Hooked On Wooden Boats

Today’s podcast is a joint interview with Carol Hasse (“Hasse”) of Port Townsend Sails and Barb Trailer of the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, WA. Hasse moved to Port Townsend in 1977 and started her sailmaking business in 1978.

She was part of a small group of enthusiasts who were instrumental in planning and starting the very first Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival in 1977. Hasse discusses how the festival got its start, who was involved, and why it is such a special event year after year after year. Barb Trailer has been co- director (along with Carrie Andrews) of the PT Festival since 2011 and has logged many miles at sea on vessels such as WN Ragland , a 101’ wooden Baltic Trader; Sea Angel, a 88‘ ketch; and MY Evviva, a 160’ power boat. During the interview, Barb discusses some of her favorite memories at the Festival and what to expect at this year’s Wooden Boat Festival on September 5-7, 2014.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Brant Lodge of the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle,WA. Brant is the field trip coordinator specializing in Native American maritime culture and heritage.

Brant is also learning to become a master canoe carver, and has been involved in numerous open water canoe expeditions in the Northwest.

Today’s podcast is Part 2 (HOWB 134 was Part 1) of an interview with Jon Wilson – founder of the WoodenBoat in Brooklin, ME. WoodenBoat is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. That is truly amazing – congratulations to Jon and the whole crew at WoodenBoat!

In today’s interview, Wilson discusses the last 3 decades at WoodenBoat and his work at Just Alternatives – a non-profit he founded to facilitate VOD (Victim Offender Dialogue).

Today’s podcast is Part 1 (HOWB 135 is Part 2) of an interview with Jon Wilson – founder of the WoodenBo in Brooklin, ME. WoodenBoat is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. That is truly amazing – congratulations to Jon and the whole crew at WoodenBoat!

In today’s interview, Wilson discusses his growing up years in Rhode Island with summers in the Thimble Islands; when and how he started boating and getting interested in wooden boats; and the first 10 years of WoodenBoat magazine.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Dick Wagner – founder of the Center for Wooden Boats, and Aislinn Palmer – director of the 38th Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival in Seattle, WA on July 4-6, 2014.

I peppered Dick with questions about how and why the very first festival was started in 1976, who attended, how many boats were there, did they intend to make it an annual event, and on and on. It was fascinating to hear why it’s always been July 4th weekend, how the toy boat project started, and concerns about the cost of having enough toilet paper for the festival

After talking with Dick, the conversation turned to Aislinn who grew up around boats in Maine, and has been directing the festival for 3 years. According to Aislinn, this year’s event will be quite different from the prior 2 years as the footprint of the festival will be smaller and more personal, and Seafair will have their venue separately.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Jim Miller – President, General Manager and Publisher of WoodenBoat in Brooklin, ME.

Jim grew up in Rhode Island and played a lot of sports as a youth. He participated in some boating activities but the goal was mainly to catch fish and have fun.

After obtaining his business degree and working for a few years, Miller spotted a classified ad (in 1985) – WoodenBoat was looking to hire a Business Manager. Jim didn’t know anything about WoodenBoat, but he was living in Maine, so he interviewed for the position and was hired. At the time, he owned a center console fiberglass boat. He soon came to love wooden vessels and has since purchased and built several.

Miller owns a 1984 Bolger PowerCruiser – Blackbird. She was built by Onion River Boatworks in North Hero, VT and continues to “turn heads” cruising around Maine’s waters (see pictures below).

Jim and I also discuss highlights of the 23rd Annual WoodenBoat Show in Mystic, CT – June 27-29, 2014.

Today’s podcast episode is a recording I made for HOWB002 (October 2011) about a 16.5ʹ Mill Creek kayak

Today’s podcast episode is an interview with Korey Ruben and Christina Cogan. They moved from Florida in September 2013 so Korey could attend the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA.

Before moving from Florida, Korey was pursuing his helicopter pilots license so he could become a commercial pilot. Christina was working as a microbiologist at a large company in Florida. Korey had begun sailing and lived on a small boat for a time. He started listening to the HOWB podcast and heard about the school in Port Hadlock.

In September 2012, he and Christina flew to WA to attend the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and check out the boat school. I had the privilege of meeting them at that time, and we had a great time hanging out and attending the festival together.

Korey will finish school this summer and he and Christina will pursue their dream of building a boat and sailing around the world! This is fun stuff folks

Today’s podcast episode is an interview with Pete Leenhouts of Port Ludlow, WA who is the Executive Director of the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, WA.

Pete is a retired career U.S. Navy Officer, and was the Captain of a Wooden Mine Sweeper for several years.

Pete has written numerous articles about and for the School, is an avid photographer (of wooden boats

Today’s podcast episode is an interview with David Nichols of Austin, Texas.

Nichols has been building and designing boats for almost twenty years, and is the author of three books: A Working Guide to Small Boat Sails; Lapstrake Canoes; and Building the Sea Eagles. He’s written articles for WoodenBoat and Boatbuilder magazines, as well as writing and producing boatbuilding videos.

David also taught boatbuilding at the WoodenBoat School, in Brooklin, Maine, for five years and Great Lakes Boat Building School, in Cedarville, Michigan, for two years.

David is a partner in the Small Craft Skills Academy (SCSA) along with Howard Rice and John Welsford. SCSA conducts virtual boatbuilding classes. During these webcasts the student is in his or her shop while the instructor builds a boat on camera. Envision a multi-camera TV broadcast that is real time interactive with the student using a web-camera in their shop, asking real time questions and get real time answers.