Isswat was built in Whisky Cove on Pennock Island in 1948. She has worked hard over the years as a commercial fishing boat, log tug, and party barge. There are a lot of fantastic stories that I am still finding out about. Isswat fished and worked as a tug and log camp boat in Southeast Alaska. The boat was brought …
Stormbird
For the last 75 years the Stormbird has been cruising Puget Sound and for a brief time Canadian Gulf Islands. I believe that my wife Cathy and I are the 6th owners. In 2008 the owners replaced the original Chrysler 6 cylinder with a Model RCD-4JH4-HTE-TX1 Yanmar 4 Cylinder Turbocharged Diesel, It sleeps 2 comfortably, has a head and small …
Magic Carpet
From “wooden boat magazine” September 1989. Magic Carpet was designed and built to be a competitive Ultra Light Displacement Boat (ULDB), structurally strong enough to win any contest with the sea, fast enough to leave the other boats behind. ….
Clatawa
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 …
La Vida e Bella
“La Vita e Bella” is a glued lap, epoxy saturated ply, 13.5 ft Melonseed Skiff. She was built by John Barto, himself; who redrew Chamberlain’s historic lines drawings, to make them more available for amateur construction, and advertised than in Woodenboat Magazine. John at that time was an instructor at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Maryland. She …
Grebe
In 2019, I built Grebe, Selway Fisher’s “Drake 13 Sharpie” design. The hull is built tack-and-tape style from 6mm okoume plywood. The transom and daggerboard case is 9 mm. Spars and brightwork are all fir. The sail was made by Douglas Fowler. There are flotation compartments fore and aft, and this boat can be re-entered over the stern after a …
Lacey
The hull was started by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in 2013 and after sitting for several years progress was resumed in 2019. The school then finished the planking and deck. In November of 2020, the current owner hauled her to Port Townsend to finish construction. She was launched in October 2021.
Symfoni
“Symfoni” is new, so her history is just beginning. Some decades ago, as a kid, I admired the loveliness of the hauled-out royal yacht of Norway in East Boothbay, Maine, also named “Symfoni”. So, the name of this new Scandinavian double-ender came easily! Construction was mostly straightforward, she performs gracefully under sail, and attracts a lot of interest from fellow …
South Paw
Built by previous owner Frank Klister at the Port Townsend wooden boat center in 1997. I know it has been displayed at the festival before. I recently discovered it tarped and overgrown in the woods on Guemes Island. After much negotiation, I worked a deal with Franks’s widow, and just got it home. I have a love for wooden boats …
Merva
Merva’s history begins with a remarkable journey by sledge, drawn by a team of horses, from Mr. Morriss’ yard to the water’s edge for launching. Afterward, she cruised the waters around Victoria for many years during the 1930s and 40s with the Morriss Family, making frequent stops at Sydney Spit and Musgrave Landing. After finally being sold for reasons I …