Another fine year for the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.  It is one of the weekends that I look forward to all summer.  My plan was to go early this year, like leaving the house at 6:00 AM and fueling up on coffee and energy bars for the 2+ hour trip from Seattle early.  The best laid plans of mice and men…

After a REALLY late start and failing to meet up with a boat builder friend at the show, my wife and I still managed to have a great day at the Festival. I think she went with me to keep me from buying a boat that “ Just needs just a little bit of work…”  Unbeknownst to her, I went to but a boat that needed a LOT of work: I am building a boat this year and had 90% decided on the Pygmy Wineglass Wherry.  I showed up planning to row the boat to make that number 100% and on taking one of their stitch&glue kits home with me.  It was ON! 

The Pygmy shop was really short staffed that afternoon and the person I spoke with initially didn’t really have the answers to show pricing, additional fiberglass, material for a sculling notch, etc…  I was told to speak with someone else, but they were not available.  Fine.  I wondered down to the water for a test row and the boat was booked out with folks in line for hours. Ok.  I am patient, I can wait.

I toured a few boats on the water and there was some stunners!  Conspicuously absent though, was my favorite Puget Sound pocket-yacht, OPUS, an Ian Oughtred Wee Seal II design.  I hope to see her later this month at the Lake Union Wooden Boat Fest.

After touring a few boats, we walked down to the Connecticut Light Craft booth and I happened into Jon Harris, the owner/designer for CLC.  Even while tearing down the mast and sails for a customer to row a boat (talked to the guy later and he bought a kit) Mr. Harris took his time to discuss his design and answer my questions.  His Northeaster Dory is everything I want the Wineglass Wherry to have after modifications (dagger board, sails, and notch) but is a little longer and is more money.  After rowing it and watching how fast the sail and mast came down, I started looking hard at the Northeaster.  My wife likes the Dory more, as does the boat builder friend we failed to meet up with earlier in the day, but I am not 100% sold (it is the additional cash and the kit delivery fee in all honesty), so I bought the Dory scale model and will build and paint if this winter to help me decide.  In the end, I did buy a boat, just a 1/8” wooden scale model.

This year was Laurel’s first time seeing the CLC teardrop camper.  She was all giddy and crawled around the thing like it was a big fluffy warm dag: all smiles.  She has a new plan: She wants to split the cost of a kit and help me build it this spring. Really, she said those words.  She is super into it! I guess we are now building a camper, but she stopped short of buying the kit right there.  It was touch and go and I could see her Alaska Miles Credit Card vibrating in her pocket.  The plan it to wait and save the cash up and build this spring for summer adventures.

In addition to buying a boat, my other hope/plan was to pick up another Clamptite from AKcooltools.  They did not have a booth there last year, but I saw them on the vendor list this year.  I looked for them some, but figured they hadn’t made it.  My wife noticed their booth in a back corner, hidden away and asked me, “That booth says clamps, it is strange that we haven’t been there today.”  (YOU CAN’T OWN TOO MANY CLAMPS!)  Well, we/I ran right over, plopped my money down and now have a new stainless Clamptite to replace the one I dropped into Lake Union.

Like I said, These folks didn’t have a great vendor spot and I don’t think it was a great show for them, which isn’t really fair in relation to their level of customer cervicce, general attitude, and awesome products.  Look them up, see if it is something you can’t live without. I am not affiliated in any way with the sellers, festival, tool, etc. and get nothing from this. I just really like what they are doing and don’t think they were getting the foot traffic they deserve.  I made a YouTube video on using the tools as well.

At the VERY end of the day Saturday, I caught the two ladies manning the Pygmy test paddle area just before they put the boats up for the night and they were awesome about letting me take the Wineglass Wherry and my sweet wife out for a spin. The boat was really stable and tracked well. The wind pushed her a bit when not rowing, but that is to be expected from a 90 pound rowboat. I still really like this boat I love the lines and the transom.  Like I said above, was almost sure I was going to build one with an added sculling notch, but I really want a daggerboard and a small sail. Both it and the dory are great boats. I have a decision to make…