Today’s podcast is an interview with Laura Prendergast of Pygmy Boats in Port Townsend, WA. Laura has been

with Pygmy since 2011 and wears many hats including the director of marketing.

Laura grew up in the hill country of Texas kayaking and tubing on the local rivers. After attending Saint Edwards University in Austin, Texas, she moved to Colorado to enjoy the Rocky Mountains and beautiful outdoors. The next stop was Port Townsend, WA so that Laura’s husband – Griffin – could fulfill his dream of attending the NW School of Wooden Boat Building.

After moving to Port Townsend, Laura met John Lockwood (Pygmy Boats founder) and his daughter Freya and started talking boats, websites, and marketing. John offered Laura a job as marketing director and she has been doing an outstanding job ever since.

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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podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.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 Cold Molded building expert Sean Koomen, instructor at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock, WA. This is the fifth of my Interview The Expert series of podcasts focused on 6 methods of boatbuilding: Carvel, Lapstrake, Cold Molded, Stitch and Glue, Strip Planked, and Skin-on-Frame.

With Cold Molded construction, 2 or more layers of wood veneer are glued together (in opposing grain directions) over an elaborate building jig using the vacuum bagging method or by stapling them together, so that the epoxy is uniformly applied between layers. Typically the inside and outside of the hull is sheathed with fiberglass cloth to protect the veneers of the wooden hull.

A cold molded boat is a light, strong, and beautiful monocoque hull – but can be complex and time consuming to build.

During the interview, Sean discusses the following points on Cold Molded construction:

Description and history

Skill level required to utilize this method

Cost of this method versus other building methods Time to build versus other methods

Special tools and materials required

Pros and cons

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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 Strip Planked building expert Bruce Blatchley, instructor at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock, WA. This is the fourth of my Interview The Expert series of podcasts focused on 6 methods of boatbuilding: Carvel, Lapstrake, Cold Molded, Stitch and Glue, Strip Planked, and Skin-on-Frame.

With Strip Planked construction, a strongback (think of backbone) is constructed first and then molds (section shapes) are attached perpendicular to the strongback. The edges of the molds are beveled to the correct angle for each station in the hull. Next, the transom keel and stem are attached to the strongback, and narrow strips of wood (commonly cedar) are laid over the mold and glued to each other edge to edge. Once completely planked, the hull is faired and then sheathed with fiberglass cloth.

During the interview, Bruce discusses the following points on Strip Planked construction:

Description and history

Skill level required to utilize this method

Cost of this method versus other building methods Time to build versus other methods

Special tools and materials required

Pros and cons

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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 Lapstrake building expert Jay Smith, owner of Aspoya Boats in Anacortes, WA. This is the third of my Interview The Expert series of podcasts focused on 6 methods of boatbuilding: Carvel, Lapstrake, Cold Molded, Stitch and Glue, Strip Planked, and Skin-on-Frame.

In this interview, Jay discusses the ins and outs of the traditional method of Lapstrake (aka Clinker) building. Lapstrake boats have planks running end to end with overlapping and fastened edges. These boats require little to no internal framework since the longitudinal strength of the fastened planks creates a robust structure.

During the podcast, Jay discusses the following points on Lapstrake construction:

Description and history

Skill level required to utilize this method

Cost of this method versus other building methods Time to build with Lapstrake versus other methods Special tools and materials required

Pros and cons

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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 Stitch and Glue expert John Harris, owner of Boat Kit manufacturer CLC Boats in Annapolis, MD. This is the second of my Interview The Expert series of podcasts focused on 6 methods of boatbuilding: Carvel, Lapstrake, Cold Molded, Stitch and Glue, Strip Planked, and Skin-on-Frame.

In this interview, John discusses the ins and outs of using the relatively modern method of Stitch and Glue building. With this technique, boat panels are cut to a predetermined shape and the edges are “stitched” together temporarily with wire, plastic ties, or duct tape to place the boat in its final geometric shape. The joints are then epoxy filleted to “hold” the boat shape, the stitches are removed, and voilà – you have an almost finished boat.

This method was established by an Englishman in 1959/1960 and is very popular to this day. During the podcast, John discusses the following points on Stitch and Glue:

Description and history

Skill level required to utilize this method

Cost of S&G versus other building methods Time to build with S&G versus other methods Pros and cons

Tips and tricks

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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.

This week’s podcast is three short interviews I recorded during the 2013 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

The first interview is with Korey and Christina from Florida. Korey heard my HOWB podcast last year, and as a result he and Christina flew up for the September 2012 Port Townsend Festival and to check out the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock. This August they packed up all their gear and moved to Port Townsend for Korey to attend the School starting in October. This is really exciting for me to see the fruit of my podcast.

The second interview is with John and Roxie Caples from Olympia, WA. John is a HOWB fan and they own a gorgeous 1971 Grand Banks 42ʹ power boat that is planked with Philippine Mahogany and has a teak interior. John and Roxie are very meticulous with Xanadu, and it shows.

The third interview is with HOWB fans John and Val Teters of Olympia, WA. They own an Ed Monk Sr. designed power boat Grand Finale. She was built in 1970 for the Seventh Day Adventist Church as a mission boat to Prince Rupert Island, AK. She is gorgeous and well taken care of. The main salon area originally housed Church pews and an organ for onboard services.

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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.

This week’s podcast is an interview with Russell and Ashlyn Brown of Port Townsend, WA. Russell and Ashlyn started Port Townsend Watercraft in 2009 “....with a vision and little knowledge about running a business. What they knew was that they had a good idea, and that idea had the potential to give back to the community that continues to treat them so well.“

Both Russell and Ashlyn have spent many moons boating, sailing, living on boats and learning the tricks of the trade including boatbuilding, navigation and, well, pretty much anything related to boats!

PT Watercraft sells kits for dinghies (including a nesting version) and the popular gas sipping 18.5ʹ PT Skiff. Plans are in the works for other boats down the line and the company also builds watertight wooden hatches for the popular SCAMP micro-cruiser.

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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.

This week’s podcast is an interview with Barb Trailer, co-director of the 37th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. Barb and I talk about the history of the 37th Festival, the highlights and some new happenings this year. Mark your calendars for September 6-8, 2013 and don’t miss it! You can listen to several interviews from last year’s festival at HOWB 053.

Barb spent her youth in Minnesota and Colorado and snow skied with her family. At the age of 23 she moved to Saint John Island in the Virgin Islands and started her sailing and boating adventures. Soon she was the cook on the W.N. Ragland, next she crewed on a Sparkman & Stephens 80ʹ Ketch (where she met her hubby), and then Barb spent several years on the 160ʹ power boat Viva before settling in Port Townsend.

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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.