Hooked On Wooden Boats

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Latest Episodes:

HOWB 027 – Eric Friberg Nordic wooden boat builder - Interview - 03.22.12 Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Eric has a rich maritime heritage. His family moved from Superior Wisconsin to the Seattle area in 1965 so his dad could work in the Seattle shipyards. Soon after, his father built a wooden fishing boat and headed to Alaska.

The boat was a 30ʹ Bristol Bay double ender made for the rough waters of Alaska.

When Eric was just 10 years old, he spent the summer in Alaska fishing with his dad. In his early 20’s, Eric started boatbuilding on his own – making kayaks and other small boats. One of his first projects was a Greenland stitch and glue kayak kit – from England of all places! He learned to Eskimo roll with this boat and spent a lot of time paddling Puget Sound, including navigating the treacherous Deception Pass and getting caught in a gale which tested his rolling skills.

A few years later, Eric stumbled upon the book Norse boatbuilding in North America and became hooked on the Viking method of clinker boat building. Then he found Jay Smith, who he apprenticed under, and shortly after went to Scandinavia to visit the boatbuilding shops and museums. Five years ago Eric turned his part time passion into a full time career and founded North Fjord Boats.

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podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.

HOWB 026 – The Smith’s restore 1929 wooden boat “David B” for floating B&B - interview - 03.15.12 Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

Interview – Christine & Jeffrey Smith of Northwest Navigation
Christine had dreamed of having a bed and breakfast since she was a kid, and David loved wooden boats ever since living in Maine where he was a deck hand and eventually captained on several wooden schooners with Windjammer Charters. Their passions and ideas blended together and they determined to have a “floating B&B” ala a wooden vessel. At first their plan was to build a wooden schooner, but the economic downturn nixed that idea so it was on to PLAN B – find an inexpensive wooden vessel and restore it.

A friend suggested they meet up with a gentlemen on Lopez Island that owned several wooden boats which “needed work”. They traveled to Lopez Island, fell in love with and purchased a 65ʹ former “monkey boat” built in 1929 named David B. Jeffreys best estimate was that it would be a 2 year restoration project. EIGHT years later in 2006, the restoration was done and their floating B&B company – Northwest Navigation – was launched. Christine has written an exciting book chronicling the David B rebuilding adventure.

Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B.

Tune in to this podcast to hear Christine and Jeffrey talk about their dreams, the gory details of their restoration project, how their floating B&B works, and other cool topics.

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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.

HOWB 025 – Tim Lee, Master wooden boat building instructor (former), Savvy builder – Interview - 03.08.12 Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

Tim took a keen interest in woodworking as a youth visiting his brother in Alaska, and building hickory dog sleds for racing. Then Tim’s other brother took him on his maiden sailing voyage off the coast of Georgia in wooden sail boat. Tim was hooked. Soon after Tim enrolled at the NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding, completed the program and began working in boatyards from Alaska to Port Townsend.

As fate would have it, Tim got a call from master builder Ray Speck in 2000, asking him to come teach at the school. The rest is history and Tim is loving it! Tune in to this podcast to hear Tim talk about helping set up a wooden boatbuilding school in Ireland, building a 26ʹ forest service boat, what makes northwest boat building unique, and other cool topics.

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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.

HOWB 024 – Brion Toss, author, teacher, legendary rigger, wooden boat lover - Interview - 03.01.12 Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

When Brion took geometry in high school he thought to himself “I’ll never use this crap”. But he soon became fascinated with knots and realized that geometry was his friend. He was super proud of his first two knots (learned from poorly drawn illustrations in an urban survival book) – the sheet bend and square knot. When he showed these knots to a good friend, the friend cracked open his 690 page Encyclopedia Of Knots And Fancy Rope Work, and Brion officially dove headfirst into the world of knots.

In Brion’s own words, he was largely “holed up in the late 60’s tying knots”. First there was the fancy-work knots, then came the maritime knots. These knots led to the wooden boat festivals, which led to sailing, which led to rigging, which led to Brion Toss Yacht Riggers!

If you want to hear some down to earth talk about splices, seizes, lashings, geometry, physics, resolution of forces, humping, hogging, and an explanation for the ditty: “worm and parcel with the lay, turn and serve the other way”, you have come to the right place!

ENJOY!

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.

HOWB 023 – Julia Maynard, Haven Boatworks wooden boat yard (rocks) - Interview - 02.23.12 Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Julia took a keen interest in wooden boats while attending The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and taking the integrated studies “Marine History and Crafts” program which was focused on wooden vessels.

During the program the students learned boat design, lofting, building and heard outside gurus such as designer Bob Perry.

Shortly after college, Julia landed at Mystic Seaport, CT apprenticing under the accomplished late designer/builder John Gardner for a full year. Julia then went on to build a 34ʹ Yawl rigged sailboat with her hubby and sailed to the far seas.

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.

HOWB 022 - Bruce Blatchley on building the 62ʹ wooden rocketship sloop “Sliver” - 02.16.12 Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

This week I interviewed master shipwright and instructor Bruce Blatchley. Bruce spent a lot of time on the water in canoes as a kid on the east coast. After high school, military service, college, mountain guiding, rock climbing, and building houses, he turned his attention to wooden boats. He first attended the NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding, then worked locally in the trade fine tuning his skills. A few years later, he was back at the school as an instructor heading up the school’s “Contemporary Boat” program.

Bruce is overseeing the School’s building of a ’62 wooden sloop “Sliver” designed by Bob Perry of Seattle, WA. The hull is strip planked red cedar with a triaxial fiberglass cloth in marine epoxy overlay. The sloop is being built for a private party and is designed to be fast and easy to single hand – she is a beaut and expected to be launched this year (2012)!

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.

HOWB 021 – Wooden Boat Dan on building the Sassafras wooden canoe - 02.09.12 Jan 16, 2023

Show notes

In today’s episode I talk about the Sassafras 12ʹ Canoe project I am working on. I'm building it using plans from the book “The Canoe Shop” by Chris Kulczycki.

The first thing I did when I purchased the book was to cut the binding off with my band saw, then have Office Depot spiral bind the book (cost $4.00) so I could lay it open on my work bench.

A couple other things I did a little differently:

I placed the panel layout closer together on the plywood so I can build the boat out of 3 sheets of Okoume instead of 4. To do this, I entered all the diagrammed panel offsets into an Excel table, then used Excel’s fraction capability to deduct from each of the offsets to arrive at offsets that would place the panels closer together on the plywood. If you want help doing this in Excel, just let me know – it’s pretty slick.

I am building the canoe using the Table of Offsets.
I used Chinese knockoff BS1088 plywood at 1/2 the cost of certified BS1088. The jury is still out on this cheaper stuff – the plys are not equal thickness and there are a few stains and surface imperfections. I also increased the scarf to 1 1/2ʺ (4mm ply).I am tracking all my time and costs for the project – this is a first for me!!!

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.

HOWB 020 – Sam Devlin Interview: Wooden boat designer, builder, master – “Yoda” for short - 02.02.12 Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

Interview: Sam Devlin – Devlin Boat

I have looked forward with eager anticipation to interviewing Sam Devlin someday – and TODAY IS THE DAY.

SWEET! The wooden boat lore surrounding Sam, his designs, and his dedicated boat building customers is far reaching! Two of the interviews I have done this year have been with Devlin builders/followers – Larry Cheek (Podcast 13 link) and Dale McKinnon (Podcast 17 link). If you listen to these interviews, you’ll see why folks love Sam’s boats!

Saying that Sam has boats in his blood, is a bit of an understatement. As an infant, his bedroom had a “Ship” theme complete with curved walls and a sea-berth! Growing up in Eugene Oregon, he spent countless hours in his dads marine shop where wooden boats were being built and sold along with outboard engines, paint, and other cool stuff. He vividly remembers the aromatic smell of Port Orford cedar in those early days at the shop.

Fast forward a few years to 1977: Sam was sitting in the galley of an 1898 tugboat in Alaska, sipping coffee on a break, and looking at the beautiful wood overhead. A crew mate handed him Issue Number One of Wooden Boat Magazine – Sam knew at that moment he was destined to be a wooden boat builder.

Sam’s portfolio of designs/plans includes over 80 boats from 7ʹ to 48ʹ (these are just the ones listed on his website), not counting several hundred floating around in his head that he hasn’t put to paper yet. If you have an idea for a boat, talk to Sam – he will blend it with his extensive knowledge and design a dream boat for you.

Sam is also a pioneer of, and exclusively uses the stich and glue method of building?. The resulting product is, in Sam’s own words “... a vastly superior approach when compared to traditional boat assembly methods and delivers stronger, better boats.” Using this “composite” method of building, all wood surfaces are coated and bonded together with epoxy for a stiff, light, rot resistant monocoque hull, with no bulky frame members inside the hull.

If you’d like to contact Sam, call (360) 866-0164 , or you can email Sam at Sam@Devlinboat.com. Sam is located in Tumwater, WA and his website is DevlinBoat.com. Thanks again Sam for taking the time to meet with me and give a private tour of your shop and boats! It was a blast and I wish you the best in your business

HOWB 019 – Tacoma Sea Scouts learn on wooden boats: Interview of Captains Tom Rogers & Bud Bronson - 01.26.12 Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

Interview: Tom Rogers & Bud Bronson – Tacoma Sea Scouts
Am I the only boater that didn’t know the Boy Scouts have had a Sea Scout program since 1912? That’s right - 100+ years! The Sea Scouts take youth ages 14-21 and use maritime activities to teach leadership and values. Both the Odyssey (a 90ʹ 1938 wooden sailing yawl) and the Charles N Curtis (a 78ʹ wooden power boat built in 1931 for the Coast Guard) are based in Tacoma, WA and are the platforms used by two salty Captains – Tom Rogers and Bud Bronson – to teach Sea Scouting. The youth receive leadership training and learn about navigation, mechanics, seamanship, and engineering through hands on experience, classroom time, and on the water cruising.

Click here for a cool video history of the Charles N Curtis.

Tom and Bud were gracious enough to take me on a tour of both the Odyssey and the Charles N Curtis, and sit down for a 40 minute interview to share their story on this episode.

HOWB 018 – Rivers West Small Craft Center (Portland OR) - Chuck Stuckey - Interview - 01.19.22 Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

In 1984, under the inspiration of the late author, educator, and waterway explorer Sam McKinney, RiversWest opened its doors in Portland, OR and began to offer camaraderie, classes, and cheap boatbuilding space in a large shed near the Willamette River at Oaks Park. In 2006, RiversWest realized its longtime dream of an on-the- water location and moved to Pier 99 on the North Portland Harbor channel of the Columbia River.

Their mission is to promote the use of small sustainable craft that can be rowed, paddled or sailed, and are environmentally friendly.

I met with Chuck to discuss his background with wooden boats, and why a bunch of (mostly) retired guys gather in a cold shop to have donuts and coffee, and commiserate over epoxy, okoume plywood, and bronze castings.

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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.

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