Category Archive

Jay Smith of Aspøya Boats in Anacortes, Washington, led the Friday Guild. a small group of aspiring boatbuilders, in the construction of this 20’ gjetbåt færing. The gjetbåt is a traditional boat from the Nordmøre region in western Norway. The group worked every Friday for two years building the boat named TJELD, which means “oystercatcher” in Norwegian. Most recently, this …

Our catboat Katie M is a 20′ Cape Cod catboat designed by Crosby and built in 2009 by the NW School of Wooden Boat Building. She is a sister ship to Mystic Seaports’ catboat Breck Marshall. Their lines were taken from a circa 1900 working cat TRYPHAENA. Her spar dimensions were taken from a 1905 Crosby sail plan. Katie’s predecessors …

Hiyu is a 10’6” version of Harry Bryan’s Fiddlehead design, referred to as a “decked canoe.” Okoume plywood was used throughout the construction. The designer intended the boat to be paddled like a kayak. The builder developed the pedal drive utilizing a 10” primary pulley and two idler pulleys to redirect a v-belt to the bottom of the boat. The …

Clatawa is a nine-foot flat-bottomed skiff from the design boards of Edwin Monk, who wished to give people with basic woodworking skills and a few sheets of plywood the means to build a simple rowboat to go fishing in. I found a set of these circa 1940s plans and built the skiff with quarter-inch Okoume. I took several liberties with …

Matil is a traditional wooden semi-dory, built by Robert Boardman of Port Townsend. In the 1990’s, Boardman and Kay Robinson hitchhiked down to the Sea of Cortés with Matil, to cruise around southern Baja. After they returned, Matil lived in the port and assisted Peter Robinson in courting Kay by making daily trips across the waterfront to pick her up …

This custom-built beauty was built by boatbuilding instructor Leland Gibson and his students over the course of 2 years.

The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is constructing a 25′ zero-emission pump out boat that will provide free services in Port Ludlow Bay. This pilot project features electric and solar technology and a corrosion prevention system keeping heavy metals out of the water. The project came together through a collaboration with local marine businesses, private donors, and state agencies aligned …

This local design from Poulsbo, WA, is a perfect crabbing and family boat.

Designed by Bill Dyer and built at The Anchorage boatyard in Warren, RI, our little boat, hull number 299, was one of the last wooden Dyer Dhow Midgets built, before they switched over to fiberglass boats. The fiberglass versions are still being built today. We have been unable to find any other wooden Dyer Dhow Midgets anywhere, so we think …

Nancy is a 17′ wood strip kayak custom-built for my wife Nancy. Her only request regarding the design and graphics was that it needed a Sturgeon fish and a Heron bird. This boat was the third kayak built during the Covid lock-down.