Festival Boats

Kathryn Lee was the result of 20 years of planning and 6 months building. She is the only boat worthy of the name of my first love who got away. Classic and traditional in lines and plank-on-frame construction, she has white oak keel and frames, parana pine planking, mahogany seats and trim, teak blocks, and bronze hardware. I designed her …

The schooner Suva has been owned by the Coupeville Maritime Heritage Foundation (CMHF) since the first part of May 2015. The CMHF is her sixth owner. She is manned totally by volunteers; captains and crew, maintenance workers, and dockside hosts. Suva was built in 1925 for Frank Pratt, a Massachusetts lawyer who moved to Whidbey Island in 1908. Pratt commissioned …

GLORYBE has survived a century of adventures. Her first was reported in Pacific Motor Boat in 1917. “Pounding on the beach several hours in the January storm in which several Tacoma boats were damaged or destroyed, “Glory B” suffered seriously. Six planks were pounded through, the skeg was torn off, the rudder and propeller twisted, and the companion door was …

26′ lapstrake open boat. Cat Ketch, unstayed masts, spritsails and topsail. Planked with Douglas fir over locust frames. Provided the image for the 1999 Wooden Boat Festival poster. Entered and completed the 2017 R2AK. Came home on her own keel. Twice voted best open boat in the Victoria Classic Boat Show.

Descant is a custom built glass over ply pilot house. She has a classic look, with the benefits of modern construction techniques and a high performance outboard. Her hull offers a fast and fuel efficient ride. She can travel from Kingston to Friday Harbor in a few hours, using less than 14 gallons of fuel. Likely, she is one of …

Flygburen is a Tumlare designed by Knud Reimers in the early 1930s. One of Reimers first and most notable designs, the Tumlaren established Reimers as a designer of gorgeous boats combining beauty, grace and function. Flygburen was built by Andy McConkey with the assistance of his father Richard in their yard in Kirkland, WA. They finished the boat in 1994, …

Inspired by the beautiful kayaks a good friend builds, and captivated by an article on naval architect Francois Vivier in Classic Boat magazine featuring his Morbic 12 clinker plank design, I contacted Francois to see if he would design a lighter-weight strip plank version of the Morbic 12 for me. After some discussion on weight target (140 lb hull), general …

This boat is a 19’4″ stretched version of Iain Oughtred’s Arctic Tern. She features an enlarged gunter sloop rig with decks and bulkheads fore and aft. Originally designed at 18’2″” in length, the owner preferred the longer length of the Caledonia Yawl, and the narrower beam of the Arctic Tern. Thus this is a hybrid of the two. Nathaniel Wilson …

Every now and again, we build a boat for ourselves. We wanted a good rowboat, which meant it had to meet several criteria: • It had to row very well. • It had to be lightweight for its type. • It had to have a traditional appearance. • It had to be a relatively quick build so I could get …

The Stickleback is a double-paddle canoe designed by Iain Oughtred. The design is intended for glued lapstrake plywood planking, but we were interested in a more traditional look, so we chose cedar planking on bent frames, similar to lapstrake canoes built in England and the United States during the late 19th century. The 1/8″” cedar planks are fastened to the …