Idyl is a Haiku sharpie designed by Iain Oughtred in 2007. The design was inspired by Munroe’s Egret, but adapted for camp cruising. He added two feet in length and external ballast, a yawl rig, a self-bailing cockpit, sitting headroom cabin with berths, and adapted it for plywood construction. Our build features the optional mainmast tabernacle, with a small well …
Abishag
Abishag was built by Edmund Lincoln Devreaux in Vallejo California and launched in 1970. Lincoln was a retired shipwright from Bear Island, US Navy Yard. She is a modeled from a Monterey boat, but has no clipper bow, which the usual form. Her straight stem is better for punching through the short chop in the north SF bay, and some …
Blue Starr
Laid up in 1970, launched in 2005, two brothers working at the Nanoose Shipyards in Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) built Blue Starr with Bill Garden’s blessing. Garden, who lived on Toad’s Landing – his personal island not far away from Nanaimo, may have even asked the brothers personally to finish out their Alaskan Yellow Cedar on Oak “Walloon” hull as a …
Buʔqʷ
Buʔqʷ, pronounced approximately like ‘poke’ but with a ‘b,’ which is Lushootseed for duck (as in the bird), is a 16 foot replica ship’s small boat from the 19th Century. She is a replica of what I believe was the smallest ship’s boat carried by the USS Massachusetts in April of 1850, when the Massachusetts became the first American, and …
Mr Mallard
Mr Mallard was launched by Sam Devlin on the same day his eldest son was born. I bought her in a sadly neglected state to save her from the fate of being a pond diorama. After a thorough restoration and a few years of sailing I succumbed to the temptation of a larger boat and sold her. A few years …
ALEMBIC
Sparkman and Stephens designed the 48’ auxiliary cutter ALEMBIC to give her maximum windward ability (design #1479). Built by Chapman and Kalayjian, in Costa Mesa, CA, she was launched at Newport Beach in 1960, for the original owner, Dr. Gordon Alles. Construction is mahogany, strip planked, over white oak frames. The box-beam mast is Sitka spruce and the boom Douglas …
Tern
Built In Port Hadlock and launched in 1983. She’s an Atkins design. Sailed to Hawaii and back by the owner builder. The next owner raced her in many ancient mariner races. I purchased the boat in 2015. I had her on the hard for two 2 years. She planked with fir. on oak frames. During that time I repowered her …
Bright Star
“Bright Star” is a Tolman Jumbo 24, from a design by Renn Tolman of Homer, Alaska. As are all the Tolman boats, she is a plywood stitch-and-glue wooden boat, and light for her size. The Tolman Alaskan Skiffs began as 18′ open boats, built for fishing in Alaskan waters. The basic design has evolved. Most now are cabin boats 22′-24′ …
Julia
20 FOOT WOODEN MOTOR LAUNCH Asking $25,000 OBO This beautiful fan tail round bottom craft was designed and built by Cliff Niederer. She was built with care of the finest materials: the keel is of Port Orford cedar with purple heart; the stem is of purple heart; the stern post, deadwood, horn timber and stern are all the finest Honduras …
Olive Oyl
I purchased the down on her luck 1927 fishboat from the Port of Bellingham in 2006. I knew she was a wreck, but even in her decrepit condition her classic sea-kindly lines could not be missed. As an experienced user of West System Epoxy cold molding techniques I saw right past her rotting pilothouse and leaking decks to the fact …
Virginia
Virginia was the first large sailing vessel built by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in 1981. The original inspiration for this small sloop came from Alvin Mason’s 24′ OSTKUST, however, she was extended to 26′ on the loft floor, received a new transom, and rigged as a traditional gaff cutter by Bob Prothero and the instructors and students building …
Veteran
In 1926, Skansie Shipbuilding Company launched purse seine vessel Veteran in Gig Harbor. Built for Peter Skansie, Veteran is a beautifully preserved sample of one of the nearly 100 Skansie-built purse seiners, one of the most iconic and recognizable vessel designs to emerge from Gig Harbor and Puget Sound. Veteran is one of the only remaining Skansie-built purse seiners today. …
Ursa Major
After her solid wooden hull was built in Norway, the Ursa Major was launched in 1972 at the Malahide shipyards in Dublin, Ireland. With her classic “Old World” charm, solid North Sea construction, and warm European ambiance, she is the perfect “little ship” for charter cruising. She epitomizes the True Trawler Yacht as described by Bob Lane in Passagemaker Magazine, …
Tyke
Tyke is a fine example of a classic Atkins Eric Junior design. Traditional carvel construction – Port Orford Cedar planking on White Oak frames. Fully restored and renovated between 2002 and 2006 by shipwrights. 1945 – 1954: Tyke’s frames were bent by a retired Norwegian fisherman, in the Poulsbo/Bremerton area. He was forced to discontinue with the project due to …
TwoBits
TwoBits was originally built as an open launch in 1932 and used as a tender to the North Star, a 230′ vessel owned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Both were built by the Berg Shipyard in Ballard, WA. The TwoBits was used as a “leiter” or barge to take supplies to Indian villages up the west coast of Vancouver …
Tumblehome
Scott Sprague designed and built TUMBLEHOME in a Bainbridge Island boat shop in the 1980’s, with the help of many others in the yard when they had time to help out. The hull is a slippery canoe stern shape with a modern fin keel and deep bustled skeg aft. A sculptured teak wheelhouse allows inside steering in addition to the …
Trixter
Trixter was built by the Bob and Frank Prothero in 1934 on Lake Union in Seattle. She’s powered with an Isuzu C-240 diesel engine, and is used as a pleasure boat around the Puget Sound.
Townshend
Our 2 longboats, Townshend and Bear, are 26′ open wooden boats. They are historic replicas from Captain George Vancouver’s exploration of the region in 1792 that were built at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding. The boats are equipped with 8 rowing stations and 3 sails. Stepping aboard is like going back in time. Both longboats are US Coast Guard …
Toujour
1957 STEPHEN’S SPORT-FISHER, TWIN DIESEL FLYBRIDGE SEDAN CRUISER. GALLEY DOWN. FLYBRIDGE UP. BOW FORWARD. STERN AFT. Sweet Cruise @ 10knots/4gal per hour. Burn 20 gal+/hour at 22 knots….OUCH
F/V Tordenskjold
Tordenskjold was built by John Strand in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood in 1911. It was named after the famous Dano-Norwegian naval hero, Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskjold (a nom de guerre meaning “Thunder-shield”) specifically for the burgeoning halibut fishery. Rigged as a schooner, but primarily dependent upon its gasoline engine, Tordenskjold carried a crew of 14 and two stacks of dories from …
Marion Jean
This is a 20.5′ Bartender which is traditionally built as plywood on frame. The hull frame construction is nearing completion and includes the frames, building jig, stem, sternpost, keelson, breasthooks, chine logs, and sheer clamp. The next step is to permanently glue and fasten all components, fair the frame structure, then plank the sides and bottom with marine plywood panels.
Festina Lente
This is a striking example of taking a classic boat design and applying custom features to keep the weight quite manageable yet balancing the variety of complementing woods to produce a very efficient and beautiful boat. While a relatively new construction, this boat can be seen frequently being rowed in the Port Townsend Bay, home of the owner/builder. This is …
Seven Bells
This Stephens Brothers boat was built in Stockton, CA, one of eight or nine boats using the same blueprints. Purchased by the United States War Shipping Administration in 1942, the boat served as an anti-submarine net tender in San Francisco Bay during WW2. The boat was fully restored in 1947 and then again in 1998 after purchase by its current …
Epic
Epic is the latest is a constant refining of the perfect youth Voyaging boat. Stable, easy to row, fast under sail or oars, beachable, with water-tight integrity. It was designed by Ed Louchard with input from the CBP captains. It is a true community boat.
Martha
Built in 1907 for San Francisco Yacht Club Commodore J. R. Hanify, and named after his wife, Martha Fitzmaurice Hanify, Martha is a B.B. Crowninshield design built at W. F. Stone Boat Yard in San Fransisco. Originally gaff rigged and now staysail rigged, she is 68’ on deck; 84’ sparred, 16’ beam, 8’ draft. Her planking is fir and silver …
Carpenter II
Built in Maine in 2007, she has plied Maine’s coastal waters and primarily Penobscot Bay, until she was brought here last June, where she resides in Port Hadlock. She was a mainstay vessel at the annual TSCA Small Reach Regatta in the Eggemoggin Reach area of Maine. With a small canvas area for her ketch rig, an 18 ft. length …
Willets Brothers canoe
1956 Willets Brothers canoe purchased brand new by my father. All original, never restored, almost every original accessory with some never used still in Willets hand made bags.. Stunning boat that gathers crowds.
Seafarer
The Seafarer was built in 1926 for a Seattle businessman at Lake Washington Shipyard. This yard was known for building many commercial boats in those days, and so Seafarer was constructed heavy and strong to stand the test of time. Her hull is Alaskan cedar, with the transom, house and decks all being teak. Bronze cleats, stanchions and anchor winch …
Gikumi
The Gikumi has just celebrated its 67th year of commercial service on the British Columbia coast. It was built in Vancouver British Columbia and had lived continuously in Telegraph Cove from September 1954 until February 2017. It was the town’s cargo boat, towed logs to their sawmill, and hauled lumber and other building materials all over the BC coast. It …
Grace
Purchased from George and Wilma Calkins Oct. 2008, in Nordland, WA. Grace was built at Winchester Bay Marina, Inc. Oregon. Mr. Calkins traded a 19 foot Bartender for this 22 footer. He then added a hoist to pull up Crab Pots. During our ownership we offered for use to the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Grace has received orders for Patrol …
Tophat
TOP HAT traces her heritage to the vee bottom boats designed by William. Hand in the early 1900s. Her lines, construction and propulsion have be updated, but the essential virtues remain – seaworthy and seakindly performance, good speeds with modest horsepower, handsome looks and ease of construction.
Orca
A heavy workboat of traditional construction, ideal as a yard launch or small towboat. The horseshoe stern adds an element of interest that will appeal to the builder looking for a challenge. It also makes a very pretty hull. -Paul Gartside
New Moon
New Moon is a Devlin Black Crown 29′ built in the style of a Northwest fishing hull of the 1920s with a sedan topside that provides an interior steering station and cruising accommodations. The hull is v-shaped providing a cruising speed of 18 kts with a diesel engine. The boat has made the trip to Alaska six times during her …
Caine
12′ long of Cedar on Oak, built in 1975 at the Concordia yard in Mass. and restored in 20o4 in Portland Oregon. Annual upkeep and repairs since, CAINE is returning to PT for its annual Salt pickling. The Carvel plank traditional boat recently received a new deck canvas, bottom splines and much paint etc. She loves the shallow sandy beaches …
Wind Gypsy
Wind Gypsy is a Brandlmayr 41 schooner. (48’LOA) She is one of a kind in many ways. She is the only schooner, we know of, of this design, built by John Brandlmayr. Mr. Brandlmayr designed many boats. We were told, Wind Gypsy is the culmination of all his best ideas for a Trade Winds clipper, from his years of experience. …
Lady Jane
The lady Jane was originally built to race in lighting fleet 132, on Lake Washington. The boat slowly fell into neglect before ending up stored in a barn in Silverdale for 25 years. After a three year refit, she has been reconfigured and updated with a more modern downwind sail plan, a cabin, extra flotation and a robust electrical system. …
Kari-San
Lee modified the design and added ballast, a centerboard ,decks and flotation making Kari-San a safe boat to sail in the Puget Sound waters, even in strong winds. I am unable to stand up, making the sprit rig difficult to handle without crew. With the help of Sean Rankin of Northwest Sails and Canvas, Kari-San has been changed to a …
Sun Shine
Sun Shine was built in the NW in 1938. She is all original and still a very solid boat after aver 80 years on the water.
Sneakeasy 5
I made the beam 12 in wider, and modified the cockpit.
Community Boat Project
This is a Youth Exploring Ship built by students and mentors at the Community Boat Project. It is especially designed for watertight integrity, fast rowing, fast sailing, easy handling, beachability, and safety.
Tjeld
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 …
Katie M
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
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
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
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 …
Chloe
This custom-built beauty was built by boatbuilding instructor Leland Gibson and his students over the course of 2 years.
Clean Bay
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 …
Poulsbo
This local design from Poulsbo, WA, is a perfect crabbing and family boat.
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger 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
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.
Tempus Puget
“Tempus Puget” is a gaff rigged sloop with a collapsible mast. It is a “Weekender” design from the Stevenson Project’s design. She was built in 1999 by a father and son in Portland Oregon. She somehow found her way to Bend Oregon, where her owner sold her to go live full time on a ship in Florida. She is now …
Ace
This is a 16ft Oxford Wherry sliding seat row boat built from a kit under supervision of the designer. Constructed from fiber-glass covered marine plywood. Carbon fiber sliding seat. Carbon fiber professional Concept 2 oars. White hull exterior with marine paint and beautiful natural wood interior with marine varnish.
Runaway
From the comments of our surveyor, “this boat has good bones”! Well, that’s what we loved about her 10 years ago when we bought her, and really, it was about all we could love about her, as she needed A LOT of deferred maintenance work at that time! MV Runaway is a 1963 Sea Skiff Runabout, designed with the purpose …
Seagull
This lovely 16 ft. rowing Whitehall style lapstrake boat was donated last winter to the Peninsula Trails Coalition to support the work of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Your donation to purchase it is tax-deductible. It is rigged for 3 rowers. It can be rowed solo, rigged for sailing, or with a small motor. Historically, this design is a workhorse, stable, …
Balls
Balls is the personal boat belonging to Simon Fletcher of Fletcher Boats Inc. Primarily known for crafting many fine mahogany runabouts, building this Solo was a return to Simon’s English youth. This beautiful dinghy’s hull is laminated Sapele and the mast and boom are laminated fir.
Gypsy
Totally original 1955 Penn Yan Cartopper that was passed down from grandfather to son to grandson—which is who I bought the boat from in Bend, Oregon. A true barn find in near-perfect condition!
Raven
We were attracted to her sturdy design by Kenneth Smith of Grand Banks fame as well as her workboat construction and outfit by Mr. Black when we found her for sale at Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle in 1996. We enjoyed cruising throughout the Salish Sea and commuting from Port Madison to Shilshole Marina with her until letting her go in …
Rabannah
She was built in Salt Lake City by a plywood-epoxy master designer of climbing gyms, who dreamed of the sea. Her lines and sail plan are reminiscent of a Lyle Hess cutter, and she was planned and built for long-haul offshore cruising, with simple systems and ample cabin space and storage that make for a great liveaboard. She’s rigged as …
Grace O’ Malley
John Vardiman, a country doctor, over ten years, built, with friends in Beaumont Texas the Malabar II, John Alden designed Schooner Bradna Rose. Michael Durland and Dick Schuettge. with Shipwrights from PortTownsend, rebuilt the Gaff rigged Schooner as a Staysail Schooner, named Grace O’ Malley.
Saga
Mackinaw Boats on the Great Lakes were the pickup trucks and fishing boats before roads and rail circled the lakes. They were known for being seaworthy and adaptable. This boat was built to lines recorded during the WPA in the 1930s and is said to have been a typical type in the late 1800s. In this strip-composite replica, efforts were …
Molly
Molly has had a quiet, but adventurous life on Whidbey Island. She has spent most of her voyages within the Saratoga Passage from Penn Cove to Langley with a few side trips into Holmes Harbor. She has also visited several lakes including Baker Lake in Bellingham for an overnight campout, day visits to Campbell Lake near Deception Pass, and Deer …
Spirit
At the end of the second world war, Harold A. Jones, owner of Vancouver Tug Boat Company LTD, commissioned Ed Monk Sr. to design a thoroughbred racer. Jones had been saving top quality materials for years. The deck is made of aged India teak and the original winches are chromed (a very hard-to-come-by resource during the war). During her construction, …
Duet
This vessel reminiscent of a Chris Craft runabout is an original design and build by builder Doug McElroy in California. The boat named Duet is aptly suited for day cruises for two around the bay or lake. The experience of the ride is sublime with a quiet and clean inboard electric propulsion system. Port Townsend Shipwrights has replaced the batteries …
Kiwa
This boat is number 22 of the Thunderbird fleet built out of Seattle.
Victoria Thistle
This “woody” is a cold molded mahagoney Thistle Class day sailer with wooden mast and original hardware.
Jilly Bean
She is a beautiful, post-war runabout built by Higgins Boats in Seattle. Higgins produced many of the landing craft and PT boats used in WWII. She is powered by a reliable GM 350 V8 and is fully equipped for a great day on the lake including matching lines, fenders, anchor, bimini cover, mooring cover and trailer cover.
Vamp
John Harris classic watercraft. Fully founded for inland sailing and protected waters. Full battended lug rig is a pleasure to sail and looks great. Built from CLC kit.
The Pintail
The Pintail was created from her original hull, a prototypical Columbia River bowpicker. Her 28′ was originally constructed in lap strait design with overlapping Port Orchard cedar planking on oak frames. Her indented use was as a day fishing gillnet boat, designed to cross the Columbia River bar by oar power, fish by gillnet and fill the hull, and coast …
Montana Wild
Montana Wild is a seventeen foot kayak boasting several natural wooden inlays depicting wildlife commonly found in Montana. Although it would be too numerous to list here, there were 38 different woods were used to capture various animals and birds for this boat. Special attention was given to the wood selections, especially for the wildlife, to capture color, texture, grain …
Second Chance
Second Chance was a home built from a Chris Craft Kit in 1955. Through her long life she fell into disrepair and was at some point abandoned in a Long Beach Marina. She was saved by a couple that saw her potential. She was stored until 2011 when she then went through a complete year long restoration . She went …
Idyl
Idyl is a Haiku sharpie designed by Iain Oughtred in 2007. The design was inspired by Munroe’s Egret, but adapted for camp cruising. He added two feet in length and external ballast, a yawl rig, a self-bailing cockpit, sitting headroom cabin with berths, and adapted it for plywood construction. Our build features the optional mainmast tabernacle, with a small well …
Abishag
Abishag was built by Edmund Lincoln Devreaux in Vallejo California and launched in 1970. Lincoln was a retired shipwright from Bear Island, US Navy Yard. She is a modeled from a Monterey boat, but has no clipper bow, which the usual form. Her straight stem is better for punching through the short chop in the north SF bay, and some …
Blue Starr
Laid up in 1970, launched in 2005, two brothers working at the Nanoose Shipyards in Nanaimo (Vancouver Island) built Blue Starr with Bill Garden’s blessing. Garden, who lived on Toad’s Landing – his personal island not far away from Nanaimo, may have even asked the brothers personally to finish out their Alaskan Yellow Cedar on Oak “Walloon” hull as a …
Buʔqʷ
Buʔqʷ, pronounced approximately like ‘poke’ but with a ‘b,’ which is Lushootseed for duck (as in the bird), is a 16 foot replica ship’s small boat from the 19th Century. She is a replica of what I believe was the smallest ship’s boat carried by the USS Massachusetts in April of 1850, when the Massachusetts became the first American, and …
Mr Mallard
Mr Mallard was launched by Sam Devlin on the same day his eldest son was born. I bought her in a sadly neglected state to save her from the fate of being a pond diorama. After a thorough restoration and a few years of sailing I succumbed to the temptation of a larger boat and sold her. A few years …
ALEMBIC
Sparkman and Stephens designed the 48’ auxiliary cutter ALEMBIC to give her maximum windward ability (design #1479). Built by Chapman and Kalayjian, in Costa Mesa, CA, she was launched at Newport Beach in 1960, for the original owner, Dr. Gordon Alles. Construction is mahogany, strip planked, over white oak frames. The box-beam mast is Sitka spruce and the boom Douglas …
Tern
Built In Port Hadlock and launched in 1983. She’s an Atkins design. Sailed to Hawaii and back by the owner builder. The next owner raced her in many ancient mariner races. I purchased the boat in 2015. I had her on the hard for two 2 years. She planked with fir. on oak frames. During that time I repowered her …
Bright Star
“Bright Star” is a Tolman Jumbo 24, from a design by Renn Tolman of Homer, Alaska. As are all the Tolman boats, she is a plywood stitch-and-glue wooden boat, and light for her size. The Tolman Alaskan Skiffs began as 18′ open boats, built for fishing in Alaskan waters. The basic design has evolved. Most now are cabin boats 22′-24′ …
Julia
20 FOOT WOODEN MOTOR LAUNCH Asking $25,000 OBO This beautiful fan tail round bottom craft was designed and built by Cliff Niederer. She was built with care of the finest materials: the keel is of Port Orford cedar with purple heart; the stem is of purple heart; the stern post, deadwood, horn timber and stern are all the finest Honduras …
Olive Oyl
I purchased the down on her luck 1927 fishboat from the Port of Bellingham in 2006. I knew she was a wreck, but even in her decrepit condition her classic sea-kindly lines could not be missed. As an experienced user of West System Epoxy cold molding techniques I saw right past her rotting pilothouse and leaking decks to the fact …
A Member of the Family: Wooden Boats and the Legacy of Ownership
By WBF staff As anyone with a wooden boat will tell you, owning one is like having another member of the family. A little high-maintenance, yes, but strong and beautiful, with captivating stories and the scars to go with them, not to mention the kind of charisma that would induce you to expend a nice weekend going through stacks of …
Building a batana: a symbol of Croatian heritage takes shape in Gig Harbor
Michael Vlahovich says “from design to construction, from launch to adventure, from maintenance to restoration, wooden boats are what maritime stories are made of.” A master shipwright, commercial fisherman, and Tacoma native, Mike has dedicated his career to the preservation of maritime heritage from the Chesapeake Bay to the Pacific Northwest. Now living in his father’s birth village of Sumartin, …
Announcing This Year’s Festival Headliners!
Lin Pardey A pioneer of long-distance voyaging and longtime Wooden Boat Festival icon, Lin Pardey is most certainly the real deal. Since the 1960s, Lin has accrued more than 217,000 sea miles sailing on boats ranging from 24 feet to more than 60, the majority without engines on two wooden cutters she and her husband Larry built: Serafin and Taleisin. …
Riptide
By Pete Leenhouts, owner RIPTIDE was built in 1927 by the Schertzer Brothers Boat and Machine Company, then located on the north shore of Lake Union near the foot of Stone Way in Seattle. She is planked in Port Orford cedar, copper riveted to white oak frames over an Apitong backbone with a marine plywood pilothouse and a western red …
Meet the Artist: Steven Dews
Bio Famed for his spectacular maritime paintings, Steven Dews is one of the most successful living maritime artists in the world. After graduating art school and returning to his childhood home, he turned to art to express his love for the sea. He studied photographs, reference books, model ships, and architectural drawings while producing hundreds of pencil sketches, becoming a …
Meet the Artist: Chris Witkowski
Artist Statement Two years ago, when the Wooden Boat Festival team and I were brainstorming a concept for the 2020 Festival, little did we know that the image I created would be even more perfect for this year’s Festival. With research, we knew there were female ship captains in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and we decided to …
Feeling the love
By Bruce Bateau When I pulled up to the customs dock on San Juan Island on a sunny September afternoon, I was feeling good. Over the past six weeks, I had traveled some two hundred miles down Vancouver Island, traversed five major rapids, and used mostly paper charts to do it. Now, I had completed the final major crossing of …
Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op Turns 40
By Andy Gale As you walk the docks at this year’s Festival, take a look at the 83-foot schooner Destiny, the 44-foot sloop Inca, and 49-foot M/V Riptide—boats repaired or retrofitted by the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op. A Unique Business Model in Marine Trades In 1981, a unique business ownership model in the marine trades arose when a few shipwrights …
If Ya Ain’t Rowin’, Ya Ain’t Goin’: Teenager Tackles SEVENTY48 Solo
By Ross Anderson Sixty miles into the SEVENTY48 race, Akeyla Behrenfeld decided she was done. The 14-year-old Port Townsend middle schooler had rowed her home-built boat solo through rain, three to five-foot seas, and 20-knot headwinds. She was soaked from the salt spray, her arms aching, hands blistered. The race had been won hours earlier by veteran mariners in high-tech …
The Purpose Behind the Project: Restoring Helma
By Robert d’Arcy For me, working on classic wooden boats is about values. Good design: these vessels are drawn for seakeeping—finely tuned to their purpose and environment, highly functional, and incredibly beautiful at the same time. Fine construction: these boats had to be well-built to survive a variety of wind conditions, sea states, and weather events, both expected and unexpected. …
Schooner Lavengro
Built in 1926 and originally named “Helen,” Schooner Lavengro is a 2/3rds scale yacht built on the lines of the Biloxi shrimp and oyster schooners of the early 1900s. During WWII she was loaned to the US Coast Guard Station in Biloxi, where she was used for sail training and as a patrol vessel. From the 1950s onward, she changed …
Destiny
This ship was a locale for Hollywood elite to gather and party together. Humphrey Bogart skippered this schooner as a Transpacific Judges’ boat in the 1936 Transpacific Yacht Race from Santa Monica Light to Diamond Head Light; 2210 nautical miles. Howard Hughes secretly married actress Terri Moore on board. Hughes had the boat stripped, her masts shortened, and rebuilt her …
Veteran
BACKGROUND: The Skansie purse seiner Veteran, launched in 1926, is a beautifully restored sample of one of the most recognized and significant vessel designs to have originated from Gig Harbor. One of over 100 purse seiners constructed during the 1920s and 1930s at the Skansie Ship Building Company, Veteran and her sister ships were widely recognized as the state-of-the-art purse …
Sea Witch
Sea Witch is a well-known classic wooden boat in the Pacific Northwest. Stories of Sea Witch have been in print for decades in the PNW; a Port Townsend original she has been featured in newspaper articles, magazine covers, Jo Bailey’s gunkholing guides, and previous festivals by her former owners. The current owners were bewitched by her in the summer of …