable under its 85 square foot sprit-sail rig.

Marked by an elegant curved stem and rake wineglass transom, the design is narrow at the ends with a powerful, stable midsection.

The rig is an unstayed, loose-footed spritsail. The spirit rig is a model of simplicity and flexibility. It features a convenient brailing line, spruce spars, and sail assembly that may be stored inside the boat. Mast, spirit, and sail come in a long canvas sleeve for tidy stowage and transport.

These boats will stand upright on the beach with their wide plank keel and are protected with tough, UHMW shoes and rubbing strips. Hull interiors are finished with Seafin Teak Oil, and exteriors are typically painted to the owner’s specifications. But don’t be fooled by all the gloss, as seats, transom, trim, etc., these boats are coated with an incredibly tough, flexible urethane coating. Results over the years have been proven excellent.

This vessel is built of vertical grain western red cedar, clinch nailed on steam bent oak frames. Its backbone is made of mahogany with a teak transom and Sitka spruce spars. The hull was built through a series of classes in 2020 with students at The Center for Wooden Boats. Several generous donors made it possible for Eric to finish the vessel at his home shop during the pandemic. It was launched in February 2021 and built-in memory of David Allman.

You can learn more about the project here: https://youtu.be/TSytGUIkog4

BISH is a Murray Peterson Susan schooner. Port Orford Cedar on steam-bent white oak frames. Teak decks on laminated doug fir deck beams. Hand crank SABB lifeboat engine. All standing rigging is galvey 7×7, parcel and served. Built by Karl Bischoff in Georgetown, Seattle. It’s taken 12 years so far. For each task, I had to do research and take classes… NWSWB for stream bending, surveying, planking… Brion Toss’ loft for splicing/parcel/serving. BISH was my dad’s nickname. He was an armchair adventurer… always studying the Canadien Voyageurs, Wolves, Tugboat Captains of Oakland California, etc. He also loved to start organizations like the American Whitewater Association, American Canoe Association, Square-dance Callers of America, and American Spelunking Association (cave exploring). After living aboard my 37′ cutter for 8 years, I started my first build, a 15′ Whitehall named Leslie Jean (named for my lovely wife). So now there is BISH. I think I’ll name the dinghy Helen (my mom). It’s all in the family. Check out the whole build process at bischoffboatworks.com.

“Bright Star” is a Tolman Jumbo 24, from a design by Renn Tolman of Homer, Alaska. As are all the Tolman boats, she is a plywood stitch-and-glue wooden boat, and light for her size.

The Tolman Alaskan Skiffs began as 18′ open boats, built for fishing in Alaskan waters. The basic design has evolved. Most now are cabin boats 22′-24′ long, with a few built at 26′, and built by the people who plan to use them.

Ray built her on our backporch. It took 2.5 years, from delivery of plywood to launching. We customized ours as a cabin cruiser, for cruising and fishing. Recently, we switched from a chemical toilet to a composting one, and are well-pleased at how it works. Two sleep and live comfortably on Bright Star, and last year we created a bed space for a family member to join us. It worked very well.

The boat is powered by a Cummins diesel MerCruiser 1.7L, 120hp, inboard/outboard. Cruising speed is 18 mph and cruising weight, fully provisioned and stowed, is 3800 pounds. Being light for its size, Bright Star is easy to tow. We use a Dodge Ram diesel 4-door pickup.

This boat gets great fuel economy. With two 36-gallon tanks, we have a range of 300 miles, at speed. So far, we have 7900+ statute miles under our keel. Note: This is at WBF appplication time. More cruising happens in the 2023 season.

Local home area day trips and cruising have been in the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. But most of our cruising has been up north, in salt water. Having a trailerable boat allows us freedom easily to go farther, and get into salt water in Washington and BC. As former long distance offshore sailboat cruisers, we find it great fun to get to places faster, and have more time for fishing, exploring, and in ports for seeing the smaller communities.

We’ve explored the South Sound, spent a lot of time inside, along Vancouver Island, in the San Juans, more time in the Gulf Islands, went up the Fraser River, and north on the BC mainland side. We cruised in the Broughton Archipelago, taking the ferry Coho over to Victoria and driving up to Port McNeill to launch. An outside trip from Port Townsend to Walters Cove, almost to Brooks Peninsula, taught us that when the fishing boats are filling the harbor in Tofino, we should stay put. Ask us how we know this boat can fly.

Cruising was put on hold during 2020 and 2021. With more time at home, Ray began building another boat. Based on a Tolman hull design, it is a 21′ open speedboat, modified to be all-electric, with solar panels and Tesla batteries, built for use on a lake.

More information on the building of cabin boat Bright Star — www.backporchboat.org/

— Ray Brown & Anne Thompson

Camas Moon is the first boat built to Tad Roberts’ new CoPogy 18 design. She is 18’ LOD, 24’ LOA, 6’6” beam, and 9” draft. She is rigged as a gaff yawl, with an off-center pivoting centerboard, and has a 6 HP outboard motor in a well. Designed as a trailerable mini-motorsailer for one or two people, she will be equally at home motoring all day in the calms or sailing when the wind serves. Construction is stitch-and-glue around structural ply bulkheads, hull and deck is marine ply, with Douglas Fir for most other elements, including the spars. Extensive watertight storage compartments make the boat unsinkable. Construction began not long after the start of the pandemic and was completed in June 2022.

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.

Using only the lines drawing from the Dori book we measured and created a sheet of offsets to loft her. Thanks to the Newport Marine science center loft and bandsaw, I was able to fully loft her and then create her sawn frames in 1983. Thanks to Dick Tucker in Langlois Oregon I was able to order perfect Port Orford cedar for plankIng. Jamestown distributors was the only mail order supply company back then for Marine supplies (and linguica sausage)!! Coincidentally Silva Bans was being built in a nearby barn at the same time so had to have her!! The schooner Rueben de Cloux was just launched and sailed in Yaquina Bay to our delight and inspiration! Launched as an open row boat I explored the eirie Pools slough where another recluse boatbuilder was creating a wooden sailing masterpiece deep in the woods.

Chloe was launched in 1960. Details are sketchy until the late 1970’s when she was purchased by Greg Smith in Rowayton, CT. A survey identified her as having been built in Norway, but her builder is unknown. Because the original mahogany planking had deteriorated, Smith had the hull re-planked with bronze-fastened Alaskan Yellow Cedar by a shipwright called Pieter Den Hartog of Hamilton Woodworking. Greg sailed Chloe on Long Island Sound until 1985 when he moved to Seattle.

In the early 1990s, Chloe’s deck and sheer plank were damaged by a storm in Port Hadlock. A second restoration was undertaken by Greg’s brother, Charlie Smith, former captain of Neil Young’s 100′ Baltic Schooner, Ragland. The deck and house were replaced, and a self-baling cockpit was installed.

After many family adventures in the Salish Sea, Greg donated Chloe to The Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle in 2018. Brandt Faatz, then Executive Director at CWB, purchased Chloe. She was in fine condition but needed cosmetic work. After a haul-out to refresh bottom and topsides paint, Brandt stripped and refinished the mast in December 2019 using Awlwood. The house and comings were refinished as a spring 2020 lockdown project. Chloe sailed Seattle’s Lake Union through the summer of 2020 and relocated to Port Townsend in November. She now resides in Port Townsend’s Boat Haven.

Daddy’s Third is a 26 ft St. Pierre Dory powered by two electric trolling motors. This is the third version of an electric dory I have built since 1996 and incorporates some recent innovations in electric propulsion. The two 36 volt Minn Kota motors and lithium iron phosphate batteries give us a range of 50 nautical miles at hull speed (5knots) or 150 nautical miles at 2.8 knots. 540 watts of flexible solar panels augment the power stored in the batteries at a rate of 4 hrs of sunlight = 1 hr cruising at hull speed.

The McKenzie River Drift boat is a very popular design built from wood, fiberglass, and aluminum in both 14ft and 16ft lengths and seen on many NorthWest rivers and lakes. Its unique rocker bottom and long, 9 ft oars give it extraordinary maneuverability when transiting from still to swift water. It also makes it easy to row.

The anchor system out the back allows the oarsman to slow the boat in the river’s current which then allows the fisherman to get a proper drift of his lure or bait relative to the boat. The knee braces fwd. allow the fisherman to lock his knees for a stable and accurate cast. The adjustable, laced seat gives comfort and support for vigorous rowing and allows rainwater to run freely to the bilge. The front seat has one or two seat backs to support one or two persons. It also slides forward to balance the boat or raise the bow for rapids. The ample foredeck accommodates your gear and is self-draining. There is a dry storage shelf beneath. The oarsman’s seat has two self-draining gear pockets also. Of interest are two frames fwd. that were left full length above the double gunnels. This is where you lay the tip of your rod when letting a lure out in front of the boat. This is basically trolling. No rod holders required.

The floorboards are covered with carpet to reduce slippage and give an even surface to walk on. There is a scuff plate on the bottom, easily replaced if you should whack a rock really hard. The oar locks are cast bronze and fitted to oak block receivers.

The boat was restored in 2016 with all new paint, gunnel fasteners and steam-bent double gunnels made of beautiful Merante purchased from Edensaw and milled to fit. The mahogany side panels were removed, refinished, and reinstalled with silicon bronze screws. The original copper nails were removed.

The trailer is homemade and has new tires and rims with a spare.

I have floated many NW rivers including the Cowlitz, Toutle, Bogachiel, Calawa, Satsop, Humptulips, and the upper Quinault. Steelhead to 20 lbs. have been landed.

Electric Philosophy is a solar electric catamaran designed for comfortable, extended self-sufficient cruising by a couple and one or 2 guests. The concept for Electric Philosophy grew out of the owners’ use of solar electric power on their Airstream travel trailer, and visits to the Wooden Boat Festival where the idea of independent solar-powered propulsion on a boat was presented as a possibility.

Electric Philosophy is a custom design and built by Devlin Designing Boatbuilders, in collaboration with the owner, Ed Pauley, who designed and built the solar electric propulsion system. The construction is traditional Devlin stitch and glue wood/epoxy while the catamaran boat form was driven by the requirements for a large solar array and large battery banks. After a year and a half of construction, it was launched in July 2021 and began extended coastal cruising in the Pacific Northwest. As of June 2022, it has traveled over 1500 nm in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. Future plans include British Columbia and the Inside Passage to Alaska. Typical travel speed in calm conditions is 5-6 kts, max is 8.5 kts. It is designed for continuous use without shore charging because all power needs are supplied by solar charging the large battery banks. Without any solar input (due to weather or darkness), it is capable of 2-3 days of travel on battery capacity alone.

The need for a large unobscured roof for solar panels (9500W array) drove the catamaran size and shape and placement of the radar pylon. The hulls are dedicated to the four independent Lithium Iron Phosphate battery banks (two 24V banks for house needs, two 48V banks for propulsion) and twin electric motors. The hulls also provide ample room for large fresh water and holding tanks. Propulsion is provided by 20kW motors in each hull. All living accommodations are on deck level, with a queen master berth, convertible queen dinette, electric galley, and separate head and shower. The solar roof provides covered walkways and cockpit area.

Ellie K spent her first 10 years moored in the South Puget Sound. In those years she completed two Voyages to SE Alaska and four other voyages to the Broughton Archipelago in BC. In 2015 we brought her to Portland Oregon, where we cruise the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. This spring she returned to South Sound, by truck, and has just returned from here this trip to SE Alaska. She continues to be a work in progress and keeps her owner engaged.

Emma Rose is relatively new to us. After 20 years of sailing the Salish Sea and Canadian North Coast it was time to for a powered cruiser to make the journey all the way to Alaska in a little more warmth and comfort. This mahogany-planked Grand Banks 32 ably fit the bill. With all new electronics, plumbing, heat, navigation, ground tackle, refrigeration and a near new 150HP John Deere diesel, Emma Rose was primed for runs up the Inside Passage. We added 700 watts of flexible solar panels which enables us to cruise all summer long entirely off the grid. No noisy generators or racing to marinas to recharge. Add a few rod holders on the aft deck for catching salmon and pots on board for crab and prawns and you have the makings for perfect cruising.

ERN is built of mahogany planks on white oak frames by John Barkhouse in Chester, Nova Scotia, in 1957. She is well known on the B.C. coast, from the pilot books “Charlie’s Charts”, written by her previous owners, Charlie and Margo Wood.

ERN is a custom-built, cutter-rigged sailboat of wood construction throughout, having a raked stern, round bilges to a full-length keel, and transom stern. The decks comprise a foredeck with bowsprit followed by the anchor roller and winch. Next aft is the cabin trunk with foc’sle escape hatch forward, mast installation, and main cabin access hatch. Side decks lead to the open cockpit. The cockpit incorporates the steering tiller and crew seating with storage under. Aft is a small deck with lazarette. Belowdecks there is a chain locker in the forepeak followed by the foc’sle with V-berth forward, heads compartment to port, and hanging locker to starboard. Next aft is the main cabin with port and starboard settees, galley aft. From the main companionway steps lead up to the cockpit via drop boards and a sliding hatch. The Yanmar 3-cylinder engine is installed under the cockpit deck with access behind the companionway steps.

Planking is 1″ x 4″ Cuban mahogany, over 2-1/2″ x 1″ white oak frames on 10″ centers.
Displacement is approx. 18,000 lb. Keel is cast iron.
The current owners have replaced the spruce box section mast, standing and running rigging, re-built the mast partners and cabin top, replaced the rudder, tiller, engine, stove, cabin heater, and rebuilt the heads and the galley. Ern has circumnavigated Vancouver Island three times, has voyaged to Hawaii and Alaska, and cruised the Salish Sea extensively. She is a good sea boat, and her motion is kindly. Her current home is at the Vancouver Maritime Museum Heritage Dock, in English Bay.

Schooner FAME was the personal boat of the designer, BB Crowninshield. She was built in 1910 by the Rice Brothers yard in Maine. FAME was completely restored by Dennis Conner in 2010 in time for her centennial birthday. FAME’s homeport is Port Townsend.

All it took was standing in her cockpit.

Her mast was not stepped and she was supported by the static steel of boat stands rather than the undulating sea, but I could still sense the elegant movement and speed, Even perched there above the green lawn, her lines and proportions seemed to resonate the English translation of her Swedish name; “Airborne”

I bought her on the spot.

It was the spring of 2021 and I had been in the backyard of her prior owner, Mark, who had done a fastidious renovation of the boat just a year or two prior. The original boat had been built just East of Seattle by Richard and Andy McConkey in 1994 using original plans from the desk of Knud Reimers for his 20 square meters “Tumlaren”. While the hull of this boat is cold molded rather than planked, the execution of the design remains true to the original.

The Tumlaren was a design intended for racing on the deep water fjords and bays around Sweden in the 1930s, but the thoughtful design soon caught on in other places and there are clubs and regattas for these boat events today. Her narrow beam and high aspect rig are common among “skerry cruisers” and similar designs built for the northern waters. These elements give the boat speed by combining the relatively long waterline with the small sail area limit of 20 square meters required by the rules of the class. The tall mast and short-footed sails were intended to take advantage of higher wind speeds above the water in lighter airs and give the boat a distinctive profile with a headsail tack well aft of the bow. Although her low freeboard makes her vulnerable to heavy seas, her tumblehome hull shape, ballast ratio, and small cockpit help keep her stable and dry in demanding conditions. The fractional rig, equipped with both an adjustable backstay and running backstays provides for shaping her canvas to maximize any point of sail. Flygburen also benefits from the addition of a modern roller fuller as a convenience for single-handed headsail management.

Her most prominent limitation is that the cockpit and cabin are designed for racing and day sailing, providing little space for companions on the boat, although this may not be a drawback depending on your perspective. While many of these boats were built with little more than sail storage below deck, Flygburen sports beautifully finished and comfortable, if spartan, accommodations below deck.

While the technical details describe her capability, they do little to describe the elegant and thoughtful way the elements are combined in comforting proportions and an accessible, efficient layout. It is a true pleasure to sail, a willing partner on the water whether racing or just cruising.

She is no stranger to Port Townsend, having shown well in prior Wooden Boat Festivals under prior ownership and her most renovation has utilized custom bronze fittings, sails, and covers from the Port Townsend community of artisans and craftspeople.

I have truly enjoyed my first full season as her owner, sailing her on the waters around Bainbridge Island. I hope to continue the committed stewardship of this enchanting boat.

I always want to build a cedar strip boat. I even bought special routers bit, 26 years ago, to fabricate the cedar strips. Life got in the way, so no boat. Fast forward to 2021, retired, and time on my hands, time to build a boat. Since my wife is not the boating type, I won’t with a kayak. I had a 10’ plastic one and liked the design of the bottom, more stable. Went looking for a design, lots out there. But I am always looking for the out of the ordinary things. I used some design from a cedar strip canoe book, some the plastic kayak and made the stiff back and forms. Went to every lumber yard to find 12’ 1” x12” cedar boards. Ripped them, cove and beaded 200+- strips. I did not like the idea of stapling the strip, so used all kinds of clamps. Some store bought, some made and some bungee cords. Sometimes the strips did not want to go the way I wanted them to go so some re-engineering along the way. It took me 6 months to build. I had as much fun building the kayak as I do taking it out on the water.

My goal was to build an electrically-propelled power boat with a comfortable cabin that could be easily towed behind a modest car. It also had to be relatively simple to build, and fit in a standard garage during construction. Bernd Kohler’s Eco 55 design looked ideal. Building began in late 2019. Construction is stringer and frame with Okoume ply, and epoxy/fiberglass exterior. The electric outboard is from the Czech Republic and is powered by four 24 volts, 75 amp-hour, Lithium-Ion batteries wired as a 48-volt bank. Charging is via two solar panels and shore power. The cabin has a double berth, two hanging lockers, additional storage, a composting head, and a small galley unit with a propane stove and sink. The cockpit has plenty of room for relaxed seating.

Halcyon owner designed and built 20 sloop with center board and inboard electric drive. The boat plan was developed from a model carve in 1975. 2011 learned how to loft and develope a plan. This was to be a day sailer which for me determined the planking method of strip planking, gluing and screwing the planks together, I would not have problems of a leaky boat. There are no ribs in the boat, these would have been problematic with the differential swelling and shrinkage of the planking causing splitting. There are 3 main structural elements of the hull: one, the stem and keel of dairy, two, the deck with the cockpit coaming, three, the bench’s which run for and aft from stem to stern, they sit on shaped wooden brackets fastened to the hull and sit on the bilge stringer. For this reason, the mast is self-supporting laminated 8-sided from 1” dairy and shaped round with a taper above the gooseneck. I have a gin pole which sits on the centerboard case with guys to the cleats in the back and to the trailer in front. The mast has to be raised and the mast lowered through the stitching of the sail. The only guy is the fore stay.

“Halcyon” was purpose designed as a working salmon troller by Naval Architect Bill Garden and built for a member of the Prothero family. She fished the Northwest coast from Alaska to Oregon for over 20 years. In 1984 master shipwright Sam Fry acquired her and spent 10 years converting her into a comfortable and seaworthy cruising troller.

The original interior, decks, and houses were removed down to the frames and planks and so began the project. Bill Garden’s original drawings were used to replicate the forepeak and wheelhouse. The fish hold and the working deck were converted into a single cabin following the shearline of the original hull housing a galley, vanity/shower, alcove, and setee. The design goal was to replicate the original Bill Garden’s lines to look like a working troller until you step aboard and realize that she is a new build on the original hull.

In 2021,”Halcyon” was generously donated to the Center for Wooden boats by her longtime owner and caretaker Ned Johnson. She was placed in their permanent collection of historically significant vessels and has now begun a new career as a small charter boat and a teaching platform for maritime skills to participants of all ages.