Hooked On Wooden Boats Dan Mattson

Today’s podcast is an interview with Marty Loken, founder of the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters and (almost) retired from his Boatshop on Marrowstone Island. The Pocket Yachters like to keep it simple – no officers, dues, bylaws, regulations nor fees to attend the annual Palooza.

Last year I attended the first ever Palooza and had a blast. This year I attended the second annual Pocket Yacht Palooza and must say it was amazing – this is a must attend event so mark your calendars for July 19 and 20th 2014! There were 75 pocket yachts (including my canoe Chelan ) from the Puget Sound area, Colorado, northern CA, OR, ID, and British Columbia. And Sam Devlin was there showing off his first ever Lit’l Coot 18ʹ Motorsailer.

There appears to be a growing interest in small boats since they are easier and cheaper to maintain and build, quicker to launch, and just plain get used because the boats aren’t complicated! And this is right up my alley as I love small boats and building them is a blast too!

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.



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



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podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

Today’s podcast is an interview with Scott Sprague of Bainbridge Island. I met Scott at the 2013 Bainbridge
Island Wooden Boat Festival while he was relaxing on the beautiful 42ʹ double ended sloop – Tumblehome – he
designed and built. We had a great time talking shop and I learned what a rotating wing spar is :).


Scott grew up on Bainbridge Island and from a very tender age he was sailing his parents gaff rigged sloop and
wooded schooner around Puget Sound and into Canada. During high school he started designing boats and after
graduating, he purchased a fishing boat hull and converted it to a 29ʹ wishbone ketch which he lived aboard for 7 years.


Scott was introduced to his dad’s good friend, renowned Northwest boat designer William Garden, as a youth
and had the privilege of being mentored by Garden on vessel design. Between 1981 and 1989 Scott designed
and built a very unique sloop – Tumblehome.

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share you comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.



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



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

Today’s podcast is an interview with Betsy Davis, Executive Director of The Center for Wooden Boats (CWB) in Seattle, WA. I chatted with Davis while she was sitting on her classic 1914 yacht Glory Be during the 37th annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival. We had a great time talking about CWB, the Glory Be, and other fun stuff.

Betsy spent her formidable years on Mercer Island and enjoyed getting out on canoes and row boats on Lake Washington. After working in the hi-tech industry, becoming a board member at CWB, and purchasing Glory Be in 1997, Betsy took some time to reflect on the next step in her life journey. That process landed her in the 2 year Marine Carpentry Program at Seattle Central Community College.

In January of 2002 while attending the Marine Carpentry Program, fire struck the Seattle Yacht Club where Glory Be was moored and she burned and sank. Three weeks later, her wreckage was pulled out of the water and she miraculously floated just like a boat should. One of Betsy’s Marine Carpentry instructions witnessed that phenomenon, and offered to Davis that if she would pay for the materials, the Marine Carpentry school would restore Glory Be.

Over the next 2 years, she was lovingly and painstakingly restored to her former glory, and looks as beautiful today as she did when she was launched in 1914 from the Taylor-Grandy yard on Vashon Island, WA. And in 2003, Betsy became the Executive Director of CWB.

Today’s podcast is an interview with George Fisher whom I met at the 2013 Bainbridge Island Wooden Boat Festival while he was relaxing on his sleek 1937 Swedish sailing vessel Hansina. We had a great time talking shop and recorded a really fun interview.

When George was 11, his dad came home and announced to the family he had purchased a “30 Square Meter” boat. This was a complete surprise as George’s family had done very little boating and none of the family even knew what a 30 Square Meter boat was. George sailed with his family on the boat on Long Island Sound, and at the age of 14, he took her out by himself without his parents knowledge (or permission). He fell in love with the boat and got out on her as much as possible.

For 20 plus years after college, George didn’t do any boating to speak of, but continued to research and collect information about 30 Square Meter boats all over the world. While flying on a business trip in 2005, he spotted a 30 Square Meter boat for sale at Lake Huron. When he came home and told his wife about the Lake Huron boat, she shocked George and said “you should buy it”. George flew to Lake Huron, bought the boat, hauled her home, renamed her “Hansina“, and the rest is history.

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

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

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

Today’s podcast is an interview with Pat Lown who has been at WoodenBoat Publications Inc. since 1993 and is currently the Director of Research.

Pat grew up in Kingston, New York near the Hudson River. Her family did not go boating, but as a youth she was introduced to boating when she attended a YMCA day camp where she had a great time paddling and rowing the canoes and rowboats there.

Growing up in Kingston, Pat was aware of the Hudson River sloop Clearwater (America’s Environmental Flagship) and the one to two week volunteer stints they offered. Pat volunteered after graduating high school in 1975 and fell in love with the boat and the water. She continued to volunteer frequently that summer and traveled to Stonington, ME in January 1976 to help with the restoration of the Clearwater at Billings Diesel and Marine on Deer Isle. Lown had planned to stay 2 weeks, but was so taken by Maine that she settled there where she lives to this day.

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

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

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

Today’s podcast is an interview with Todd Blankenship and his father Arlie Blankenship. Arlie grew up in Port Townsend, WA fishing with a bamboo pole and hand reel in a 12ʹ wooden boat his dad made. When Todd was a teenager in Hawaii, he and Arlie built an Eight Ball sailing dinghy together and took sailing lessons. From that time on, they were hooked on sailing and owned several boats including a Hobie Cat.

At the September 2011 Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, WA Todd & Arlie laid eyes on the SCAMP #1 boat for the first time. Arlie thought “it was ugly”, but Todd liked the fact that it was a seaworthy and stable boat. They purchased the plans that day and two weeks later ordered the Okoume plywood SCAMP kit from Small Craft Advisor Magazine. They completed “Humu” in August 2012 just in time for the Wooden Boat Festival. And Todd made the sail himself after taking a sailmaking class from Sean Rankins.

Todd and Arlie sail Humu (Humu is the State Fish of Hawaii) around Puget Sound every chance they get, and love every minute of the SCAMP experience!

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

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

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