This week’s interview is with Peter Crim of the Wind and Oar Boat School in Portland, OR. I first met Peter at the PNWMHC meeting in Portland, OR in April, and then reconnected with Peter while he was at the CAMA Beach facility of the Center for Wooden Boats attending a 3 day session “Teaching With Small Boats”.

Peter grew up on the east coast, and from the age of 6 his parents owned and sailed wooden boats and sailboats of various sizes including a 34ʹ Alden cruising boat. Peter was also a sailing instructor using the Beetlecat as the instruction venue of choice.

After spending 20+ years in the technology and building industries, Peter hung up his professional career and headed for Brooklin, ME to attend the Wooden Boat School in 2010. Peter took a bunch of fun courses and got the bug to open a school in Portland to “... build communities through building boats”. One of the school’s projects has been building the one design St Ayles Rowing Skiff to participate in races around the area. Check out "Scottish Coastal Rowing" for more information about racing the St Ayles.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Two weeks ago, I met Chris Finks (Maritime Heritage Coalition) at the Portland Yacht Club to personally

One of the chaps I interviewed that day was Chuck Kellogg. Chuck has been a member of the Portland Yacht Club since his youth when he first learned seamanship and sailing on the Club’s 18ʹ plywood “Flatties“. The Flattie is a sloop with a centerboard that was designed and first built in 1928 in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC.

Chuck currently owns a drop dead gorgeous 1937 Bridge Deck boat “Phantom”. She is 58ʹ of sheer beauty and elegance, and was built by Astoria Marine Company in Astoria, OR. Chuck also owns a 36ʹ Bridge Deck boat “Kaleta”. She is is a beautifully designed and inviting vessel built in 1928 in Tacoma, WA by Martinac Marine. Chuck had her out of the water to restore her hull last year (we’re talking major restoration), now she’s back in the water for interior and deck refurbishing (see photos below). Kaleta will be the Flagship vessel for the Maritime Heritage Coalition.

Next I was given a tour of “Marymack” – a 50+’ Bridge Deck boat that is absolutely beautiful.

Finally, I met with and interviewed Mark Hall who owns a 1961 Chris Craft Constellation that is 55ʹ of craftsmanship and stateliness.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Chris grew up in California, and at the ripe old age of 5, went water skiing behind his neighbor (Fred’s) wooden boat – a Century water ski boat. Soon after, Fred traded in the Century and bought a fiberglass replacement.

Chris was appalled that Fred would trade such a beautiful wooden vessel in for a plastic boat. Thus began his love for wooden vessels.

As a young adult, living on the east coast, Chris had the privilege to cruise around on the USS Sequoia – a presidential vessel that is now a Historical Landmark and was first used by Herbert Hoover in 1920.

Chris currently owns an early 60’s Chris Craft Constellation 36 footer. He is meticulously restoring the boat to its original colors, interior surfaces and finish. This rig is a beaut. Prior to that Chris cruised around in an 18ʹ 1947 Chris Craft Sportsmen.

About 5 years ago, Chris put together the first Maritime Heritage Festival in Portland. He connected with numerous maritime people and organizations and saw the need to bring them all together for some maritime synergy. Voila – the Maritime Heritage Coalition was formed last year in Portland. According to their

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

This week I interviewed Master Mariner (USCG 1,600 ton all Oceans Auxillary-Sail license), Rigger (master rigger of five Tall Ships) and Sailmaker (owner of Force 10 Sailmaking and Rigging) Wayne Chimenti. Wayne has over 30 years of sail training on 20 different schooners and square riggers – including a 13 year stint as Captain of the Puget Sound based 1913 schooner Adventuress.

Wayne is actively instructing at, and helped found the Community Boat Building Project (Port Hadlock, WA) in conjunction with the NW School of Wooden Boat Building and the Port Townsend and Chimacum, WA school districts.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

This week’s podcast is a little change of pace. First off, I talk about the Pacific Northwest Maritime Heritage Council meeting that I attended last weekend in Portland, OR. While there, I was able to reconnect with some friends from the Grays Harbor Historical Seaport (Cheers Les!), Dan Leach from Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle (Hi Dan!) and meet some new folks. One of the new wooden boat enthusiasts I met was Caitlin Shrigley – Outreach Manager for the Oregon Maritime Museum. This museum is located on the 1947 sternwheeler Portland (see pics below) on the Willamette River. Caitlin gave us all an awesome tour after the PNWMHC meeting and included in my podcast is a 10 minute interview I did with Caitlin that day.

Also included in this podcast is an interview with Dan Leach from The Center for Wooden Boats with an exciting announcement about the grand opening of their new facility on north Lake Union.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

When Christian was a child, her family moved every 2-3 years to follow her dad’s transfers as an USAF pilot. But Seattle was considered the family’s home base. They spent a lot of time water skiing with friends, and paddling about in their Willits Canoe made on Day Island near Tacoma, WA by the Willits brothers. Christian’s dad was the Pacific Northwest Ski Champion for 7 years and helped form the Lake Washington Water Ski Club.

When Christian was 11 her mother got a hankering to buy a mothballed ferry boat for the family to float around on in the beautiful waters of WA state. In 1960 the family purchased the 1909 M/V Lotus Edwardian style wooden vessel for $5,000 – the exact price she sold for new. At the time she was moored on Lake Union in Seattle and in serious disrepair. The boat engine had been stripped to help support the WWII effort, so the family towed her everywhere they wanted to be and lived on her engineless.

Tune in to this podcast to hear the complete interview including how the M/V Lotus survived a recent mooring failure grounding.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Steve grew up in Minnesota canoeing and water skiing with his family and friends. As a young adult he visited his brother in Washington state, found Port Townsend and decided that was his sweet spot. After moving there, he met Bob Prothero (late founder of Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building) and enrolled at the boat school, so, in his words, he could “fix my own boats”. After graduating, he did a few restoration projects and soon had his own shop and wooden boat repair and building business -Point Hudson Boat Repair. He builds and restores wooden Pocock racing shells here also.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Carol had done very little boating, and no sailing as a kid in Camas, WA. But that all changed in 1972 when the family’s doctor and wife invited her to sail with them to the south Pacific on their new 42ʹ Cascade sailboat. Hasse eagerly hopped on board and a few days later they hit gale forced winds of 70 mph and 30ʹ seas off the Oregon coast. But there were few worries for this hearty group who landed safely in San Francisco, and then made their way to Mexico. From there Carol hooked up with other adventurous souls and sailed to many cool destinations (Costa Rica, Galapagos Islands and Hawaii to name a few).

During these early adventures, Carol learned celestial navigation using ye olde sextant, sail repair, and plenty other seamanship skills. And she learned to love the cruising life, sailing on a lot of cool rigs including a Chinese junk, Alden yawl, Jim Brown trimaran and others.

A few years later in 1975, Carol sailed into Port Townsend with some friends and fell in love with the place. With the support and help of fellow wooden boat enthusiasts, Carol helped launch the inaugural Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in 1976. This festival continues to attract thousands of enthusiasts each year!

In 1978 Carol started Port Townsend Sails which has become world renowned for it workmanship, design, and durability of its sails.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Eric has a rich maritime heritage. His family moved from Superior Wisconsin to the Seattle area in 1965 so his dad could work in the Seattle shipyards. Soon after, his father built a wooden fishing boat and headed to Alaska.

The boat was a 30ʹ Bristol Bay double ender made for the rough waters of Alaska.

When Eric was just 10 years old, he spent the summer in Alaska fishing with his dad. In his early 20’s, Eric started boatbuilding on his own – making kayaks and other small boats. One of his first projects was a Greenland stitch and glue kayak kit – from England of all places! He learned to Eskimo roll with this boat and spent a lot of time paddling Puget Sound, including navigating the treacherous Deception Pass and getting caught in a gale which tested his rolling skills.

A few years later, Eric stumbled upon the book Norse boatbuilding in North America and became hooked on the Viking method of clinker boat building. Then he found Jay Smith, who he apprenticed under, and shortly after went to Scandinavia to visit the boatbuilding shops and museums. Five years ago Eric turned his part time passion into a full time career and founded North Fjord Boats.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Interview – Christine & Jeffrey Smith of Northwest Navigation

A friend suggested they meet up with a gentlemen on Lopez Island that owned several wooden boats which “needed work”. They traveled to Lopez Island, fell in love with and purchased a 65ʹ former “monkey boat” built in 1929 named David B. Jeffreys best estimate was that it would be a 2 year restoration project. EIGHT years later in 2006, the restoration was done and their floating B&B company – Northwest Navigation – was launched. Christine has written an exciting book chronicling the David B rebuilding adventure.

Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B.

Tune in to this podcast to hear Christine and Jeffrey talk about their dreams, the gory details of their restoration project, how their floating B&B works, and other cool topics.

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You can contact me at [email protected] to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS  Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.