Hooked On Wooden Boats

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down and do my second interview with Lin and Larry Pardey of sailing fame.

During the 45 minute discussion, I peppered the Pardeys with questions such as:

Top 10 mistakes made in offshore cruising

How to prepare for a circumnavigation

How to select the right boat for blue water cruising

Your favorite destinations around the world

We have a great time and the answers were amazing (as you might expect).

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to interview John Harris of CLC Boats in Annapolis Maryland.

John and I discussed new boats and plans at CLC, developments in the wooden boat kit industry, and other fun stuff John has been up to. CLC continues to be on the cutting edge of applying modern technology to developing

new designs, new manufacturing techniques, and innovative ways to make the kits more user friendly to all You can listen to 2 previous interviews I did with John at:

HOWB 057 HOWB 104

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Cody and Beth Harris of Salt Lake City, Utah and talk about their newly christened cutter Rabannah.

Cody designed and he and Beth built this beautiful 35ʹ cutter rigged plywood/cold molded sailboat over a 2 year period ending early in 2014. Cody and Beth are looking forward to many great cruising adventures in their cutter.

Check out the Harris’ BLOG for more information and pictures.

Congratulations to Cody & Beth and on this amazing first build!

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Scott Rohrer, volunteer at the Center for Wooden

Boats in Seattle, and discuss the fascinating history and pedigree and the famed R boat – Pirate.
Pirate has a long and storied history including being a direct descendant of Ted Geary’s design R class boat Sir Tom which was one of the winningest boats in history.

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Josh Colvin, co-editior of Small Craft Advisor Magazine and brainchild of the microcruising phenom SCAMP (Small Craft Advisor Magazine Project) sailboat. Josh and I discussed the SCAMP phenonema (nearing 300 Plan/Kit sets sold to date) in detail including SCAMP in the Everglades Challenge; the first Red Lantern Rally; and other fun SCAMP facts.

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Bob Lamson at the 38th annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival and discuss his boating background and his beautiful 1999 fully bright-worked (South African Mahogany) Venetian Water Taxi – Capolavoro (Italian for “masterpiece”).

Bob grew up in the Seattle area and his dad ran a boat shop on the Duwamish River when he was a kid. Fast forward to the 1990’s – Bob was taking business trips to Italy and started noticing the drop-dead-gorgeous wooden motor taxis in Venice. He made inquiries as to who the builder was, and shortly thereafter ordered a brand new custom built 31ʹ x 7ʹ Venetian Motor Taxi from Cantiere Motonautico Serenella. The boat is cold molded with 4 veneers of Mahogany and was shipped to the US in 1999 for Bob to enjoy and show in the Seattle area.

On this week’s episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Jake Beattie, Executive Director of the North Maritime Center, to discuss the recently announced event RACE TO ALASKA (and other NWMC happeni The event was conceived by Jake and friends while beerstorming at the 2013 Wooden Boat Festival’s Bar Harbor.

This inaugural adventure race begins June 4, 2015 in Port Townsend, WA and the first boat to reach Ketchikan Alaska wins $10,000 cash. Second place according to Beattie is “a set of steak knives” :D. June 4th was selected as the start date since at the time of year the weather patterns and winds are in transition and mostly unpredictable. This makes the Race a bit more exciting, and is spawning ideas for new boat designs. Row vs. Sail is the theme of the day.

The basic rules are as follows:

No engines allowed (i.e. if your boat has a motor – even if for emergencies only – you are out) No crew swapping

Three Checkpoints

Victoria, BC

Seymour Narrows, BC Bella Bella, BC

Any size boat with any propulsion method except a motor

No support except on Day One from Port Townsend to Victoria

For those that would like to enter the Race for Day One only, the entry fee is $50 and support is provided. And it sounds like a fair amount of folks might do this including myself (if I can finish my SCAMP in time).

Today I discuss the highlights and fun events (from my point of view) of the 2014 Port Townsend Wooden Boat

Festival. I arrived Thursday afternoon and grudgingly left Sunday evening after the festival was over and most of

the boats had sailed away I had an absolute blast for the entire time and secretly wished it was a little bit longer......

Here are a few of the highlights for me:

Recorded 7 interviews for future podcasts:

Lin & Larry Pardey of sailing fame

John Harris – owner of CLC Boats

Colin Angus – 2007 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year

Cody & Beth Harris – Designed and built their own beautiful sailboat over a 2 year period Jay Benford – Designer extraordinaire

Jake Beattie – NWMC Exec. Director; Discussed the all new RACE TO ALASKA

Tony Grove – Restoring Dorothy; oldest (built 1897) functioning sailboat in Canada

Gave a really fun presentation to a full room: Building Your First Wooden Boat – A Primer (based on my eBook)

Took over 300 photographs (ok – I will ditch all but about 75 of the best :D)

Attended 2 presentations

Nautical photography

RACE TO ALASKA

Crewed on “Tradition” (19ʹ Crotch Island Pinky) during Sunday’s sailby

Sold by 14ʹ Dory – Dawn Treader

Spent zero (as in nada) dollars while in Port Townsend

Hooked up with Korey and Christina who moved to Port Townsend last year to attend the NWSWBB after hearing my podcast

😀

Saw some amazing boats:

A 52ʹ Folding Cruising Boat

Jay Smith’s lapstrake faering; yellow cedar strakes fastened to white oak with copper rivets and trunnels

Lady Washington tall ship

Adventuress tall ship built 1913

Row Cruiser – newly designed rowing and camping boat

Virginia V – Steam powered Mosquito Fleet boat

Pacific Swift Canadian sail training schooner

Lots of of other really cools boats too (about 175 boats all told)

Today’s podcast is an interview with Colin Angus. Colin and his wife Julie are avid outdoor enthusiasts and have accomplished numerous human powered adventures that seem undoable and improbable to most of us

During the interview, Colin discusses growing up on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, and how reading about real life adventures of others led him to dream and seek his own Adventures. As a 12 year old, he read The Dove, and that clinched for him the goal to become an adventurer himself.

Colin and his wife Julie design ocean capable row boats and sell kits for the same, speak, write, and adventure. Check out their website at AngusAdventures.com.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Marty Loken – organizer of the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters and the 3rd annual Pocket Yacht Palooza in Port Townsend.

Marty is an avid small boat enthusiast, having come full circle from owning larger vessels and yachts (including a Lake Union Dream Boat) to realizing the amazing benefits of trailerable boats that are less expensive to own and maintain, easier to get to and from the water, and just plain get used more.

In this interview with Marty, we discuss his current projects, the benefits of small boats, and the 3rd Annual Pocket Yacht Palooza.