Festival Boats

This boat completed a major centerline rebuild in 2011. The open cockpit sports a removable cabin, that makes it more of a camp cruiser. The Gaff rigged sails, and traditional rigging give it a classic look. This sturdy little boat has seen some big seas! We spent a week sailing in the San Juan Islands with our daughter when she …

Heather is a fine example of the New Zealand boat building tradition. She is planked with Kauri, on Australian gum frames, two resilient woods which have stood the test of time. In the mid 1960’s she completed a single handed circumnavigation. She came to Port Townsend in the late 1970’s, and has been in Puget Sound since then. Father and …

Bibi is a hard-chined, plywood centerboard sloop built in 1964 by hobbyist Ludvik Zbigniewicz, apparently to his own design. She has a long, fine entry, considerable rocker, and a tiny, distinctively squared-off cuddy with a small porthole on either side. BIBI is bronze fastened and heavily framed for her size—a reflection of both the conservative approach taken by builders experimenting …

Whisper was built in 1957 by the Thomas Knutson Shipbuilding Corporation in Halesite, Long Island, New York. She was designed by Sparkman and Stevens as part of their “Pilot” series of production boats. Whisper has sailed in Maryland, Florida, and Puget Sound. A simple engine replacement in late 2012 resulted in a 3 year major rebuild in Port Townsend. The …

Joshua’s hull and deck were built by Bill Elliott of Bay Ship and Yacht with a hands-on assist by owner Bill Harpster. Line drawings for Joshua were taken from R.D. Culler’s Spray, as drawn by Victor Slocum, son of Joshua Slocum in 1928. After Joshua was launched in 1980, owner Bill Harpster hand-built the houses, booms and masts, and rigging. …

My wife and I purchased Lauren Nadine, formerly Walkabout, just over 1 1/2 years ago. Or as we often put it, we rescued her! After dreaming of owning a Grand Banks for 15 years we took a chance on what appeared to be one of those “too good to be true” tales. She was in a state of neglect and …

Nevermore began her life as a dream of then young Canadian shipwright Ralph Eastland. A sensible man of frugal means, Ralph ordered a set of ship plans for $5 from the Smithsonian Institute of Howard Chapelle’s Chesapeake Bay schooner “Little Cod.” With the help of his wife Debbie, the two then set to work constructing a pole shed with a …

This hull and engine were salvaged from a berry bramble and over a period of 45 years was converted to a jaunty sail boat with an attempt to keep it looking outwardly as period piece from the 1930’s but with hidden contemporary features.

This outboard hydroplane is a mid 70’s Ed Karelsen “A” class racer designed to run about 50mph with a 15hp vintage Mercury. Karelsen unlimited hydroplanes won the Gold Cup four years in a row 1967, 68 , 69 & 70 as the Miss Bardahl and Miss Budweiser. The outboard world speed record was set with a Karelsen hydro running 176.5 …

Built in Oregon in the ’90s of Fir and Black Locust with no bedding compounds or antifungal agents, she had a leaky deck that let in rainwater carrying fungal spores leading to her demise. Thinking I might rebuild her in a year, I brought her to the South Park Yard. Tearing into her stem and replacing the structural members, I …