By Sugar Flanagan (owner) When we think about boats, we often wonder, “Is she a keeper?” Alcyone is definitely a keeper. She was designed and built by Frank Prothero in his backyard in Seattle. He sailed her for 9 years and then sold her to the Hanke family who took care of her for 22 years. We have now owned …
Orca
The Gartside Workboat “Orca” is a Paul Gartside designed motor boat, constructed of cedar planking bronze fastened over oak frames. A heavy workboat of traditional construction, the Gartside is ideal as a yard launch or small towboat. Built with carvel plank-on-frame cedar over oak with a locust backbone, this functional 18’ boat, powered by a 20 HP Beta Diesel, gave …
Sockeye
Sockeye is an Ed Monk Sr. design, built by Jacobson Brothers in Ballard, WA. She started a long trolling career in 1944. Known back then as Nestor, she retired from fishing in the early 2000s when Port Townsend’s Les and Libby Schnick started her long conversion to a recreational boat. Her aft cabin emerged in 2008 from what was once …
We are BACK and ready to celebrate Wooden Boats!
The excitement is building… You can feel it in the air… Wooden Boat Festival is coming… We are BACK and ready to celebrate Wooden Boats! Here’s a taste of what’s in store: For the boat-lovers among us: The Harbor is almost full! Several gorgeous new boats, many festival favorites, and even—gasp—Canadians! Check out the website—boats are being added daily. For …
Let’s Plan on a Festival!
Hope is in the air. Vaccinations are up and cases are down, we are moving into Phase 3 and there is talk of normalcy by July 4th. The sun even came out. We are not in the clear yet, but things are looking better and better. If the pandemic takes a turn for the worse we’ll alter our course, but …
Tribute: Brion Toss
Rigger, Husband, Teacher, Friend … Honoring the Life and Memory of the Extraordinary Brion Toss This article was written by Scott Wilson and Ian Weedman, and originally published at 48north.com. It’s cliche to say that they just don’t make them like that anymore, but it’s been something we’ve heard often and from many sources in the days since Brion Toss …
Tribute: Larry Pardey
Written by Lin Pardey “An amazing sailor. He did it all,” wrote one magazine editor. “Raced boats, delivered boats, built two boats, sailed them engine-free around the world, both east about and west about. Rounded the great southern capes against the prevailing winds…” “Amazing boatbuilder,” wrote another. “But he’ll be remembered for his motto, go small, go simple go now, …
Blue Water Medal recipients coming to the Wooden Boat Festival with Vixen!
Bruce Halabisky and Tiffany Loney are the recipients of the CCA’s 2018 Blue Water Medal, awarded for their 11-year circumnavigation in Vixen, a 1952 John Atkin designed wood gaff-rigged cutter, with their two daughters, born during the cruise, as crew. In 2002 Bruce was walking the dock at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat festival and spotted the 1952 Atkin …
Festival Film: One Simple Question
Have you ever dreamed about setting sail on the high seas for an extended adventure living out of a boat? Teresa and Ben Carey certainly did; for them this dream was so vivid and important to their being that they found themselves living a life devoted to the sea. In 2014 the rockstar sailing couple’s passion led them to release …
Adventuress: Not for One, but for All
Written by Susan Brittain and Catherine Collins photography by Elizabeth Becker and Cindy Brittain It’s Maine, the dead of winter. A young shipwright at Rice Brothers Shipyard in East Boothbay Maine kneels and applies pressure to the hand brace screw driver and snugs the deck screw into the new plank. The schooner Adventuress must be ready for launch by February …