Shavings Volume 24 Festival (2003)

The Center for WOODEN BOATS

Festival Edition of Shavings

The 2003 Wooden Boat Festival poster was designed by Tara McCarthy of Tara McCarthy Design Concern.

WELCOME F R O M

The Center for

WOODEN BOATS 1010 Valley St., Seattle, WA 98109-4468 206.382.2628 e-mail: cwb@cwb.org www.cwb.org Board of Trustees Alex Bennett, Caren Crandell, David Dolson, Dave Erskine, Brandt Faatz, George Galpin, Ken Greff, Gary Hammons, David Kennedy, Stephen Kinnaman, Penelope Koch, Len Marklund, Lori O’Tool, Pike Powers, Bill VanVlack, Dick Warren, Trip Zabriskie.

Board President Ken Greff Executive Director Bob Perkins Founding Director Dick Wagner Boatshop Manager Brad Rice Dockmaster Patrick Gould Office Manager Laurie Leak Public Services Manager Casey Gellermann Special Events Manager Julie Mae Muiderman Volunteer & SailNOW! Programs Managr John Vonk Youth Programs Manager Nancy Ries Shavings is a publication of The Center for Wooden Boats, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization. This special 27th Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival issue was designed and produced by Heidi Hackler of Dolphin Design, www.dolphindesignstudio.com.

Inside This Issue

Welcome to the Festival! .......................... 2 Quick & Daring Boat Building ............... 3 Books & More .......................................... 5 Build a Little Boat .................................... 6 The Cama Beach Wherry ......................... 7 Wembly and the Seven Philosophies Involved in Boat Owning ....................... 8 Help CWB Through Donations ............ 9 Another Quiet Night on the Barbary Coast ............................. 10

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elcome to this year’s Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival! We’re so pleased that you’ve come to join our annual party. We try to make our Festival just like everything else at CWB: an opportunity to actually do stuff. So in addition to looking at all the wonderful boats and displays make sure you get involved yourself: build a toy boat, take a boat ride, sail a model yacht.

This year’s Festival comes amidst lots of new and exciting developments at South Lake Union and in CWB’s life as your favorite hands-on maritime museum. General design work for the new South Lake Union Park has been completed after many meetings, iterations, much public input, hard-nosed practical assessments and flights of fancy.

Make sure to look for these plans at the South Lake Union information station here at the Festival. As part of the Park development we’ve been looking hard at new facilities that give us more capacity to deliver programs, including a new shop, new exhibit spaces and an overall redesign to our layout that will help to make us more functional and more interesting (if that’s possible!). The pace is also picking up on the development of our new site and programs at Cama Beach State Park on Camano Island. We hope to be operating there by the fall of 2004. Are we busy? Ohmiword, yes. Are we excited? Ditto!

In all of this planning and development, the thing that gives us the confidence to proceed is the encouragement and support we get from people like you. We are proud of the reputation we have with our friends and neighbors for bringing great public service to our neighborhood, our city and to visitors from all over the globe. With your help, we’ll continue to do the great things we’ve been doing for 27 years and with your help we’ll do even more.

The Festival is our annual celebration for reconnecting to old friends and making new friends.

As in the rest of life, we can’t have too many friends. If you’re in the old friend category: welcome back! If you’re new to us: please take the time to learn about all the great stuff that happens at CWB not just at the Festival but year ‘round. I feel sure that you’ll like what you see. And we hope that we’ll see a lot more of you. We want you to be a regular part of what makes CWB truly special: great people using great boats.

Enjoy the show!

Calendar of Events & Workshops ...... 11 Cruising the Land of the War Canoes . 14 Volunteer of the Year ............................ 16 Membership Application ...................... 16 Kay Dee II, A Historic Vessel ............... 17

Bob Perkins, Executive Director

The Few, Fast, Frozen: Iceboating ....... 18 Things to do at CWB ............................ 19 Sternwheelers of Stanwood .................. 20 Sea Story for the Modern Age ............... 22

OUR MISSION: To create a community center where maritime history comes alive and our small craft heritage is preserved and passed along to future generations.

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CWB Calendars For Sale!

Our 2004 Wooden Boat Northwest Calendar is hot off the press. With the calendar on your wall you can see blue sky and good wooden boats every month. The calendar also shows the dates of the main wooden boat shows and festivals in the Northwest.

The photos, by Ted Spiegel, alternate between distant vistas and up-close details, giving reminders of the multiple ways we enjoy wood and water. Ted has been a photographer for Washington State, National Geographic, and West Point Military Academy. He has produced about 20 books and for 15 years has also produced the Hudson River Valley calendar. Ted is also the loving owner of a classic Norwegian Olselver. He is currently shooting for the 2005 calendar.

The calendar is for sale at the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival for $10. After that the price will be $10 for members, $12 non-members. The calendar is viewable on the web site – www.cwb.org.

Please tell your business-owning friends to consider using our calendar as a way to advertise themselves and thank their clients.

Quick and Daring Boat Building Contest

The

Or....how I almost glued myself to the Naval Reserve Parking Lot

By Bob Allen

Ages ago, when people typed on mechanical machines with keys and had to use a special device to open pop bottles, boats were made mostly from wood and sometimes from plastic.

Gradually, the ratio shifted, and more boats were being built out of plastic. This article, however, is not about plastic boats vs. wooden boats, or even about boats as you might understand them. This is about gumption, glue and glory (not necessarily in that order). This is about the Quick and Daring Boat Building Contest.A well-designed and wellconstructed boat is both a physical object of beauty and an idea. Forget the physical object part and concentrate, for a moment, on the idea part....Platonic “boatness” vs. Aristotelian “object-ness”, if you get my meaning. If you go far enough along the spectrum from material “object-boat” towards the immaterial concept of “boat-boat”, you eventually come to a place where the actual material used is inconsequential to the project.

Somewhere along this spectrum, you will get to a place where most boat builders never go, a place of minimal material and marginal seaworthiness. Go just a tad bit further along that spectrum, and you will have entered the rarified atmosphere of Quick and Daring boat building.

OK, so what is Quick and Daring boat building? To describe it poetically, imagine you are on a deserted island with a few sheets of plywood and 30 cases of Sikaflex (a sinister semi-solidified goo made of seagull droppings, lard and glue). Don’t ask how you ended up with all the Sikaflex; this is poetry, after all. You also have a few tools which you scrounged from your sinking vessel and that’s about it. Out of this pitiful assemblage of material, you must construct a boat which will carry you to that larger island over there that will not be inundated by the incoming, sharkinfested tide, which will overlap your tiny island in about six hours.

We at the Center for Wooden Boats have duplicated this scenario minus the islands, the sharks and the tide (and most of the Sikaflex), while maintaining the knuckle-biting suspense and bravado, in our annual Quick and Daring Boat Building Contest.

Ah, Grasshopper, a little history: In the first years of this blessed event, which is an integral part of the annual CWB Fourth of July Wooden Boat Festival, six teams of two were given two sheets of 4x8 plywood, two “ 2x4 spars”, a sheet of blue plastic tarp and all the Sikaflex they could use. The event, coincidentally enough, was sponsored, in part, by Sikaflex. The contest was held (and still is) on the (former) Naval Reser ve property which the Navy graciously offered to us for the boat show.

Each team was required to submit their plans to Dick Wagner and the nautical aesthetes at the CWB for approval.

I doubt anyone, except perhaps Dick himself, knows what the criteria were for entry into the contest. A photo montage of the winning entries over the years would not clarify the question of aesthetics but would heighten the viewer’s esteem for the bravery of the “Sikaflexa-nauts”. A best summary of aesthetics would be to say that the boats leaned way over towards the “boat-as-idea”, not the “physical-object-of-beauty-boat” concept discussed earlier. An “objectboat” tends to last more than a few days and provide its owners/builders with more than an afternoon of frolic on the water, whereas a “boat-as-idea boat” need only fulfill some demented nautical fantasy on the part of the builders and may, after totally immersing them in real “object-water”, disintegrate into component parts and substances. This should be perfectly clear. If you feel you’d like more information about aesthetics and speed in boat building, the Center is full of people who are full of ideas.

Back to history: the admirably (no pun) good sports at the Naval Reserve were becoming somewhat disturbed by the growing, unauthorized speed bump of Sikaflex that was growing annually in their parking lot. Remember, that for 361 days of the year, that parking lot was theirs but we at the CWB were causing at least as much problem with it for our mere three or four days of boat building.

It was not only the Navy’s growing disenchantment with Sikaflex (their love of seagulls notwithstanding) that led to our restructuring of the Quick and Daring, it was our own powerful aesthetic sense of boats as boats that came to the surface, so to speak. The relatively limited venue of boat design possibilities that could be wrested from two sheets of plywood and lots of glue had been exhausted and it was time to expand our vision to produce a boat design or designs that could be built quickly, and, MOST ASTOUNDINGLY, kept for more than an afternoon.

To reach this lofty plateau required a revamping of the rules and an enlightened definition of our goals.

“Enlightened definition of goals” is an Eastern idea only recently adopted by the West along with acupuncture and tofu.

Nonetheless, we were up to the task.

Over the years, we who judge the event and dutifully receive the pitiful bribes offered us to sway our opinions, crafted a set of rules, some of which I remember well enough to recount here:

Continued on Page 4

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Quick & Daring Boat Building Continued from Page 3 1. The boat should be a “design worth keeping”. This is a Dick Wagner concept intended to insure that the boat not be left as trash on the CWB grounds after the event. We wanted boats that could be built by the average builder (in reasonable time) and that would serve the user well.

2. The boat should be made primarily of wood. One year, the winning entry was constructed of two cardboard tubes about twelve feet long and a foot in diameter that were used to roll carpet.

Their floatation was produced by a chemical mixture that oozed a kind of root beer float foam into the tubes which were then coated with a sealant of some sort. The “bow” ends first being squeezed together to form a thin entry, in the timeless method used to reduce water resistance. While both “quick” and certainly “daring”, this design was not something that would meet criterion number one, nor number two. Since the “W” in “CWB” stands for “wood”, we felt that it was consistent with our implied ethic to require contestant entries to be made (primarily) of wood rather than alien substances of dubious nautical worth or environmental safety.

3. There should be some serious attempt to produce a boat that would carry its crew in reasonable safety though the triangular course of “rowing”, “sailing” and “free-style”. While a capsize at the dock when the crew boards the vessel can be an amusing spectacle, most of those watching would never see it because of the crowd and the absence of live TV monitors. We much prefer to have the boat capsize out where everyone can see it.

There are other criteria which escape me at this writing, but you can be assured that the limited, sometimes inept, highly amusing and messy boats of yesteryear’s Q and D are things of the past. Occasionally, in spite of our rigorous adherence to aesthetics and the rules outlined above, some team will sneak in a boat of substandard quality. We have come to tolerate this practice to some extent because it livens up the contest since the majority of spectators are somewhat bored by seeing boats which float and sail properly and are subconsciously hoping for a spill or some dramatic occurrence to transpire during the race portion of the event.

The building progresses through

two days of the Boat Festival. The teams are divided into two groups: one group works on the first day of the show, the second group on the second day. The last day of the show is the actual race.

Judging the event is a fairly complex procedure that we judges would have all learned by now if the numbering process wasn’t changed every year. There are eight categories by which we judge the boats: 1. Design worth keeping 2. Originality 3. Showmanship 4. Time 5. Cost 6. Weight of tools used 7. Aesthetics 8. Performance (the actual race) In each category, we rate the teams with numbers from 1 to 10. There are some variations in the numbering between categories and we attempt to balance all eight categories so that we don’t end up favoring speed of construction over design worth keeping.

This is to eliminate boats such as the cardboard tube boat which was built in about 45 minutes.

At the start of the contest on each day, the teams weigh their tools and present the judges with their receipts for materials. They are given an allowance for materials from the CWB on acceptance of their entry, and any cost above that is paid by the team itself and also penalized in the judging. At noon, Dick or one of the other judges announces the start and notes the time.

Much of the fun of the event depends on the teams and their enthusiasm. During the course of the Festival, folks drop in to harass, question, laugh at, laugh with and generally interact with the builders. Judges drop in from time to time to check on the boats under construction and to make sure there is no sabotage or improper bribery. Bribery is considered improper unless each judge is compensated equally.

Among the judges, there is a continuing discussion about the relative merits/de-merits of each boat. Most of our discussion centers on “freeboard” vs. crew weight, and “sea keeping ability”.

Both of these are very arcane nautical concepts which I will attempt to explain in a few simple sentences so that the reader may better appreciate the complexity of boat building and the ridiculous pretense that surrounds the art thereof.

“Freeboard” means, simply, how much of this thing will stick out of the water

when it’s loaded with crew? If the answer is a negative number, then the crew will probably get wet. To determine where the waterline will be on a boat, you need to know the volume of the hull below the waterline (which you have not figured out yet) and the weight of an equal volume of water. Boatbuilders determine the waterline when they design a boat because they know how to calculate the internal volume of the hull and they know the weight of the boat and everything going into it. The waterline is that point at which the weight of the boat and contents matches the weight of the water that is displaced.

“Sea keeping” means that the boat is not likely to sink unless abused or overloaded. Any sea that is kept by these boats is usually returned after the event.

Believe me, after judging at least 12 of these events, it’s not always obvious that the concepts of freeboard and sea keeping figure hugely in the design and construction of the boats. That’s why we judges spend so much of the event guessing what will happen when the wood meets the water (or parking lot as the case may be).

Teams are allotted six hours to structurally complete their boats with a free time allowance for painting or aesthetics. At the end of the first day, the boats are moved aside for those building on the second day. The finale occurs on the last day when the boats are ceremoniously paraded from the building area to the launch area. A lively event, this parade, and sometimes the scene of an entry dropout should some critical part of a boat come off or become unusable.

A prime requirement for the race is that each boat must carry the two who built it over a triangular course of about half a mile in total length. This requirement should provide an incentive for lightweight crews or larger boats, but not so.

One year, we had a Fiji Islander-type raft constructed of bamboo and built by two Fiji Islander-sized builders — a very entertaining project which scored highly in “showmanship” but, alas, disappeared completely during the boarding process.

Depending on wind speed and direction, the course is altered each year with an attempt being made to provide upwind, downwind and crosswind legs. Since anything that floats will sail downwind, the sailing leg is usually the downwind leg. The last leg is “freestyle”, and the contestants propel their humble vessels with whatever gear remains across the finish line to the screaming cheers of hundreds of well-wishers.

I cordially invite you to attend this year’s Quick and Daring. Think of it as a miniature America’s Cup right in your own Lake Union.

Bob Allen can find humor in a sack of stale donuts. He also has, through courage, persistence and anguish, built his wooden 26’ Seabird yawl.

Those skills perfectly matched the job description for a Quick &Daring Boatbuilding judge. So be it.

The Nina, Pinta, & Santa Maria...

It’s amazing what you can do with a few donated boats.

When you donate your boat to The Center for Wooden Boats, you help to ensure the health of our unique hands-on maritime programs.

50,000 visitors per year; 1,500 kids in our youth programs. We’re a 501 (c) (3) non-profit and we make donating easy! Call us!

The Center for Wooden Boats 1010 Valley Street, Seattle, WA 98109 206.382.2628 www.cwb.org

On Lake Union Moorage Leases 15' - 45' 206.284.4420 2450 Westlake Ave. N. www.boatworldmarinas.com 4

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BOOKS AND MORE B OOKS

By John Vonk

After my first summer of sailing the New England coast, I spent the winter season teaching at a school in Arizona. I had been bitten by the sailing bug and I had to figure out a way to survive living in the desert and away from the salt-water. I was a novice sailor and needed to build my skills.

I did find a way to get through that winter in the desert: by reading about my newfound passion. Sail magazine was a given. I found many more titles that were intriguing — I received an edition of Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling for Christmas that year and I tore through The Perfect Storm in a matter of days. My passion for sailing and the sea had also turned into a passion for books of ships and the sea. My idea was that by reading about sailing, my nautical knowledge would increase even though I would be off the water for nine months.

I like to think that it helped.

So here it is five years later and my workstation is located in a nautical library: the second deck of the CWB Boathouse.

I have to say that more times than not, I am pleasantly surprised by the unique titles that I find on our shelves. I also find it intriguing that many of our books have been donated and that when I open them up and find a name or an inscription there is a story behind the story. Maybe it is the old Bluejacket’s Manual that lived in a young sailor’s sea duffel as he set out to sea for the first time, or the Racing Rules of Sailing that were consulted over a heated protest.

The best surprises come in the form of the giant box of nautical titles that gets dropped off as a donation. We recently received such a box and found many classic sail-related titles, as well as some signed copies. Be still, my beating sailingliterate heart.

It is always a great time to take advantage of the CWB’s unique nautical library. Come down to the center, grab a cup of java, come upstairs, browse the shelves and kick back in the old chair that looks out over the lake. Who knows, you may learn something about sailing and the sea. One thing for certain -- it will be time well spent.

To help you get started in your path to maritime literacy, here is a list of recommended nautical titles: The Craft of Sail by Jan Adkins The Complete Sailor by David Seidman (this is used as the text book for our sailing programs) The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger Adrift By Steve Callahan

Heavy Weather Sailing by K. Adlard Coles (more of the necessary reference) Knee Deep in Shavings by Norman Blanchard & Stephen Wilen (this is a CWB classic! — there should be no need to ask why) Eagle Seamanship - Square Rigger Seamanship

by Lt. William Norton (learn what it takes to tack and wear a tall ship!)

John Vonk is CWB’s volunteer coordinator and sailing instruction coordinator. He has been a long-time Outward Bound instructor and in the Coast Guard Reserve. He is likely to give a pithy quote from a maritime book at weekly staff meetings.

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Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum Gypsy Moth Circles the World by Sir Francis Chichcester

Celebrates the Lake Union Wooden Boat festival.

The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier (one of my personal favorites) Red Sky in Mourning by Tami Oldham Ashcroft A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols Piloting by Charles C. Chapman (necessary reference for the consummate sailor-type)

Seattle Parks and Recreation Is proud to be a sponsor of the 26th Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival South Lake Union Park July 4-7, 2002

Bring this ad into the Seattle Flagship store in Pacific Place to receive 20% off Helly Hansen merchandise. *Offer good only at downtown Seattle location. Not valid with any other offer.

Discount on Helly Hansen merchandise only.

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BUILD A LITTLE B OAT

By Colleen Wagner

These happy children have just completed their beautiful little wooden model boats in a three-hour class (held monthly) at the Discovery Modelers Education Center. Photo

by Tami Naset

Is it your dream to build a boat, or even a ship, but you have no place to work, no tools, no budget and no know-how?

Don’t despair! The Discovery Modelers Education Center can solve your problem.

Build a model! We’ve got the plans or kits, the tools and the experienced instructors to turn you into a first-rate model boat/ship builder.

The Discovery Modelers Education Center is conveniently located in Room 239 in the Armory Building at South Lake Union Park (just west of The Center for Wooden Boats). Classes, workshops,

lectures and demonstrations are offered year-round to whet your appetite for model building and give you the opportunity to get your hands on the goods – i.e., the plans, the tools, the wood, the paints and more.

And when your model is completed, we even have an annual exhibit at the Wooden Boat Festival, where you can show off your work and see the craftsmanship of other modelers from throughout the Northwest. (The exhibit is in the Armory Building and is open throughout the Festival, including two large play models for kids.)

A model may be just a bit smaller than the boat you planned on building, but consider the advantages. A plank on frame model can utilize many of the same skills as building a full size boat, to prepare you for building the big one. You can build when you want to – whether is raining or sunny, day or night. You’ll never have to pay moorage; your mantel or even a tabletop makes a good “dock.”

And you’ll never have to worry about dry rot or worms; a feather duster is all you’ll need for upkeep. Your beautiful handmade model will give you many hours of pleasure – and you’ll probably never want to sell it!

How do you get started? Contact the Discovery Modelers Education Center (206-282-0985 or discoverymodelers@yahoo.com) for a Calendar of Events. Better yet, become a member and receive advance notice of classes and workshops and member discounts on fees. Throughout the year, we’ll try to hold as many classes as possible on building wood (and even plastic) kit models, from-scratch models, radio-controlled models, pond models and ships in bottles.

To augment the building workshops, we also offer classes in everything from researching your model to how to photograph the building process and how to appraise the finished product. Our classes and seminars concentrate on passing along general and specific information for all types of model building.

While those classes are mostly for adults, the fourth Saturday of each month we have a special class just for kids. For

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boatkit@flounderbay.com Anacortes WA 98221

Kayak Rentals on Lake Union Sales, Classes, Rentals 10am - 8pm Mon-Fri 9am - 6pm Sat & Sun Call 206.281.9694 for reservations or a catalog of Classes/Tours or Retail Items Northwest Outdoor Center Inc. 2100 Westlake Ave. N., Ste #1 Seattle, WA 98109 Your Everyday, On-the-Water Kayak Shop Paddle 30+ different models from our docks! www.nwoc.com

just $12 ($10 for second child from the same family), kids get to build a kit model of their choice (fishing boats, sailboats, tugs and more) and take it home. All the mess stays at DMEC and your kids end up the proud owners of boats they built themselves.

Our instructors are people with exceptional experience and know-how.

They don’t just teach, they share the model building experience with you, advising, keeping things moving when you get stuck and divulging the secrets of years of model making.

The Discovery Modelers Education Center is an old but new organization.

Our founding members came together in the mid-‘90s to create a 1”=1’ model of Capt. George Vancouver’s ship of exploration, HMS Discovery. It was on Vancouver’s voyage of 1791-1795 that our coastal waters first were charted and the Northwest found its place on the maps of the world.

The Discovery model, on display year-round in the Armory building, is a tribute to the modelers’ art and craftsmanship. Recently a new ship model depicting a vessel of great significance in Northwest maritime history joined the Discovery on display. The Exact, also built in 1”=1’ scale, depicts the schooner that brought the first non-native settlers to Seattle.

Another addition to the model fleet is planned for this year: the Beaver, the first steamer on Puget Sound (1836), originally a fur trader, then carrying settlers – and their belongings and livestock – and later the mail and supplies to ports all around Puget Sound for 50 years. Like the other models, the Beaver will be built in 1”=1’ scale.

The models will form the signature fleet of the planned Puget Sound Maritime Heritage Museum at South Lake Union. As the museum takes shape, DMEC’s modelers may turn their attention to dioramas of historical Puget Sound ports, such as the mill at Port Blakeley (largest sawmill in the world in the 1890s) or even Yesler’s Wharf (the first sawmill in Seattle and the place where the term “Skid Road” originated).

No matter where the modelers of DMEC turn their attention, they will be carrying out a mission of maritime heritage preservation in a uniquely Northwest way. Just as The Center for Wooden Boats was founded to preserve and pass on small craft heritage by encouraging people to take up hands-on activities, the DMEC seeks to preserve and pass on the skills and craftsmanship of old time modelers and to call attention to our precious Northwest maritime heritage.

DMEC will be a vital and active part of the future maritime museum, but don’t wait for tomorrow. Join us now and let us put you in touch with your maritime heritage and put your hands on a beautiful ship model. Make the past come alive today and help us preserve it for tomorrow.

Colleen Wagner is a founder and Executive Director of the Discovery Modelers Education Center. She also is co-founder of The Center for Wooden Boats and has been active in Northwest maritime heritage preservation for more than three decades. For more information on DMEC, call or write: 206-282-0985 or discoverymodelers@yahoo.com

The Cama Beach Wherry

Some years ago, the Washington State Parks Department acquired a unique property for use as a state park. The property, known as Cama Beach, was the site of a car resort built from 1932-1934 on Camano Island on Puget Sound and was operated by the same family until 1989. The site has a mile of beachfront on beautiful Saratoga Passage and its wooded acres extend well inland to surround a small lake. A boathouse filled with wooden skiffs built for oar and power, many rustic cabins, storage buildings, and a store filled with things reminiscent of the 30’s adorn the site. This is a historical treasure chest.

When the owners passed away, their two daughters, the heirs to the property, faced with selling the property to developers or trying to preserve the spirit of Cama Beach, offered to sell half of the land to the state and donate the rest to be the site of a new state park. Part of the proceeds from the sale were put into two family run foundations to be used to build a new dining hall for the park.

The dining hall will be joined by a 15room retreat lodge built by Washington State Parks. The family foundations have also granted funds to the Center for Wooden Boats (CWB) to document the historic boats in the boathouse and restore buildings to be used by CWB. There are eight different boat designs ranging from rowing and outboard skiffs to inboard boats with 2-cycle engines. To date I have documented a 12’ and 14’ skiff, a 15’ outboard, and a 15’ inboard.

Through the efforts of the heirs and the State Park Commissioners, the CWB was asked to participate in a partnership with State Parks and the heirs to design a new state park which would

By Rich Kolin

ideal model for a boat that combines the easy construction of the Swampscot dory while presenting an almost round bottom similar to more expensive pulling boats.

The Piscataqua River wherry in the Mystic Seaport collection was built circa 1850 and is related to the Maine Salmon wherry. In fact, the Maine wherry predated the Swampscot dory and may have dated back to the 18th century.

Unfortunately, as in the case of more recent small wooden craft, few records remain of early craft. We are lucky that there are places such as Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut, which have preserved several examples in their small craft collection. John Gardner, in his books, The Dory Book, International Marine Publishing Company, Camden, Maine, 1978, and Building Classic Small Craft, International Marine Publishing Company, Camden, Maine, 1977, are great sources for more information about these useful boats.

This is a boat that could be built by the fishermen themselves. A wide bottom board, narrower than the standard Grand Banks dory bottom but still substantial, holds sawn frames covered with

View of Cama Beach, showing almost the total 6000’ waterfront. The Boathouse is at the point.All the buildings were built on a 2000 year-old shell midden that levels just above high tide.Photo courtesy of Washington State Parks Commission

The original Piscataqua River wherry is part of the Mystic Seaport Collection and plans are available from the Plans Department there. My wherry differs from the original in that the rake of the transom is reduced and the dorylike tombstone transom is modified to a fine wineglass shape reminiscent of many Maine salmon wherries. There is a slight reduction of the rocker in the stern and the sheer has been adjusted. The sawn frames of the original have been replaced by bent frames for ease of construction.

Three of these boats were built in

much of the time and will be trailed to off-site events. All of the boats have ¾” nylon line fastened in a cove in the rail to prevent chafing.

Plans for the Cama Beach wherry are available from me. During 2003 we will be building lapstrake and carvel boats as well as some great skiffs. There are also classes on lofting, marine carving, oar making, half models, and tool making. For more information contact Richard Kolin, 4107 77th Pl. NW, Marysville, WA 98271, kolinl@gte.net Books by Richard Kolin: Traditional Boat Boatbuilding Made

Above: The Cama Beach Wherry with planking and frames just completed. Photo by Rich Kolin Left: The lines of the Wherry. By Rich Kolin

include the CWB and its programs as part of the regular activities at the site.

Inspired by this beautiful place and the need for boats that could be used in the CWB’s Cama Beach rental fleet, I designed a series of skiffs based on the 12’ Heidi skiff and a wherry based on the Piscataqua River wherry. The idea was to have boats that could be launched off the beach until a suitable dock could be installed. These boats had to be fast, seaworthy, and of a weight that would make them easily handled by a small staff.

The Piscataqua River Wherry is an

lapstrake planking. Bent frames are added between the sawn frames. For the CWB boats, I wanted a lapstrake boat that could be built in our boat building classes by beginners or second-time students in the nine days allotted. The five side planks of the Cama Beach wherry greatly reduce building costs as today prices for good planking stock are sky high. Four of these planks are less that 8” wide and the garboard is from 10” planking stock. I used western red cedar for the sides and Honduras mahogany for the transom and transom knee, bottom board, and stem.

CWB boat building classes. One 15-1/ 2-footer was sold unfinished and one 151/2-footer and an 18-footer were built in classes and finished by volunteers. The 18-footer is a simple stretch of the 151/2-footer. Both boats are set off with turned posts under the seats and their names carved on a banner fastened to the backrest.

The resulting boats are everything we had hoped for. They row with ease and are striking to look at. As with many small craft, the 18-footer was found to be a better performer than the 15-1/2footer, and there is a temptation to stretch it still further. These boats are rather narrow for sail with a beam of 4’, but with the addition of washboards side decks and a coaming, along with a centerboard, they should move well with a small sprit sail. The seams have been sealed with polyurethane bedding compound, which means that they don’t need taking up before they can be used as long as they are not allowed to dry out excessively. This is critical at Cama Beach as the boats will be kept in a boathouse

Easy, Building Catherine (a 14’ Whitehall type lapstrake boat for oar and sail), and Traditional Boatbuilding Made Easy: Building Heidi (a first class little 12’ skiff).

Books About Historical Wooden Boats of All Kinds: Mystic Seaport Watercraft by Maynard Bray, Benjamin A.G. Fuller, and Peter T.Vermilya, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, Connecticut, third edition, 2001. This is the catalogue of the Mystic Seaport Museum Small Craft collection and includes descriptions and photos of the museums’ extensive collection. Many of these boats have been measured and their lines and construction plans are available from the Mystic Seaport Plans Department, Mystic Seaport, 75 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic, CT 06355 0990, www.mysticseaport.org.

Rich Kolin is a versatile boatwright. He builds, designs, carves, makes tools, casts, teaches and writes. He has named his stock boats after his wife, children and dog. The only family name yet to be used is his parrot.

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Wembly and the Seven Philosophies Involved in Boat Owning

By Chas. Dowd

The World’s Greatest Ex-Sailor swallows the anchor yet again

When Wembly announced he was “shopping for a bigger boat,” the Dock Committee could only shake its collective head. “It would be bad enough if he had normal, healthy two-footitis,” said Wellington, “but he explained to me that because the boat would really belong to the dogs, and since they both had four feet, he was thinking of going from an 18-foot lugger to something in the 26-foot range.”

Wembly, like Odysseus, has been cursed by Poseidon—and Neptune and Manannan and Aegir and Mother Carey and possibly even the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. Wembly’s first boat died of congestive hull failure. A manufacturing flaw doomed his second boat and his third was destroyed on the launch ramp even before it got wet. His fourth boat simply and casually bankrupted him. Only with his fifth boat, which he disguised from The Wrath of the Sea and the Comprehensive Wembly Maritime Curse as the ultimate doghouse for his two poodles, did he find seagoing peace. Now Wembly was considering replacing Bark Barque. No good would come of this, said the Dock Committee.

As with all predictions sorrow, woe, and doom, fulfillment was swift. A scant three months intervened between Wembly sailing off into the sunset and his reappearance on the end of “C” dock, boatless, with Marat and Sadie beside him.

Even the dogs looked doleful. As the member of the Dock Committee least crippled by arthritis, I was dispatched to find out what had happened.

Wembly was doing a Sword Mat out of old cordage to grace the saloon of a more fortunate friend’s yacht. In response to my delicately phrased inquiry, he was silent for so long I was on the verge of asking my question again.

The consolations of philosophy “Owning a boat is really a lot like taking Philosophy 101,” he finally said reflectively. I sat down on an inverted bucket. When Wembly is in reflective mode, trying to hurry him is like trying to hurry an hourglass. The dogs, recognizing their master’s voice, went to sleep.

“It begins with Sophism. ‘I must have a bigger boat,’ you tell yourself. Actually, in Your Secret Heart of Hearts you know only Admiral Nelson, Captain Ahab, or Tugboat Annie really needs any kind of boat. But a good Sophist can successfully argue any proposition, no matter how far-fetched. So, bolstered by the Sophists, you set out to find your boat.

“Here you encounter Platonic Idealism. Somewhere out there is the perfect, canonical, and ideal boat, the perfect boat for you. But in YSHOH you really know that every boat—even the most toothsome—will be an inevitable compromise between size, cost, condition, and rig. And when you have finally found your Ideal Boat, the guy in the next slip will have found an idealer one—if that’s a word.

“Of course, your boat is going to need a little work. Here you encounter the Stoics. ‘I will persist until I get this dern boat shipshape and Bristol-fashion, no matter how long it takes,’ the Stoic in you says. This is the classic unachievable goal.

Boats are by their very nature, slaves to entropy. To paraphrase Bob Dylan, ‘Everybody not busy being launched, is busy rotting.’

Two possible courses “The constant pressure of many tiny repairs leading to many major repair bills can take you down two possible paths. One of them is the sorrowful road of the Cynics: ‘All human endeavor is futile and doomed to end in disappointment.’

But that’s a pretty soul-searing and negative state of mind, antithetical to the type of hapless individual who ever dreams of owning a boat.

“The other course is much more suited to post-modern mankind: Existentialism. You doubt. You begin to wonder what you mean by ‘shipshape and Bristol-fashion.’ You start wondering about the very idea of shipshape. ‘Am I defining shipshape—or is shipshape defining me? How will I know when I get to it?

And what is “I” anyway?’ And then the existential biggie: ‘What does it all mean?’ This can cause existential nausea, which is not to be confused with seasickness.

“And finally you come to Romanticism. You know the Romantics: they’re the Wagnerian opera fans, the Gotterdamerung/Sorrows of Young Werther crowd that can’t distinguish between love and death. You reach this point when the weight of your unpaid repair, reconditioning, and re-outfitting invoices equals your body weight. Or when you can’t sleep at night for the constant telephone calls from collection agencies.

“You realize you can no longer afford to keep your boat. To soften this realization you tell yourself that just owning it even for a brief while has made you a better person. ‘We are all exalted by being tempered in the refiner’s fire of loss,’ says the Romantic philosopher. ‘True happiness comes only through the experience of pain and suffering.’”

Wembly stared out at the happy boat owners cruising up and down the lake.

He had the mien of a man measuring the quality of the happiness pain and suffering brought him and finding it wanting. And before he bent again to his mat work he said with authority, “Skeptics say that there are two truly happy moments in a boat owner’s life: when they buy a boat and when they sell it.” He looked even more pensive. “Their first postulate may be right, but the second postulate seems to contain an irretrievable error. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they lie, old son, they lie.”

Chas Dowd does everything except hard rock and window washing. And he does it with consummate ease and pleasure. His writing reflects Chas’ wide range of experiences, including boating, and his microscopic observance of character. He puts these elements together in tales that are entertaining, instructive and sublimely elegant.

Happy Hour 3-6:30 DAILY CANTINA ONLY

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Help CWB

through Your “Designated” Donations to Community Funds

By John Dean

Do you donate to 501(c)3 Non-Profit Community Service or Charitable Organizations by payroll withholding at your workplace? Many larger companies have programs for doing this and, if you work at such a company, you may be participating. Some company-sponsored giving programs donate to United Way of King County (http://www.uwkc.org/), while others, like Boeing, have their own community fund organization. The Boeing program collects and distributes donations through the “Employee Community Fund” (http://www.boeing.com/ companyoffices/aboutus/community/ecf.html).

Usually you are able to designate your contribution to specific 501(c)3 NonProfit Organizations, and donations so designated are distributed directly to those organizations. Any contribution not designated goes into a donation pool, which is then allocated based on “need” and “community priorities” established by the Board of Directors of the Fund.

If you are a Boeing ECF member you can designate all or part of your donation (we suggest all) to the CWB by logging into the ECF web-site on the Boeing internal web. Go to http://public.web.boeing.com/ecf/index.cfm (this is only available from computers inside the Boeing intra-net). Select “login” and provide your domain, username and password that you use to log in to your desktop workstation computer.

This will take you to the ECF Main Menu. Select “Where I’m Giving,” then “I would like to make changes.” The next page will show current designations, if any, plus blank lines for adding designations. On a blank line click on the magnifying-glass icon under the heading labeled “Search.” On the search page enter keyword “Center for Wooden Boats” and state “Washington.” That will be enough to find the entry for CWB. Click the hotlink for “select” and you will return to the designation page.

Enter your designation percentage and choose “anonymous” or “name and amount” and accept the changes and exit the web-site. This can be done anytime and takes effect immediately.

An equivalent procedure, perhaps involving actual paper forms and your personnel office, can be done in any workplace that has an organized employee donation program.

Please consider designating some or all of your workplace charitable donations to the CWB. John Dean is CWB’s volunteer computer doctor. He has kept our systems healthy and upgraded in a quiet, efficient and ever-cheerful manner.

STOCKING MARINE PLYWOODS

117 East Louisa 98102

Corner of Eastlake & Louisa Mailbox Rentals Fed Ex - UPS - Postage Public Fax - Notary Public

2379 Eastlake Ave. East Seattle, WA 98102 206.325.0081 Breakfast & Lunch

Dedicated to providing today’s craftsperson a wide selection of quality hardwoods from around the world with informative, personal service.

Over 100 species in stock, including sustained yield and reclaimed woods.

Buca di Beppo 701 9th Avenue North

Serving Breakfast & Lunch 7 days a week

206.BIG.A.BUT

2305 Eastlake Ave. E Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 324-1442

Frank Schattauer (206) 783-2400 Phone (206) 783-0173 Fax

www.seattleseaplanes.com

Show us your CWB card for a 10% discount.

(NOT VALID TOWARD WHOLESALE ACCOUNTS)

We are open: 8-5 Monday-Friday 8-8 Wednesday

206.623.0334 800.756.0334

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Nearby a cutter was being rowed ashore by eight oarsmen (and women — how the times have changed!) and a coxswain. Finished with the lamps, I splashed into the water to help the cutter land. Three of us hauled it up the beach. By now the bumbling bobbies were blowing whistles and in hot pursuit of the trussed up fellow. The cabaret audience was mostly outside, much of the tuxedoed half also in warm pursuit at various rates of shocked and drunken stagger. historic vessels.

The press gang hit the beach running and the bundle was passed to us and we The Barbary Coast was the strip of San Francisco along the waterfront in the 1850’s. It was a crazy place with all of the traffic from the tall ships bringing gold passed it to the able hands in the waiting cutter. We pushed her off into the waves of miners and supplies to SF. Most of the crews abandoned their vessels to race off to Aquatic Park..

Just as the water became too deep to navigate on foot, I tumbled over the the gold fields. The bay was described as being blanketed with “a forest of masts”, as hundreds of ships lay stranded, without the men needed to sail them to their gunwale and into the boat. An empty seat and spare oar awaited my ministrations.

The coxswain bellowed out commands and we gladly pulled for open water. The home ports.

Most men in San Francisco at the time were recent arrivals bent on making bobbies blew their whistles, the crowd bellowed and the museum cannon shook the their fortunes by mining gold or serving the miners. Many had come by sea. They night, all for naught. We were clear of their pesky interference.

Ahead lay the Hawaiian Chieftain. (For a sense of her majestic presence, see her were largely young and strong. What excellent sailor material! The problem was that few were ready to leave the land where a fortune surely awaited around the next web site or visit her in Sausalito. Insert the resulting sense of awe here.) Sails aflying and cannons ablazing, she was a noble and welcome sight. Ducking the cannon balls corner.

Therefore, ships’ masters were a desperate lot and were willing to pay good and battling the contrary currents, we rowed alongside and threw a line aboard. money for men to sail their ships. Unfortunately, rather than the new recruits, it was Hauled close, the exchange was made and we released our burden to Ian and his the headhunters, known as impressment crews or press gangs, who received most seasoned crew of rascals.

Our responsibilities for the evening had almost been satisfied. Apparently we of the money. Often a miner, former sailor, or random San Franciscan that went to a tavern and drank a little too much or simply accepted a drink from a seeming failed to make delivery of the proper quantity of booze along with our human gentleman (who had spiked it with sleeping powder) would wake up the next day, package. We greeted the news with mixed feelings. Some of us lamented the need to or some days later, aboard a vessel destined for some far off port. He would have make yet another round trip from shore to the ship, especially with the angry mob to no recollection of making any agreements or signing the ship’s papers waved before greet us back at the museum. Others in our boat (and I fell into this camp) thrilled at him. One frequent destination for such unfortunates was Shanghai. For this foreign the thought of sneaking back and evading detection (or at least capture) as we stole the requisite port the practice bottles of was named. liquor, and Now to rowed back the story of the out to the Barbary Coast Chieftain.

Fundraiser.

T h e We all had matter was a lot of fun that settled when night. I went to the coxswain the museum to asserted that volunteer as o u r table schlepping shenanigans help or whatnot were over for a n d the evening and serendipitously that the booze found a bowler would find its hat, tailed coat, way to the leather shoes, Chieftain’s crew and a matching

By Lawrence Garwin without our length of rope help. Cries of for shoelaces relief and despair arose from the boat. with which to costume myself.

We turned to the oars and made our way back to our secret slip at the Hyde At this point my role changed from schlepper to schmoozer. I talked with the high rollers that put out $150 to attend and support our wonderful maritime park. Street Pier. Towards the end of our voyage, a rhythm developed and we even Since I was in costume, I was treated as an authority and deferred to by those who occasionally rowed in synchronization. Sailor bliss.

We made our way past the full rigged ship, Balclutha, and saw her masts and didn’t know me. What a hoot! (Those that did know me ladled me out the usual yards silhouetted against the glowing sky. Romantic thoughts of her in all of her good natured bilge scum they treat fellow tall ship sailors with.)

I was also pressed into service as one to not be shanghaied. The impressment glory under full sail came to my mind. Next, we glided past the Alma, a scow gang was wandering the crowd that night grabbing pre-selected (yet secretly informed!) schooner from 1891 that used to sail around the bay and delta with dry goods of all young men with the intention of dragging them off to a waiting tall ship, the Hawaiian types. She’s the one I sail on for a day or two most weeks. We rounded her stern and approached our slip.

Chieftain.

As we pulled in, Sue, our fearless leader in the form of the SFMNHP volunteer With the help of some friends, I was able to escape the somewhat inebriated clutches of the press gang and thwart their efforts to make $300 (1850 dollars, mind coordinator, welcomed us and assured us that our part in the evening’s mayhem was you) by delivering me aboard to become a deckhand. Later that evening another well received by all involved. We tied up the boat, stowed all the gear, and slapped each others’ backs a lot. (Even slipped some hugs in, but don’t tell anyone, as that fellow was less fortunate.

Gavin Newsom was this poor lad’s name. Apparently he was a San Francisco city was not thought of as very sailorly along the Barbary Coast, you know.) We headed supervisor. Alas, no one is exempt from the rogues of the Barbary Coast. As he stood up back towards the museum for our just rewards for a job well done; more merriment from his seat, I imagine to applaud the end of the cabaret show in which that fetching lass and irreverent revelry. We hoped we would not be recognized and persecuted for Cat performed, a fellow walked up to him and asked his name. A moment after Gavin our earlier actions. (We didn’t want rewards THAT just!)

Well, that’s the story of one of the more interesting parts of the evening of the identified himself, this ruffian knocked him down with a single blow to the chin. He had cohorts waiting nearby who caught Gavin as he fell and they spirited him out the doors fund raiser. I left out the comparatively mundane late night party clean up and a description of my eventually bedding down in the chief engineer’s berth on the 1906 onto the promenade. The crowd went wild.

Meanwhile, a short distance away on the beach, two men waved kerosene steam tug Hercules for a scarce few hours of sleep before being awakened by shipwrights recaulking the Balclutha’s deck. Also missing is that I then joined my lamps, signaling unseen eyes lurking offshore.

Back at the cabaret, a woman stepped to the doorway and lamented the shipmates for a 9:30-4:30 Alma day sail with a group of disabled sailors, some of abhorrent proceedings, urging the audience to rush out to save this lad. Ironically, she which we slung up over the side with block and tackle into their waiting wheelchairs. was actually blocking the way of a mob already bent on doing her bidding. By the I tell you, everyday brings new and unexpected adventures out at the Hyde Street time she was pushed aside (with many squeezes and pinches, I could only guess), pier.

Gavin (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) was trussed up in rags, bound with rope and racing horizontally down towards the beach in the less than capable hands of his Lawrence Garwin started sailing ships in the summer of 1998. During the 16 months prior to last captors.

March he divided his time between crewing on private sailboats from San Francisco to Panama and Cannon blasts rang through the dark. Now clearly visible, a square rigged tall exploring the intervening countries by thumb and bus. After visiting his native San Francisco Bay ship stood just offshore. Their volley was returned by a cannon on the museum’s Area for a month, he’s now in Australia, hoping to eventually continue westward across the seas roof. Flashes of light, clouds of smoke, and reverberating concussions filled the under wind power. night. his story took place at the Barbary Coast Fundraiser at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (SFMNHP), which I have been volunteering for since July, both by sailing and helping with other events. We have a beautiful museum detailing local maritime history and the Hyde Street Pier, home to a number of

Another Quiet Night on the Barbary Coast

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Calendar of Events & Workshops 2 0 0 3

CAST OFF! Free Public Sail Every Sunday at 2 p.m.

Enjoy free half-hour sails on one of our classic sailboats or a ride on our 1906 Steam Launch Puffin. Our Cast Off! program allows visitors the chance to sail in boats that are too large or too complex to be a part of our regular livery program.

Currently, we’re sailing on Colleen Wagner, our new Sharpie. You might also have the chance to find out what it’s like to sail Admirable, our Bristol Bay gillnetter and logo boat, Betsy D, another classic sharpie or Amie, a Friendship sloop. Come down and join us any Sunday (weather permitting) for a free afternoon sail or steamboat ride on Lake Union. Please feel free to call us around noon on Sunday to check weather conditions.

THIRD FRIDAY SPEAKER SERIES Every 3rd Friday 7 p.m. CWB Boathouse Each month CWB finds a speaker of wit and experience to talk about his or her special knowledge. It is also an opportunity for CWB members to meet one another and the staff.

Admission is free and refreshments are served (donations to cover costs are appreciated).

June 20, 2003 “Apprenticeship to a Faroese Boatbuilder” Jay Smith, who builds classic wood boats in Anacortes, began his career in Norway and the Faroe Islands. Jay will give a slide show talk on his experience in Faroes, where the clock stopped when it was settled by the Norse about 1000 years ago.

September 19, 2003 “The Voyaging Rig” Brion Toss will give a presentation on preparing your rig for all oceans. Toss is a master rigger with a passion to pass on his knowledge. In his unique manner, Toss gives Albert Einstein physics on Carl Sagan scale, with Mark Twain drollery. You will never have so much fun learning about a technical subject.

27TH ANNUAL LAKE UNION WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL July 4, 5 & 6, 2003 (Friday - Sunday) 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. each day Boats, boats, and more boats. All types, all sizes, all wood. Visitors will be welcomed aboard boats to view, ask the owners questions, and take rides.

Interaction with wooden boats and maritime skills is the quintessential element of the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival. Participate in several marine skill demonstrations, watch the Quick and Daring boatbuilding contest. Watch exciting classic sailboats participate in the Ed Clark Classic Yacht Race. See the future

boatbuilders of America build toy boats. It’s fun, educational, and if you dare, adventurous. The site of the festival is Seattle’s latest waterfront park, the former Naval Reserve Base jutting into Lake Union. Join us for food, beverages, great folk music, and a terrific view of the lake. Hope to see you there.

Available SailNOW! Course dates for 2003: July 12- August 23* August 23- October 4 October 4-November 15 November 15-December 20 *Evening lessons are available during these course dates.

Aleutian Islands of Alaska. This stable boat was used for transporting large loads of people and supplies. Aboard our umiak, students will learn sailing skills, paddling, navigation, camping skills and more. There will be 6 students and 2 instructors per boat. Join the fun and adventure!

Limited to 12.

GOLDEN OLDIES South Lake Union Park July 7-23, 2003 10 a.m. –6 p.m. each day A collection of sail and power boats designed by Ted Geary and Ben Seaborn will be on display on the floats at the north end of the park. Geary and Seaborn more Seattle naval architects whose designs are of national significance. No fee.

ONE-ON-ONE Year Round Monday-Friday (excluding Tuesday during Fall, Winter & Spring) Instructors: CWB Volunteers Fee: $20 members, $30 nonmember One-on-One sailing is one-hour instruction sessions offered for people who know how to sail, but need some practice, particularly with classic boats. We provide this program at a very reasonable price to ensure no one goes out sailing if they are not ready. Livery checkouts may also be scheduled with One-on-One instructors during these hours. The fee for a Livery checkout isClass locations are listed directly beneath the class heading. The CWB Boathouse, Library and Workshop are all located at the South Lake Union CWB site.

Until Cama Beach State Park opens, many Cama Beach workshops will be held at the Tulalip Bay shop of Rich Kolin, on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Marysville. This location is approximately 40 minutes from Lake Union CWB. A map to the site will be sent to students after they register.

NOTE: A $100 non-refundable deposit is required to register for all boatbuilding workshops; the balance is due no later than two weeks prior to the workshop. For all other workshops, prepayment in full reserves your place. Classes with fewer than four students will be canceled or postponed.

ADVENTURE BOUND! TALL SHIP SAILING August 3-8, 2003 (Ages 14-18) Cost $575.00 Adventure Bound! Summer Youth Voyage in Puget Sound! The Adventure Bound Sailing Program is a 6-day journey aboard the 101’ Schooner Adventuress. Built in 1913, the Adventuress has been a youth sail training vessel in Puget Sound since the 1950’s. Our voyage will begin and end in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Under the instruction of licensed captains, student crew will become responsible for sailing this 101’ vessel, plotting its course, preparing meals and keeping watch at night. This is a handson program developed to teach students sailing skills and theory, navigation, knots and rigging, Northwest history and folklore, marine ecology and much much more. This experience will provide you with skills, friends and memories to last a lifetime. Cost includes food and lodging aboard Adventuress. Port of call is Friday Harbor.

Limited to 22 participants.

CLASSIC SPEEDBOAT SHOW South Lake Union Park July 26-27, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sunday More than 75 classic mahogany speedboats and hydroplanes are displayed, both in the water and ashore, together with vintage motorcycles, classic cars and trucks (including “woody wagons”), antique outboard motors and radio-controlled model boats. Sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society.

Food vendors and commercial exhibits. Entry fee: $4 for adults, $8 for families. Free parking.

Contact Marty Loken, (360) 321-6404, or email Mloken@Whidbey.com NORM BLANCHARD WOOD REGATTA September 26, 27, and 28, 2003 (Friday-Sunday) Registration Fee: $1/ft.; Juniors: $1/boat, Saturday Dinner & Speaker $10.00 The Norm Blanchard WOOD (Wood Open & One Design) Regatta 2003 will celebrate Norm Blanchard’s 92nd birthday. All classic wooden sailboats, 8ft. and over, are invited to participate.

Also, honoring outstanding design, popularity and longevity, the Regatta honors the C-Lark as the Classic Plastic participants. The weekend begins with a “Bite of Lake Union” with food provided

by Lake Union restaurants. After a continental breakfast on Saturday, participants will attend the 10:30am skippers meeting with racing starting at noon. Racing resumes at noon on Sunday with post racing awards and refreshments at 4:30pm LEARN TO “SAIL NOW!” Year Round, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Saturday & Sunday 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday (April-August) Instructors: CWB Volunteers Fee: $300 per person (includes a one-year CWB membership, Student LogBook, the textbook The Complete Sailor, and practice line for knot-tying) The SailNOW! Program offers adults a six-week (eight lesson) basic sailing course to learn seamanship and the craft of sail in a variety of classic boats. After successful completion of the course, you are welcome to sail and rent boats year round in the CWB Livery. Each course starts with a Saturday Shore School from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. After a morning classroom, Shore School includes an afternoon group sail in one of our larger keelboats.

Two hour HANDS ON lessons are then available Saturday and Sunday at 11 am and 1:30 pm yearround, plus weekdays at 6 pm from April-August.

These lessons are reserved at the time of registration. There are no more than two students per boat for HANDS ON lessons. Missed lessons may only be made up by sailing stand by during the course for which you are registered.

All of our instructors are volunteers, committed to teaching the art of sailing and instilling confidence in a positive environment. Their experiences range from ocean cruising and racing to lake sailing and former graduates of SailNOW! Over 20 of our volunteers are US SAILING certified instructors.

SUMMER IN THE CITY July 14-18th (Ages 12-14), July 21-25th (Ages 1214), August 11-15th (Ages 12-16) 10:00am – 3pm each day Cost $175.00 Summer in the City is a five-day maritime skills day camp that includes sailing, rowing, marlinspike seamanship and maritime history.

Focus will be on sailing skills with the goal of having students soloing by week’s end. The

program is run by our experienced staff and volunteers who will be sharing their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm for boating and seamanship.

At CWB we believe that maritime training teaches self-esteem, teamwork, patience and responsibility. Summer in the City is an unforgettable experience!

ADVENTURE BOUND! UMIAK ADVENTURE July 14-18, 2003 (Ages 14-18) Cost $400.00 Help launch CWB’s new voyaging program, “Umiak Adventure”. Spend 5 days exploring Puget Sound aboard our 30 ft. sailing and paddling umiak. The umiak is a skin canoe native to the

Dear CWB members and supporters, When you buy or sell a house you have an opportunity to support The Center for Wooden Boats.

CWB is participating in the Coldwell Banker Bain Community Partnership Program. When you buy or sell a home through Coldwell Banker Bain, they will donate an amount equivalent to 10% of their proceeds to The Center for Wooden Boats at no additional cost to you. It is a wonderful way in which they support not-for-profit organizations in their communities. Please tell your friends and relatives they can participate as well.

This can make a big difference to our programs.

For details and any of your real estate questions off, near or on the water please call:

Enrico Pozzo, Realtor 206.790.7874 enricopozzo@cbba.com www.cbba.com He will be very glad to assist you. As you call, please mention you would like to participate in this program.

Sincerely, Bob Perkins Executive Director The Center for Wooden Boats

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Maritime Ski OARMAKING WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop August 9 &10, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $110 members, $120 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin Students will learn the design elements of good oars and build both straight blade and spoon oars under the guidance of instructor Rich Kolin. Limited to 8.

HALF MODEL WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop June 14 & 15, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin The old way of traditional art: Shape a half model of a hull and from those lines scale up and build a boat. Countless schooners, skiffs, smacks and others were thus crafted. The new way of this traditional art: Find a boat whose lines and history are pleasing and capture its grace and essence by scaling down and constructing a half model of the hull. In two consecutive days, Rich Kolin, an experienced boat builder, will teach students how to bring a great boat from plans to the fireplace mantle. Limited to 6.

KNOT 5 5:: SENNIT CWB, Lake Union June 14, 2003 (Saturday) 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Fee: If not pre paid for the series of 7, $40 member, $50 nonmembers Instructor: Dennis Armstrong Sennit involves braiding for bell lanyards, foot ropes, and chest beckets and there are sennit knots such as Matthew Walker and star. The projects begun in the 4 hours of instruction may take another 10 days to complete. Limited to 10.

FAMILY BOATBUILDING CWB, Lake Union July 3-6 (Thursday-Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $800 members, $850 nonmembers (price is per boat/family) Families will build the Union Bay Skiff, a simple but great plywood sail boat designed by local boatwright Brad Rice. The boat is capable of carrying two adults or an adult with 2 children.

Participating families will build their boats together over the course of 2 weekends at The Center for Wooden Boats, under the guidance of a professional boatwright and assisted by CWB’s volunteers. We’ll supply everything needed to build the boat and we’ll launch all the boats at the end of the event! Limited to 5 families.

FORGING WORKSHOP Seattle Blacksmith Shop July 19, 2003 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $130 nonmembers Instructor: Patrick Mahrer An introduction to the skills of shaping iron with heat and hammer. Students may make two maritime items to take home. They may include caulking irons, boat hook or grapnel. Limited to 8.

IKYAK (ALEUTIAN KAYAK) WORKSHOP CWB, Lake Union, Pavilion July 19-27, 2003 (Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $ 1000 members, $1050 nonmembers Instructor: Corey Freedman The ikyak, most commonly known as the baidarka, is arguably the best long range, open water kayak ever designed. It is fast, seaworthy, and carries a fair load. The class uses few tools and lots of handwork. Students will receive paddling instruction in ikyaks during the class. The instructor is renowned for his knowledge of ikyak design and construction, and his teaching style.

Each student leaves with their own ikyak. Limited to 5.

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CANOE REPAIR WORKSHOP CWB Lake Union August 16 & 17, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 non-members Instructor: Eric Harman Using a traditional wood canvas canoe from CWB’s collection, students will begin the repairs necessary to put it back in service. This may include replacing frames and planks, repairing stems, gunwales, seats and re-canvasing. Students may bring their own canoes for evaluation.

Limited to 6.

HALF MODEL WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop August 16 & 17, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin The old way of traditional art: Shape a half model of a hull and from those lines scale up and build a boat. Countless schooners, skiffs, smacks and others were thus crafted. The new way of this traditional art: Find a boat whose lines and history are pleasing and capture its grace and essence by scaling down and constructing a half model of the hull. In two consecutive days, Rich Kolin, an experienced boat builder, will teach students how to bring a great boat from plans to the fireplace mantle. Limited to 6.

LOFTING AND SET-UP WORKSHOP (FOR BEGINNERS) Marysville Boatshop August 23 &24, 2003(Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin Students will loft a classic boat from a table of offsets. This workshop will enable students to read plans and understand the arcane mysteries of bevels, rabbet lines, deductions and construction drawings. This class is highly recommended as a prerequisite for our boatbuilding workshops. Limited to 6.

SKIFF BUILDING WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop September 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, & 22, 2003 (Saturdays, Sundays, & Mondays) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $600 members, $650 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin Rich Kolin, an experienced designer, builder and instructor will lead the class in building a classic 14’ lapstrake-sided, flat-bottom skiff. A copy of Kolin’s book on skiff building, Building Heidi, is included in the tuition. Limited to 7.

FORGING WORKSHOP Seattle Blacksmith Shop September 20, 2003 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $130 nonmembers Instructor: Patrick Mahrer An introduction to the skills of shaping iron with heat and hammer. Students may make two maritime items to take home. They may include caulking irons, boat hook or grapnel. Limited to 8.

IKYAK (ALEUTIAN KAYAK) WORKSHOP CWB, Lake Union, Pavilion September 20 - 28, 2003 (Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $ 1000 members, $1050 nonmembers Instructor : Corey Freedman The ikyak, most commonly known as the baidarka, is arguably the best long range, open water kayak ever designed. It is fast, seaworthy, and carries a fair load. The class uses few tools and lots of handwork. Students will receive paddling instruction in ikyaks during the class. The instructor is renowned for his knowledge of ikyak design and construction, and his teaching style. Each student leaves with their own ikyak. Limited to 5.

SANDCASTING AND FOUNDRY TECHNIQUES CWB, Lake Union & Northwest Seaport October 4 &5, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Fee: $100 members, $120 nonmembers Instructor: Samuel Johnson Basic foundry know-how will be covered in the first day. Students will set up the furnace & cast simple forms. The second day will involve more complex casting. Students will learn to build a simple but effective foundry & go home with their own sounding lead and bronze cleat. Limited to 6.

OARMAKING WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop October 4 &5, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $110 members, $120 nonmembers Instructor: Rich Kolin Students will learn the design elements of good oars and build both straight blade and spoon oars under the guidance of instructor Rich Kolin.

Limited to 8.

IKYAK (ALEUTIAN KAYAK) WORKSHOP CWB, Lake Union, Pavilion October 4-12, 2003 (Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $ 1000 members, $1050 nonmembers Instructor : Corey Freedman The ikyak, most commonly known as the baidarka, is arguably the best long range, open water kayak ever designed. It is fast, seaworthy, and carries a fair load. The class uses few tools and lots of handwork. Students will receive paddling instruction in ikyaks during the class. The instructor is renowned for his knowledge of ikyak design and construction, and his teaching style. Each student leaves with their own ikyak. Limited to 5.

BASIC WOOD WORKING CLASS CWB, Lake Union October 11, 2003 (Saturday) 9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $40 members, $45 nonmembers Instructor: Stewart Hoagland Students will be given a basic understanding of wood as a construction material and how it is utilized to make everyday things. Stewart is a woodworker, boat builder and instructor of wide experience. Basic skills will be practiced and confidence gained. Limited to 6 students.

HALF MODEL WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop October 11 &12, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 nonmembers Instructor: Rich Kolin The old way of traditional art: Shape a half model of a hull and from those lines scale up and build a boat. Countless schooners, skiffs, smacks and others were thus crafted. The new way of this traditional art: Find a boat whose lines and history are pleasing and capture its grace and essence by scaling down and constructing a half model of the hull. In two consecutive days, Rich Kolin, an experienced boat builder, will teach students how to bring a great boat from plans to the fireplace mantle. Limited to 6.

Skills kills Workshops KNOT 6 6:: FENDERS CWB, Lake Union November 8, 2003 (Saturday) 10:30 a.m. –2:30 p.m.

Fee: If not pre paid for the series of 7, $40 member, $50 nonmembers Instructor: Dennis Armstrong Students will make their own fender, the spherical pad that protects your boat. This will be a 4-hour class. Limited to 10.

LOFTING A ROUND BOTTOM BOAT Marysville Boatshop October 18, 19 &20, 2003(Saturday – Monday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $165 members, $175 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin Students will loft the 10 ½ ft. sailboat “Ranger”.

This workshop will enable students to read plans and understand the arcane mysteries of bevels, rabbet lines, deductions and construction drawings. Students will also learn how to cut out the transom, stem and molds and to set the boat up. This class is highly recommended as a prerequisite for our boatbuilding workshops.

Limited to 6.

NATIVE AMERICAN PADDLE CONSTRUCTION October 18 &19, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) CWB, Lake Union 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $125 members, $135 nonmembers Instructor: Ray Arcand Ray Arcand is very experienced with canoeing and various styles of canoe paddles and is a skilled woodcarver, tool maker and paddle maker. In this class, students will be introduced to the evolution of paddle styles and types of preferred tools. They will then use a variety of traditional hand tools to carve their own traditional Northwest native paddle, either single or double blade.

BASIC BOATBUILDING CWB, Lake Union October 25 &26, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9:00a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $360 members, $390 nonmembers Instructor: Stewart Hoagland This is a fast and easy way to design and build your own plywood skiff in two days. The instructor, an experienced designer and builder, will lead students in designing the flat bottom 8' boat that fits the needs for either sail, row or power. A basic hull will be built without thwarts or risers. Can have lapstrake sides. Limited to 2 boats, 4 students.

CANOE REPAIR WORKSHOP CWB Lake Union November 8 & 9, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 non-members Instructor : Eric Harman Using a traditional wood canvas canoe from CWB’s collection, students will begin the repairs necessary to put it back in service. This may include replacing frames and planks, repairing stems, gunwales, seats and re-canvasing. Students may bring their own canoes for evaluation.

Limited to 6.

TOOL MAKING WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop November 22 & 23, 2003 (Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $125 members, $135 nonmembers Instructor: Rich Kolin Under the guidance of a master boatwright, students will build their own smoothing plane and a carving knife that will provide a lifetime of use. Students will shape & heat-treat a piece of tool steel into a blade that will hold a razor edge. They also will learn to sharpen, use and maintain their masterpieces. Limited to 8.

KNOT 7 7:: CHEST BECKETS CWB, Lake Union December 13, 2003 (Saturday) 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Fee: If not pre paid for the series of 7, $40 member, $50 nonmembers Instructor: Dennis Armstrong For a graduation project that will encompass many of the things learned in the previous series of classes, students will make a pair of traditional chest beckets. The class will be 4 hours, but the beckets will be completed in added sessions as needed. Limited to 5.

MARINE CARVING (Nameboards, Banners & Nautical Details) Marysville Boatshop December 6, 7 13 & 14, 2003(Saturdays & Sundays) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $190 members, $200 nonmembers Instructor: Rich Kolin Under the guidance of instructor Rich Kolin, students will learn to design, layout, and carve nameboards, banners or seat rests for a boat or home. Before the class, students will receive both a tool list and a copy of Jay Hanna’s Sign Carving Handbook. Tools will be available for those without them. Limited to 8.

For more information about CWB workshops please visit our web site, www.cwb.org/ CalendarWorkshops.htm; call us at 206.382.2628, or e-mail us at cwb@cwb.org.

FORGING WORKSHOP Seattle Blacksmith Shop November 15, 2003 (Saturday) 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $130 nonmembers Instructor : Patrick Mahrer An introduction to the skills of shaping iron with heat and hammer. Students may make two maritime items to take home. They may include caulking irons, boat hook or grapnel. Limited to 8.

BUILDING A SAIL RIG Marysville Boatshop November 15 &16, 2003 (Saturday –Sunday) 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Fee: $115 members, $125 non-members Instructor:Rich Kolin In this class students will build the sailing rig for the lapstrake boat “Ranger”. This will include building spars, rudder and dagger board.

NATIVE AMERICAN CARVING TOOLS CWB Lake Union November 15 &16, 2003 (Saturday & Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $100 members, $110 nonmembers Instructor : Ray Arcand Ray Arcand is an experienced wood carver and toolmaker. Students will make their own nativestyle crooked knife and another knife preferred by local native carvers.

Students will gain historic information and knowledge of the annealing, hardening and processes and the fitting of the blade to handle.

Limited to 6.

Class locations are listed directly beneath the class heading. The CWB Boathouse, Library and Workshop are all located at the South Lake Union CWB site.

Until Cama Beach State Park opens, many Cama Beach workshops will be held at the Tulalip Bay shop of Rich Kolin, on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Marysville. This location is approximately 40 minutes from Lake Union CWB. A map to the site will be sent to students after they register.

NOTE: A $100 non-refundable deposit is required to register for all boatbuilding workshops; the balance is due no later than two weeks prior to the workshop. For all other workshops, prepayment in full reserves your place. Classes with fewer than four students will be canceled or postponed.

LAPSTRAKE BOAT BUILDING WORKSHOP Marysville Boatshop November 1-9, 2003 ( Saturday – Sunday) 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fee: $600 members, $650 nonmembers Instructor : Rich Kolin Rich Kolin, an experienced designer, builder and instructor will lead the class in building a classic 18’ lapstrake-sided, flat-bottom skiff. A copy of Kolin’s book on skiff building, Building Heidi, is included in the tuition. Limited to 7.

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CRUISING IN THE LAND WAR CANOES

A mainstay of the CWB experience from the start has been the monthly Friday evening social meeting. Films, talks, and slide shows on topics ranging around the world have been a gift to us, first in Dick and Colleen Wagner’s living room, later at the CWB site.

More than 20 years ago we used one of these evenings to watch a film borrowed from the Seattle Public Library called “In the Land of the War Canoes.” I’d never heard of it, although I had heard of its creator, Edward Curtis. Famous for his photography of the vanishing American Indian culture, Curtis did indeed make a long film before World War I, hoping it would be successful, and help fund his long project to capture the Indian culture in very high quality photographs.

I was mesmerized, then and each time I have since seen the film. It is a wonderful experience in many ways, not the least for the land in which it was filmed. Villages on island beaches, waves breaking on the rocks, sun and clouds CASCADE FRESH every time I watched I wanted to go YOGURT there and experience it.

Last summer I finally got my chance, delivers 100% natural and as is so often the case, I didn’t fully goodness, straight realize what I had experienced until later.

I even got to meet and talk to a number from dairy farm to of Kwakiutl Indians, descendents of the dairy case. people who acted in the movie.

My boat cruising has been a Each wholesome mixture of camp cruising in rowing skiffs and crewing on friend’s sailboats. In the batch contains only the last few years I finally acquired a power freshest natural cruiser of my own and started learning the many things I needed to safely and ingredients, with no comfortably head out on the big waters preservative, no as my own captain.

A good friend and neighbor, who excess stabilizers, and had introduced me to Desolation Sound no artificial sweeteners on his sailboats, had been foraying much further north, and he began urging me to or refined do the same. “Base yourself out of Port sugars. Cultured in the McNeill” he said. “You can spend years exploring the waters east and south of cup at a low there.” Last summer all the cosmic temperature, it’s tumblers fell into place, the door swung open, and I had the chance to do this. natural to wonder, “why The cruise held many adventures, would anyone settle both getting to Port McNeill and after leaving the Land of the War Canoes. I for anything less?” met a lot of great people everywhere I went. Space prevents my sharing the whole Cascade Fresh story, so here is the tale of my visit to Kwakiutl territory.

Yogurt I arrived at Port McNeill on the 7th Activate Your Life. day of the cruise, and spent several days

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OF THE

By Dave Cox

there. While there I took the B.C. Ferry to Alert Bay. I very much wanted to visit the Indian cultural center there, and see a bit of the place.

The ferry ride was pleasant. B.C. Ferries always seems to do such a good job.

We soon arrived and I headed over to the Old Custom House (which was indeed, once the custom house) for a good lunch, then walked back along the shore to the U’Mista Cultural Centre.

This was a consciousness raising experience. In 1921 the B.C. government decided to start enforcing their laws against the potlatch ceremonies and arrested a number of natives, confiscating a large number of masks and other artifacts in the process. The masks were all sent to a museum in Toronto.

The Indians worked for decades to recover their property. Even after the B.C. government quietly dropped the law against the potlatches in the early 1950s they resisted returning the Indian’s property. In the 1970s the Indians were told they could have their property back if they built a museum to house them.

In the late 1970s the U’Mista Cultural Centre was opened. When you visit you have an opportunity to see a videotape about the whole process, including some very moving scenes from the opening ceremonies. During the ceremonies many of the tribal elders talked about how having the masks back was like the return of family members. Their joy came shining through as they talked about what it meant to see this finally happen.

The masks, etc are displayed without any barrier between them and the visitor.

You are asked not to touch them (and set off the alarms) but the tribe felt the masks had been locked up for many years, and needed to be free when they came home. It makes for a very extraordinary experience.

There are normally dances performed at the center but there was a large funeral on the island that day, as a tribal elder had died. I later met some of this woman’s relatives. On the ferry back to Port McNeill there were many families returning from the funeral.

After 3 nights in Port McNeill, I had re-provisioned and set out on the first sunny day in about a week. I headed SE, trying to select from a number of possible destinations. I wound up anchored in the ominously named Beware Cove of Turnour Island, on Beware Passage.

Beware Cove is a great place, private and remote. While there I used the tender to run over to Harbledown Island in an unsuccessful attempt to locate a very elaborate stone wall built there by 19th century settlers. The mornings were foggy and the days were sunny. I relaxed and tried not to worry about the weather reports of fog and gales in the portion of Johnstone Strait I eventually had to pass through.

In exploring the area I again noticed something I’d seen before. What appeared to be virgin forest was a narrow band of untouched woodlands along the shore. If you really look, you can see that the inland has been clear-cut. I noticed the same thing when I rode a seaplane from Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound a few years ago.

After a couple of days in Beware Cove I decided to go see Mamalilaculla Village. I awoke to a morning that dawned glassy calm, overcast, and foggy in places. The ravens like this kind of weather and were discussing it amongst themselves.

I motored slowly over to Village Island, to the bay NW of Mamalilaculla Village. I tried to anchor near the floating store, but the grassy bottom defeated me each time. I idled past the store and asked the woman if there would be tours that day. She said later in the afternoon, when Tom Sewid was to return.

I went around the corner to Native Anchorage of Village Island, another nice cove. The bottom was sand and I got a good set for the anchor.

Around 1300 I rigged the inflatable and motored back over to the store at Mamalilaculla. It was now sunny with a light breeze and the weather was perfect for paddling around in the inflatable.

When I arrived, Tom (the tour guide) wasn’t back yet. I discovered there were also going to be dances that afternoon, for an additional fee. I decided to wait and see about those when Tom returned, and while waiting fell into conversation with Glen (I hope I got his name right) who was the head dancer.

Quite a guy! Extremely knowledgeable and passionate about preserving his native culture, characteristics I was to discover in Tom as well. After talking to him for a while I went in and paid my $25 (Canadian) for both tour and dances, determined not to miss any of it.

Getting from the store, which is part of a complex of floating structures, involved walking across a long and tippy float and finally to shore. A short walk through the woods brought me to the edge of the village, starting with the old hospital. The “white people’s” buildings are in various states of disrepair, including some that are edging toward falling over.

There are only parts (mostly poles) left of the Indian longhouses. The grass is tall where no trails have tramped it down and the air is full of the humming of bees, who were harvesting the nectar from the blackberry bushes.

Reaching the center of the village, you see it is built right on the bank above a beautiful sand and gravel beach. The day had become clear, calm, and the sky was very blue. Large rocks litter the bay in front of the village, and in fact give the village its true name “Meem Quam Leese”, which means “the place with the beach and rocks in front.” Mamalilaculla is supposed to mean “the place where the last potlatch was held” and was made up by the whites – it isn’t used by the Indians.

This is a very beautiful place. The view of the bay is superb. I could see why the village had been built here. I am very glad to have experienced it.

A number of kayaks are on the beach and many of the people in the group gathered for the tour and talk are from these.

Tom Sewid soon arrives and launches into an utterly fascinating presentation. He talks about what life was like in the village, why the potlatch was central to their culture, and how damaging the government was in killing the potlatches, and also in making the children go away to government run schools. Only in recent decades have the Indians begun to recapture some of their culture.

Tom talks about how he and Glen went out and greeted Springer the killer whale when she was brought home from Puget Sound – this being only a week or two after this happened. He then told a wondrous story about the Indians and their relationship to the Orcas. I can’t really do it justice, but want to set down the basics as I recall them.

The people lived in longhouses, like the one that used to be behind me. There were storage areas, where the food for the tribe was kept, and each family had its area. There were fires burning in the house, with the smoke being drawn through the smoke holes in the roof.

One morning as the people were awakening, an old man in one corner could not rise. He felt very weak and realized his time had come. He laid there

as the rest of the people in the house began to rise and perform their morning routine. He thought about how much food his hunting had contributed to the tribe and more importantly how much he had been able to teach the young men about hunting. This was his most important contribution, he thought. He wanted to teach more of what he knew, but this was not to be.

Finally someone went to the chief and told him the old man could not get up. The chief went to see the old man.

The old man told the chief it was his time to die and asked that he be carried down and left on the beach, as was the custom.

The chief did not want to do this.

He revered the old man and understood how valuable he was to the tribe. But custom demanded that the request be honored, and he directed some of the other men to carry the old man down to the beach and leave him, as he requested.

As evening came the people stayed in the house and thought about the old man. They were very sad about his coming death, but knew it was part of the cycle of life. Finally they went to bed, not wanting morning to come and have to go to the beach to find the old man dead.

As for the old man, he laid on the beach, feeling weak, but at peace. He had lived a long time, done much, and although he would have preferred to live longer, he was content.

Night fell, and the old man started to hear breathing from the water. He looked out and saw a number of Orcas swimming toward the beach. They drew near and stopped.

Suddenly he heard the leader of the Orcas speaking to him in his head. The Orca told him he must come with them, for they had something to show him.

Somehow he found himself in the water, traveling with the Orcas as they took him down deep into the water. They took him to show him their underwater home and talked to him, telling him they, the Orcas, were more like the Indians than different. Both breathed the air, both ate the fish. The visit went on for some time and then the Orcas took the old man and put him back on the beach, telling him that it was not yet his time to die, and that he must return to the tribe and tell him what he had learned.

In the morning, the people came down to the beach and instead of the old man’s dead body, found him alive and gaining strength. He lived on, and shared the tale of his experiences.

And this, Tom said, is why the Indians do not hunt the Orca, why the Orca has never harmed the Indians, and why the Indians do not go beneath the water. That is the Orca’s place.

When Tom finished his spellbinding talk, a dilemma arose for me. The tour was to continue with a walk through the village, but the dancing was about to begin. Not good! I elected to stay for the dancing.

I’ll be forever glad I did. Glen narrated and drummed, while his son did the actual dancing. It was a stunning performance, well worth seeing. The masks and costumes were amazing. Seeing the masks in books and museums is one thing, seeing them danced is quite another thing - this is what they were made for. I found myself wishing I could see the dances at night, in front of a fire.

The son was slightly built, but very strong. Some of those masks are heavy,

and it clearly takes an athlete to dance them.

During the dances two large ravens passed low overhead, talking back and forth. Then a large eagle soared low overhead, but hardly anyone took note, so absorbed in the dancing were they.

After the dancing I wandered around the rest of the village and returned to the dinghy. The day continued beautiful and I motored back to the boat to find I now had company. In my absence, a 40 foot Catalina sailboat had anchored, and also a 95 foot World War Two military supply vessel “Songhee” (named, I later discovered, after an Indian tribe of the Victoria area) that was the mother ship for the kayak group. I stopped at the latter boat and obtained a brochure for the kayak tour group. Looks like fun to me!

(Spirit of the West Adventures www.kayakingtours.com.)

I very much enjoyed something about the Catalina. It appeared that there were 3 generations of a family aboard, including two little girls, probably about 7 and 10 years of age. One of the girls had a lovely singing voice, of operatic quality, and was always bursting into song.

As the evening went on I was in a reflective mood. After the visits to Alert Bay and to Mamalilaculla I had a very changed perspective about the history and culture of the Indians of the area. It isn’t often one has experiences of this strong effect.

My time was short and I had a long way to go. The next morning I reluctantly pulled anchor and started my run south, vowing to return soon and often.

If you decide to visit this area, there

are several ways to go. If you have the boat and the time, you can make the run north using several routes. Trailer boaters can tow up Vancouver Island and launch at Telegraph Cove or Port McNeill.

Kayakers have even more options, either taking your own boat or joining a tour group (see above.) I’m sure there are boats available for charter as well.

I only scratched the surface. My “bible” for cruising is the Waggoner Cruising Guide. Reading this book’s descriptions of the places I visited reminds me I’m not the only one in awe of what I saw.

Dave Cox is a lifelong Northwest resident and boater. He was CWB Board president, twice, in our juvenile stage. He has always been keenly interested in northwest maritime history and currently owns five boats.

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Yes! I Want to become a Member of CWB!

Volunteer of the Year

Remember, it’s tax deductible!

Our Mission: To provide a community center where maritime history comes alive and our small craft heritage is preserved and passed along to future generations.

CWB offers an opportunity to experience the dimensions of an earlier time, to put your hands on the oars of a graceful pulling boat or the tiller of a traditional wooden catboat. Your membership plays an important role in helping us offer these experiences to everyone in our community. In exchange, we offer you discounts on livery rates and workshop fees, a 10% discount on CWB merchandise, discounts at several Seattle-area stores, our monthly newsletters, and library borrowing privileges.

Name ________________________________________________________ Date ________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________________________ City _____________________________________________ State ______________

Zip ________________

Telephone (h) ____________________________________ (w) ______________________________________ E-mail _____________________________________________________________________________________ Payment Method: ❏ Cash ❏ Check ❏ Mastercard / Visa / AmEx / Discover Card # ________________________________________________________ Expires _____________________ Signature __________________________________________________________________________________ Membership Type:

❏ New

Membership Level: ❏ Student — $10 ❏ Senior — $10 ❏ Individual — $30 ❏ Family — $45 ❏ Contributing — $75 (Includes poster and mug)

❏ Renewal

(❏ ❏ Current Volunteer?)

Why are you joining or renewing your membership?

❏ Benefactor — $150 (Includes CWB T-shirt)

❏ Discount on boat rentals

❏ Sustaining — $500 (Includes CWB tour and sail)

❏ Discount on CWB merchandise

❏ Extra Donation $ _________ ❏ I work for ________________________ (please check if Matching Co.)

❏ Discount on workshops ❏ Discounts at area stores ❏ Library borrowing privileges ❏ Receive newsletters ❏ Other _______________________

Please mail your completed form to:

The Center for WOODEN BOATS 1010 Valley Street, Seattle, WA 98109 206.382.2628 www.cwb.org

Doug Weeks, CWB’s Chief of Steam, running our 21’ Puffin.

Doug received the Volunteer of the Year award at our Spring Cruise, on the last Sunday of April.

Every spring, the swallows come back to Capistrano, the tulips bloom in the Skagit Valley and CWB has its Spring Cruise. At our cruise dinner, the volunteer of the year, chosen by CWB program participants, volunteers and staff, is announced.

There were 18 nominees for the person who fits the description on the permanent trophy: “In recognition of the highest qualities of volunteerism: dedication, enthusiasm, leadership and commitment to the goals of the Center for Wooden Boats.”

Doug wrote the Puffin’s operations manual, organizes instruction on operations, gives parties for the Steam Team, oversees maintenance of Puffin and, through his many skills and the inspiration he radiates, has made Puffin CWB’s all-star performer this past year.

Any Wood.

For any boat.

Boatbuilding, one of the most demanding of skills, requires the most discerning selection of materials. One of our specialties at Edensaw Woods is marine lumber and plywood. Whether it is long solid stock for a new mast or planking, or a beautiful hardwood timber to replace a stem, we have it. We also offer in stock veneers, exotic hardwoods, hardwood plywoods and flooring.

Call us for pricing on marine lumber or any of our 60 wood species.

Two locations to serve you: Seattle 3223 3rd Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134 1.206.587.0970 • Toll Free: 1.877.333.6729

Port Townsend 211 Seton Road, Port Townsend 1.360.385.7878 • Toll Free: 1.800.745.3336 E-mail: info@edensaw.com Web: edensaw.com

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Shavings

Edensaw Ad strip in photo from last year’s ad

Kay Dee II An Historic Vessel

By Dick Wagner

A whole new dimension was added to recreational watercraft in the early 1900s. Prior to that, pleasure boats were generally 100 feet long, with a paid crew. The owners were pampered like Oriental sultans. Engines were steam-driven, requiring engineers and firemen.

In that era, someone asked J.P. Morgan, a leader in banking, how much a yacht cost. His answer: “If you have to ask the cost, you can’t afford it!”

The early 1900s was a period of frenzied industrial activity in North America. Out of that period came mass-produced bicycles,

Photos by Greg Gilbert.

the Ford automobile and small, internal-combustion gasoline engines. Almost overnight, family-sized boats were designed and built to take advantage of these new engines.

Now, the owner could also be the captain. The family could cruise in a middle-class income yacht. Popular maritime magazines began to be published in the early 1900s to serve the fast-growing constituency of private recreational boat owners.

The term ‘express cruiser’ became the brand of these modest-dimensioned power boats. The best boatyards on the East Coast, Great Lakes and West Coast were busy building express cruisers to be used at the summer homes of the upwardly mobile middle class. A new architectural element developed – the boathouse.

Thousands of these peaked-roof structures, built over the water on pilings or floats, are found on the waterfront getaways of North America.

Even though the majority of the express cruisers were stock production boats, the ethic of craftsmanship that was found in the vessels of the J.P. Morgans was carried out in these small yachts. The express cruisers were simply scaled-down versions of the millionaires’ yachts.

Kay Dee II was built in that era but, notably, she was not a production boat. She was designed and built by and for Quent Williams of Seattle, a furniture designer, furniture builder, and Commodore of the Seattle Yacht Club. Williams had the eye, the skill and the taste – and the funds – to make Kay Dee II the most exquisite miniature yacht possible. This boat was part of the movement of popular, affordable yachting, but a clear step beyond it.

Williams knew boats. Before Kay Dee II, he built a 39’ R-Class racing sloop.

This sailboat has the classic long overhang bow and stern, and the saucy sheer of those calendar-art America’s cup vessels. Construction of a racing yacht requires maximum strength with minimum weight. Williams learned his lesson well and applied it to Kay Dee II. The first Kay Dee was a transition between sail and power. It was a double ender with long foredeck and large stern cockpit, with a short house that had a pilothouse at the aft end. Passengers would tend to sit on the forward end of the cabin, which would give them a good dose of spray and block the view of the skipper in the pilothouse.

Kay Dee II cannot easily be described – many of her features are unseen or subtle. She 36’ long with 8’2” beam, with transom stern. This is a slim shape that moves through the water with little turbulence and allows her to do 20 knots. In 1925, a 30-knot boat was considered insanely fast, and only for those maniacal leather-jacket, goggles, silk-scarf-wearing speedboat drivers. Kay Dee II was designed for the lubberly friends-and-relatives crowd. Its speed potential was icing on the cake. Most express cruisers of the time were eight-knot boats.

Hull construction is double-planked Port Orford cedar, the prime planking wood of the northwest. It is strong, light and rot-resistant. Double planking means the inside layer is diagonal and the outside is fore and aft, creating a virtual truss. This prevents the wood from shrinking when dry, thereby keeping the boat watertight without caulking. The inner planking is ¼” thick and the outer is ½” thick, giving an extremely strong, stable and lightweight boat. The lighter the boat, the more acceleration and ultimate speed. A typical 36’ vessel of that era would probably have 1 ¼” thick planking over 2”x 2” oak frames, 10” on center. In relationship to stock express cruisers of 1925, Kay Dee II would be like comparing a hummingbird to a buzzard.

The original Kay Dee has a bow that is like a razor blade from waterline to sheer. A sharp bow is the right thing at or below waterline, as it neatly parts the water; however, it makes a wet foredeck. Kay Dee II has a razor edge where it should be, and a flare above water that knocks down the spray. Even better is a cockpit let into the foredeck which seats five on an upholstered couch.

Kay Dee II has been cared for as the precious jewel she is. About 1996, Peter London of Sidney, BC overhauled her from keel to mast. London was a master boat builder who was satisfied with nothing short of perfection. Everything Kay Dee II needed, she got. Kay Dee II is probably in better shape now than when new, with an upgraded engine, mechanical and electrical systems. Her beautiful hull and appointments, such as a German silver sink, beveled and etched windows, teak decking and teak and holly sole, are as good as they were.

Kay Dee II is arguably the best traditional express cruiser ever built. Her pedigree design, construction and details are a perfect blend of technology and art. Eat your heart out, J.P. Morgan.

Dick Wagner got an incurable case of boatitis when he arrived in the Northwest in the last half of the last century. He found some of humankind’s most glorious wooden structures floating all around.

He finds it impossible to stop looking, trying out and writing about great wooden boats.

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Shavings

17

The Few, The Fast, The Frozen: Iceboating

By Peter Brodsky

Who says wood can’t be fast?

In early February, I decided to satisfy a since-childhood curiosity and experience the fastest of all non-motorized activities: iceboating. As a sailor and hockey player, I found the combination of wind and ice irresistable. (The word “insane” seemed to materialize whenever I discussed this with friends and family, but I’m sure they were talking about something else.) Not owning, or knowing anyone else who owned an iceboat, the task of actually finding the means to do this was not easy. But repeated Internet searches finally turned up a small company in Montana that advertised iceboat rental and instruction. Several emails and phone calls later (sprinkled liberally with my association with The Center for Wooden Boats), and I had a standing invite to come out to Canyon Ferry Lake in western Montana to see for myself.

This offer came from Montanans Keith Kallio and business partner Mitch Morey, and Keith’s father, Alan. Keith and Mitch run the small business I found on the Internet, and Al runs a boatbuilding business in Helena known as Caird Boatworks.

Many of the boats I saw (and sailed) were built or restored by Keith, Mitch, and Al themselves. (In fact, Al’s homebuilt Woodpecker was written up in the January 2002 issue of Wooden Boat.)

Interestingly, most iceboats have been (and are still) built of wood. While carbon fiber has made some inroads in masts, and there are fiberglass bodies, by far and away the most common materials I saw were Sitka spruce, oak, fir, and poplar. This made the visit all the more interesting (and motivated this piece for CWB).

Ice. Skiers hate it. Drivers fear it. But for those for who “fast” is never fast enough, there is simply no better medium. We in ordinary sailing talk in awe of boat speeds upward of 10 knots (surfing downwind in a 30-knot blow). Iceboat sailors routinely see speeds 5 times that. Iceboats will easily triple the true wind speed. Many will do 5 to 6 times what Mother Nature dishes up. And consider this: until the advent of the airplane, iceboating was the fastest mode of human transportation.

But how?

Friction. Specifically, the lack thereof. Quite simply, ice presents a very low coefficient of friction to most materials. In particular, steel, when ground to an edge and bearing weight, will melt a tiny area of ice beneath it, creating a super-lubricating film between ice and craft. The “craft” might be a human on skates, or a wooden structure on skate-like blades (“runners”). The latter is an iceboat. Compared to the extremely large drag created by water on the hull of a conventional boat immersed within it (even a planing hull), an iceboat is effectively nearly weightless.

Current iceboat design is very simple indeed. A kayak-like structure (the body) rides on 3 runners, in a forward-pointing triangular configuration. The aft runners are mounted under a thick wooden cross-member called the runner plank. The forward runner (which also steers the boat) rests beneath a longitudinal piece known as the springboard. The runners themselves are crafted of heavy gauge steel, either stainless or high-carbon, and are subject to some rough treatment: they must carry the weight of boat and sailor over a very hard surface, which is rarely perfectly smooth. Unlike skate blades, the runners are ground to a knife edge, and the aft runners must be very carefully aligned so that they run parallel. A single sail, of relatively small area, provides power. This sail is rigged to a very traditional mast and boom, and controlled by a sheet just like any small sailboat. Steering is accomplished via a forward-facing tiller, which connects via tie-rod to the front runner, although some boats use foot pedals instead.

So how different could it be from sailing a Beetlecat…?

My wife Karen and I arrived at the shore of Canyon Ferry Lake on an unseasonably warm day and there they were: a dozen or so 3-legged bug like contraptions, waiting on the ice. The sight of full-face motorcycle helmets was an earlier indicator of what was to come. After a quick rundown of ice-sailing peculiarities, Keith and Al had us sitting in a couple of their boats and shoved us off.

Tiller steering from the front was not immediately intuitive, and early on I scattered a few ice fishermen with some experimental weaving (let’s call it a “sea-trial”). Then the wind took over.

As longtime sailors, we’re used to the gentle momentum increase that boats experience as sails bite into wind. I was unprepared for the eye-watering acceleration that took place here. You are literally pressed back into the seat. The apparent wind rotates forward so fast (and stays there), that wind identification is nearly impossible.

Adding to the fun are high-velocity ice chips flying into your face, and the rather unnerving sight of the windward runner lifting off the ice as wind pressure heels the

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boat over (similar to catamaran hull-flying, this is known as “hiking”). In 15 knots of breeze, we estimated our boatspeed at 50-60 knots. I try to imagine the experience in a 30-knot wind. Al has clocked Woodpecker at 97 knots (many iceboaters carry a GPS receiver to verify speed). The unofficial world record is 143 mph, set back in 1938! (More below) Keep in mind that you sit about a foot above the ice – the time from obstacle detection to CPA is VERY short. You can imagine the closing rates between approaching boats going opposite directions.

Iceboats epitomize the concept of aerodynamic lift. All sailboats experience it, but are too dragged by friction to realize its full potential. On ice, the lift force from the foil-shaped sail accelerates the boat on beam and close reaches to several times the wind speed. In an iceboat, you decelerate by turning downwind. This is an eerie concept to those of us conditioned to pinch up to avoid broaching: on ice, that can be a disastrous maneuver, and one is always looking for room to steer to leeward in case of being overpowered. Downwind the boat will only go as fast as the wind.

What a concept.

Despite its adrenaline-rush appeal, iceboating actually descends from a rich history. The Dutch probably built the first boats in the 17th century, for moving cargo over frozen canals. The Scandinavians also claim early iceboating development, perhaps as far back as the Vikings. As the Dutch settled the Hudson Valley in New York, they brought their designs with them. By the 1880’s, “ice yachting” was a popular winter pastime for wealthy landowners along the river. The original boxy, 4-runner sleds (essentially horse wagons fitted with skates) evolved into the most famous design of all: the stern-steerer. These were huge, elegant wooden vessels with the athwartship runners forward, and a single steering blade aft controlled by a traditional aft-facing tiller. Typically over 40 feet in length, they often carried a gaffrigged main, jib, and crews of up to 10. Sail area could exceed 700 square-feet.

Boats were designed by naval architects, and built of the finest exotic woods. Many were professionally crewed. One of the grandest of them all was owned by Commodore John E. Roosevelt (FDR’s uncle) of Hyde Park. Icicle was 69 feet long and carried 1,070 square feet of canvas.

In 1871, she raced, and beat, the Chicago Express train running alongside the river from Poughkeepsie to Ossining.

By the turn of the century, iceboating had spread to the upper Midwest and Canada.

It was also very popular competitively, with entire towns turning out for races.

The big boats were, by all accounts, unholy beasts to control in strong winds. The stern-steering design was prone to “flicker”, wherein the aft runner comes off the ice and sends the boat spinning wildly. A hair-raising (and hilarious) account Carl Harper, of Helena, MT, and ice boat Bird. He built this ice in the Toronto Daily Star boat in 1987 for his own use. Harper built many traditional of a Toronto Harbor wooden boats in his former shop in Hadlock, WA. race in 1907 describes a typical mishap: “Temeraire, gybing over at the Mugg’s Landing buoy, when she was in the grip of a fierce squall, turned a flip and sent her crew of eight flying in all directions. Just imagine a boat going at 65 miles per hour turning over and stop to figure out how far the men who were clinging to her are going to go before they land. Temeraire went over and scattered her crew over an acre of solid ice, yet every jack man of them was able to scramble to his feet.”

Forward-steering was introduced about 1903 and greatly improved handling ability. However iceboating’s popularity was already peaking. By most accounts, it began to decline (due to the advent of motor sports) by WWI. Nevertheless, new boat designs evolved steadily, and iceboating became accessible to the less-thanwealthy. The “Skeeter” class was created in 1933 by Walter Beauvois of Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Carrying just 75 square feet of sail, and only 30 feet long, it was as fast as the big stern-steerers. Even today, the Skeeters (there are 3 subclasses) are considered the fastest of the fast. In 1936, the Detroit News sponsored a design competition, the result of which was the DN class, which quickly became (and still is) the most popular design in the world. A typical DN is 12 feet long, with an 8foot runner plank (“beam”) and 16-foot mast, although class racing rules enforce only the maximum sail area: 60 square feet. Other more recent designs are the Nite, Renegade, and Yankee. A truly bizarre design is known as the “Scooter”. These hybrids, developed originally for the occasionally-frozen saltwater of Great South Bay of Long Island, will actually skim from ice to water and back! Many iceboats are also adapted for land use by replacing runners with wheels. These “land yachts” are not quite as fast, but the medium is more readily available and popularity is on the rise. There are active racing fleets for all classes in all the U.S., Canada, and

northern Europe.

Amazingly, the generally-accepted world speed record is over 60 years old. In 1938, John Buckstaff drove his class-A stern-steerer Debutante to 143 mph on Lake Winnebago Wisconsin: in a reported 72-mph wind! An even less official speed of 150 mph was achieved by Chuck Nevitt, also on Winnebago, during a 1947 race.

According to witnesses with stopwatches, Nevitt’s Flying Dutchman covered the ground between buoys set 2 miles apart in 53 seconds - but that included a tack! To this day Buckstaff and/or Nevitt are considered the world’s fastest naturally-powered humans.

(There are several efforts in the works to change this, however, including the Miss Wisconsin project by Daniel Kampo, who is working on a design he believes could deliver 200 mph: see http://www.miswislandiceyacht.com/ for details.)

Today, the U.S. hotbeds of iceboating are in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New England. The Canyon Ferry fleet is quite possibly the only one west of the Mississippi.

It may also be the only place anywhere one can receive instruction and boat rental. In fact, Canyon Ferry Lake is an iceboating paradise, with a huge expanse of fresh water, cold weather (for thick ice), strong wind, and little snow. These four conditions are the Holy Grail of iceboating and are not easy to come by in general. We are quite fortunate to be just a 90-minute flight away. And while I saw DN’s, Skeeters, and a variety of home-designs, there are reported to be two classic stern-steerers in the area which I did not. That’s for next year.

For the interested, Keith and Mitch are eager to spread the word about this sport. They can be contacted at Montana Ice Sports (http://www.mticesports.com).

Those burdened with an overabundance of sanity need not apply.

Peter Brodsky is one of CWB’s finest sailing instructors. He is kind, courteous, supportive and loves apple pie and Mom. He is also known as “Snake” for reasons totally unknown to the editor. He writes good, too.

Things to Do at CWB The Center for Wooden Boats is a hands-on maritime museum . . . a community center....a “do-touch” kind of place

STROLL THE DOCKS We have dozens of classic small wooden rowing and sailing craft. Stop by at lunch or after work and step into an earlier time.

RENT A BOAT We rent out many of our classic fleet. Prices range from $12 to $20 per hour for members. A brief check-out sail is required before you first rent our sailboats.

TAKE SAILING LESSONS SailNOW!, our popular sailing program, is available on weekends and summer evenings.

Start with our Saturday Shore School and be sailing on your own in six weeks. Take a refresher lesson in our One-on-One program available during the weekdays.

LEARN MARITIME HERITAGE SKILLS We teach a variety of heritage skills from boatbuilding to navigation. We also offer free lectures and events throughout the year.

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GET INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Center runs several programs to include people who don’t traditionally take up boating: youth at risk, homeless teenagers, and folks who are physically challenged.

Ask us how you can get involved.

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Shavings

19

Sternwheelers of Stanwood

by Steve Osborn

In those ancient days when Ug and Og looked at the heavy load of mammoth meat they had to haul to the village, then looked at the logs on the riverbank and thought, “If we take some vines and lash those logs together, we can load the meat on them and float down to the village,” the maritime trade began. Wherever a waterway of some sort has existed, it has been easier to transport people and goods by water than over rutted roads in Summer and mud bogs in Winter. This was true until the modern road systems with blacktop were built, forming a spider web of transport to every town and hamlet. At that point, the local marine trades began to dry up.

Alongside every body of water, there sprang up various maritime trades; boatbuilders, shipwrights, sailmakers, engine mechanics, etc. Different waters called for different types of vessels. Every farmer or fisherman who lived near the water could fashion himself a flatiron skiff to get around in. At first it was all by trial and error, but eventually it became scientific and the marine architect was born.

Gleaner of Stanwood, moored on Stanwood’s Stillaguamish River. Warehouse for outgoing (mainly oats) and incoming shipments in foreground. Photo courtesy of Stanwood Area Historical Museum.

Rivers and small estuaries require shoal draft vessels, which gave rise to barges and paddle wheel steamers. Screw vessels require a fair amount of draft to be effective and draft is the one thing severely limited in rivers. Paddle wheels, on the other hand, need only a few inches to work effectively, so they became the natural means of propulsion for river steam navigation. Navigating rivers is an art in itself. One should read Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain, to get an idea of what is required. Every river has continually shifting bars. Every storm or flood deposits new snags that can rip the bottom out of a boat. Rivers were often blocked by log jams, where mill ponds overflowed and a mass of logs would roar downstream until it all piled up like a pile of pickup sticks, blocking navigation until it was cleared. Before the snag boats were built, there were men who specialized in breaking up these jams. They were usually young men as you didn’t get much chance to grow old finding and blowing the “key log” so the jam would start to flow again. Mistakes were often fatal.

Captain Henry McDonald, who established the Skagit River Navigation and Trading Company was an excellent river pilot and a good businessman. He managed to compete successfully against the railroad, even when the government gave the rails a subsidy to lower their freight rates. It wasn’t until the network of hard roads and diesel trucks that shipping by water took a back seat.

Imagine Captain McDonald at the helm of Clan McDonald, racing his rival, the sternwheeler Henry Baily up or down the Skagit River. The pilots knew every bend, every shoal and every snag. The fire boxes were stoked red hot, the safety valves tied

down and the boilers trembling. Life on the Mississippi had nothing on the Skagit and the Snohomish. The boats would hold at the river mouth until the tide was high enough to pass the bar, then on down the sound, some trading as they went, but for the most part hauling canned milk, peas and sacked oats from the Skagit Valley to Seattle and Everett. Harvester made three round trips per week, carrying passengers and freight.

After Clan McDonald, Capt. McDonald bought out the Henry Baily and renamed her the City of Champaign. She later was renamed the Skagit Queen. She sailed until Harvester was built when she was retired and her machinery was put in the new vessel. That was later replaced by new engines.

Gleaner was laid down in April, 1907. She was a larger boat than the ‘Queen and much faster, being 145’ by 30' beam and drawing 22". She carried just under 500 tons of freight. She was fired by crude oil rather than coal or wood. The shipyard grounds had been purchased in 1906 by H.C. Anderson and W.C. Brokaw. It was an excellent site, being near both the mill and the water. To quote from the Stanwood paper of the day: The building of the Glea[m]er in Stanwood means more to us than we may now realize, for when it is known that a large boat of this size can be built cheaper here than in Seattle or Ballard, it is not impossible that other builders will come here for grounds for building other vessels.

Harvester was built at Stanwood. Her hull was framed and planked with seasoned Douglas fir, milled by the Stanwood Lumber Company. Her planking was 2½” thick. She was 152' by 36.2' beam and drew 12". She displaced 638 tons and was powered by steam engines with a bore of 12¼” and a stroke of 60", operating at a steam pressure of probably 40 to 60 pounds per square inch. Harvester could carry 30 passengers in comfort as well as more freight than Gleaner.

These boats were profitable for all of their working life. When Captain McDonald died his daughters took over and ran the business well, headed by Mrs. Anna Grimison.

Harvester met her end in a raging gale on 22 October, 1934, being sunk at the end of Pier 41 in Seattle by the S.S. President Madison which broke loose at the height of the gale and swept down on the moored gravel barges and freighters tied up there. The twenty man crew narrowly escaped by running across the gravel barges moored beside her, to the pier. She was crushed and sunk along with most of her cargo, just brought down from Mt. Vernon. She was replaced by Gleaner, which was sent down to Seattle the next day to cover her route.

As near as I can tell, Harvester was replaced by the Skagit Chief.

In 1938, we have a mystery which hopefully someone can solve for us. To quote from the Seattle Post Intelligencer: Lady Skipper Hurls Challenge for Race.

Believes Stern Wheeler Can Beat Diesel Freighter.

A woman hurled a challenge yesterday to male supremacy over Puget Sound waves.

She is Mrs. Anna Grimison, president of the Skagit River Navigation Company, and she announced she would race one of her fleet of Skagit River steamers against the fastest freighter on Puget Sound.

Through the Post-Intelligencer she challenged Capt. E. F. Lovejoy, president of the Puget Sound Freight Lines, for a race between her stern wheeler, the Skagit Chief, and the Diesel Freighter, Indian, fastest of the Lovejoy fleet And Captain Lovejoy accepted. So the contest will be held July 4 over a triangular one from Smith Cove to Pier 1, across Elliott Bay to Alki Point and back to Smith Cove.

AFTERMATH OF RACE The challenge that rocked the waterfront came as an aftermath of the race Maritime Day between the Indian and the Aleutian Native of the Petroleum Navigation Company. Mrs. Grimison viewed the contest, shrugged her shoulders, and remarked: “The Skagit Chief can beat both of them.”

Her brother, Capt. Harry McDonald, master of the river steamer agreed.

So it will be steam against Diesel, a stern wheeler against a conventional present-day hull and two pioneer families in Northwest transportation circles meeting for the first time in a “steamboat race” like an echo from the past.

FAMILY AFFAIR Mrs. Grimison and her brother and other family members of the McDonald family will ride the Skagit Chief, while Capt. F. E. Lovejoy will go along to see that brother Bart Lovejoy, skipper of the Indian, does not worry about straining the engines.

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And to combat the feminine influence, he is inviting one of the few women master mariners in the Northwest, Mrs. Chance Wyman, to go along as co-pilot.

Mrs. Wyman is the widow of the late Capt. Chance Wyman, former owner and master of the steamer Vernona.

“I must have some help from the distaff side,” Captain Lovejoy said,

“with women entering all lines of business and making it plenty tough for the men, I feel that Mrs. Wyman may be the deciding factor.”

It sounded like a lot of fun, but we don’t have a copy of the paper for July 4th or 5th. Who won?

Gleaner was lost in 1940 when she stranded and was snagged and sunk upstream of the North Fork bridge on the Skagit. The machinery and other useful fittings were removed and the 422-ton river boat of 1907 vintage was dismantled.

The next stern wheeler built for the Skagit River Navigation Company was the Skagit Belle. She was launched September 25th, 1941 in Everett and towed to Lake Union Drydock and Machine Works where her huge paddle wheel was installed. She was 207' by 44' beam and a draft less than 2'. She could turn up about ten knots loaded with 600 tons of freight. Her boilers delivered 500 HP. She was acquired by the U.S. Army in the summer of 1942, skippered by Captain Harry H. McDonald, veteran Steamboat man of the Pacific Northwest.

I am not sure when the company went out of business, but I do remember seeing stern wheelers both here, and on the Willamette river in Oregon when I was a kid.

One other stern wheeler still exists, dry berthed as an historic monument in Anacortes. That is the snagboat W. T. Preston. The Preston is the fourth and last of the steam powered paddle wheel snagboats. In 1882, the first was built, named Skagit.

She served from 1884 to 1914 when she was replaced by the Swinomish. She served until 1929 when she was replaced by the first W. T. Preston, a wooden hulled stern wheeler. In 1939, she was replaced by a steel hulled steamer with the same name, named after the only civilian district engineer for Seattle. She served the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, keeping the waterways clear of snags and obstructions throughout the Puget Sound region until her retirement in 1981. Her specifications are interesting. She is 163' by 34' beam and drew 3’8". She displaces 490 Gross Tons.

She had two engines of 150 HP with a 14" Bore and a stroke of 72" her boiler developed 180 PSI. Her paddle turned at 27 RPM flank and 16 RPM cruising. Her paddlewheel was 18' long and 17' diameter. She has a 70 ton derrick and could lift snags of 30 tons at a 28' radius. Her bucket could lift 15 tons at a 60' radius. She kept the local rivers navigable until 1981. As you can see by looking at any of our rivers, they have been allowed to silt up and fill with snags and debris until they are hazardous even to small boats. So passes an era that will never come again. It was fun to witness even a small part of it. There is something about the slap, slap, slap, of a stern wheeler’s paddle that you never forget.

Steve Osborn is a sailor’s sailor. He has sailed everything from dipping lug skiffs to brigantines, is a master of marlinspike, a fantastic yarn spinner, rum blender extraordinaire, and can recite from Masefield at the drop of a fid.

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Shavings

21

A Sea Story for the Modern Age

by Steve Osborn

Arr Lads and Lasses, let’s sit down in the lee of the longboat and I’ll spin you a yarn. It is a yarn with a couple of lessons that might save your life, or enable you to save the lives of others.

It was Mother’s Day and we were aboard the yawl Joshua, taking people out on the annual Mother’s Day Free Sail. We had a brisk breeze and were sailing along nicely on the starboard tack. Far to the north of us, two big power boats were steaming south. One altered course and passed well behind us. The other continued to head straight for us. This is not uncommon, for the Joshua is a beautiful classic, a replica of the first boat to sail a three year single-handed voyage around the world, in 1895-98. We expected the boat to pass astern after taking a close look at us. As we were sailing on the starboard tack, which gave us the right of way over even other sailboats, we did as the Rules of the Road dictate and maintained our course.

The boat continued to approach at around ten or twelve knots while our helmsman began to get a bit anxious, waiting for the other boat to veer off. It suddenly became obvious that the boat was going to strike us amidships at full speed. Everyone aboard began to holler, and to grab for something to hold on to. To our horror, we could see that there was no one at the helm!!!

I was standing at the starboard shrouds, looking straight into the boat through the wheelhouse window. Suddenly, one of the three or four people sitting at a table at the back of the cabin jumped up, ran forward and threw the engines full speed astern. The boat stopped about ten or fifteen feet from us, the helmsman standing at the wheel, just staring. Joshua continued sailing and the man stepped to the wheelhouse door and shouted, “I’m sorry! I have no excuse. I just apologize. I’m sorry.”

He then got under weigh again. The name carved in his lightboard was the S.S. Colt 45. It was obvious that they had put the boat on autopilot and then sat down, either to lunch or a few hands of bridge, oblivious to the fact that there are other boats on the sea.

Now we come to the second part of the saga. After we got ourselves sorted out and our passengers calmed down, we began to tack to head back toward Camano Island. Astern of us was an aluminum open boat which we assumed was fishing. A man stood up, yelling and waving a red shirt at us. We hailed him and he said he was out of gas. We hove to and sent Pike Powers over in the dory with a gallon of gas. It was a man with his wife and two infants. He had taken them out for a boat ride and run out of gas. I hollered to him that perhaps this gave him a different perspective on carrying spare fuel, food, water and a good pair of oars. He yelled back a hearty, “Yeah.”

With the Joshua’s spare gas on board, he headed off toward Whidbey.

Had Joshua not been there, and had the open boat been a few hundred feet to the East, the S.S. Colt 45 could have run it down, no lookout or helmsman seeing the man waving the red shirt, thinking the boat heading for him was coming to help. They probably would not even know they had run over a small boat, killing four people.

So shipmates that’s my yarn, this boating safety week. When you are under weigh, keep a good lookout. There is a lot of stuff on the water that can get you into trouble.

Running into a big floating log can ruin your entire day. If you are out in a small boat, take some common precautions, beyond carrying life jackets. Check your fuel tank and oil before you leave. Carry an extra fuel supply. Know the cruising range of your engine on a tank of gas. Carry food and water on board and extra warm clothes.

Hypothermia can happen fast if the weather changes. Last, but not least, get a good pair of oars and keep them aboard. Make sure your boat has a good set of oarlocks.

A cheap aluminum paddle will get you nowhere if there is any kind of weather and you will become exhausted very quickly. A cell phone and a G.P.S., kept in a plastic freezer bag to stay dry is not a bad idea either.

Well, mates, I can hear the kettle starting to sing, so it’s time to go below for a mug up. We’ll see you next time. Sail safely and keep a good lookout.

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Shavings

A Seagoing Adventure Do you enjoy sailing? Or would you like to learn more about sailing? Are you between the ages of 14 ½ and 21? Come sailing with us, we are Sea Scout Ship Odyssey, a 90 ft. yawl, (see photo at left) in Tacoma on the Foss Waterway. We leave the dock every Thursday night at 6 p.m. September through June. Our program is open to both boys and girls. For more information, call Nic Marshall at 425-985-3584 or email Nic at nic@gatewayprinting.net.

© Experience Music Project. Photo by Tim Hursley

Expe Mu Pro

Where Music Comes to Life Experience Music Project is a state-of-the-art, interactive museum dedicated to American popular music in all its forms from jazz and funk to rock and hip-hop. The whole family will have fun making music in EMP s hands-on Sound Lab, taking the stage for a simulated concert experience, then exploring a collection of music s coolest artifacts.

For information on current exhibits and events, visit emplive.com.

325 Fifth Ave. N. at Seattle Center 1.877.EMPLIVE

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Odyssey, a Sparkman & Stevens design bulit in 1938 by the Henry Nevins Yard, Cityi Island, New York.

CWB Gift Certificates The Gift for Any Occasion

CWB Merchandise One Size Fits All! Clothing Keychains Mugs Burgees They make wonderful gifts as well as great conversation starters.

CWB Posters Can’t figure out what to buy your husband for his birthday? Need ideas for the company raffle?

Stumped on what to spend on Mom for Mothers’ Day? Do you have a holiday shopping list that sends you into a panic? Next time you’re stuck for a great gift idea, think about giving a CWB Gift Certificate. CWB Gift Certificates can be purchased in any dollar amount and for any purpose merchandise, sailing lessons, membership, boat rental, or even donations! Just think of the possibilities. A sailing lesson for your little brother, a coffee mug and membership for Mom, or a $25 donation on behalf of your civic-minded, boat-loving best friend (who has everything he needs and is impossible to buy for anyway!). Let CWB solve all your gift giving problems!

are also very popular, especially our large selection of festival posters dating back over the last decade.

Plan on visiting our gift shop soon. It’s the perfect excuse to visit CWB and spend time enjoying our unique floating museum and outstanding small boat collection.

Shavings

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Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Seattle, WA Permit No. 1583 The Center for WOODEN BOATS 1010 Valley Street Seattle, WA 98109-4468 www.cwb.org Tel. 206.382.2628 Fax 206.382.2699 Volume XXIV Number 4 July 2003 ISSN 0734-0680 1992 CWB

Contributors: Bob Allen Peter Brodsky Dave Cox John Dean Chas. Dowd Lawrence Garwin Rich Kolin Steve Osborn Bob Perkins John Vonk Colleen Wagner Dick Wagner

The Center for WOODEN BOATS Fe stiva l Edition of Shavings

Festival ‘03 Features Õ Displays of more than 150 wooden boats of all types, sizes and vintages. Õ Free rides on various classic sailing boats and the steam launch Puffin Õ Classic rowing boat rentals Õ Toy boatbuilding for kids Õ Family boatbuilding Õ Ship Model exhibit Õ Pond models to try out Õ Pond model races Õ Ed Clark Classic yacht race Õ Restoration of the R-Class sloop Pirate, 18’ San Francisco Mercury, 15’ Culler-designed tugboat, 18’ canoe Õ Canoe paddle making and seat caning

Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ Õ

Oar making Signboard carving Caulking Casting Slide talks on the Royal Barges of Thailand, Secrets of Viking Navigation and Restoration of Classic Vessels Classic maritime videos The World Fender Throwing Championship Quick & Daring Boatbuilding Acoustic Folk Music Pewter Pig Pub Ask the Expert Good boats, good food, good programs, good people