Twanoh State Park Oyster Messabout

Two days ago I joined the Puget Sound Chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association at Twanoh State Park on the Hood Canal; a long, skinny finger of the southwestern Salish Sea.

The park derives its name from the word tewa´duxq.
Twana, Twanoh or tewa´duxq refers to the territory that encompasses the entire Hood Canal watershed. It is comprised of nine First People villages of which the Skokomish is the largest and where most descendants reside today. The Skokomish observe their hereditary and treaty rights throughout this territory.

Before becoming a state park, the land was logged in the 1890’s and a meandering trail through the forest reveals springboard notches carved in cedar trees from early logging practices. Further exploration of the campground and day use area highlights historic park buildings which were constructed in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The beach is seeded with oysters, which can be harvested by permit. There is an excellent launch ramp and the winds on Saturday were a perfect 15 knots.

Great park facilities, excellent food, incredible sailing conditions and wonderful company.



A perfect day.

I had the pleasure of crewing with Joel Bergen in his Navigator, Ellie. You may find it difficult to believe - I've never sailed in a John Welsford designed boat before. Needless to say, Ellie lived up to expectations and then some. Joel is a very congenial companion and allowed me the tiller and freedom to sail where I wished.



What more could a Doryman want?

Joel put together a quick video, which I've borrowed to share with you.
(Thank you, my friend!)







For his version of this story, please visit Joel's Navigator Site.


And finally, the slideshow:

Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building

During the last one hundred years, the Puget Sound in Washington state has held an attraction for people who sailed, built and repaired wooden boats. A number of influences helped establish a wooden boat building culture that is characteristic to the region. Through the efforts of talented naval designers, shipwrights and boat builders, a style of boat building emerged in the early twentieth century which allowed small boat shops on Lake Union, as well as larger shops on the Sound, to build and repair wooden boats quickly and in large quantities. Immigration brought boat building traditions from England, Norway, Japan and Croatia into close proximity on the Puget Sound, allowing a unique borrowing and blending of traditions.

The Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building is the only traditional wooden boat building school to teach the distinctive methods developed in the early 1900's by Puget Sound shipwrights and master boat builders. The curriculum assures the historical preservation of the finest and most efficient forms of these traditional boat building techniques.




The school is sponsoring a community event on the water at Port Hadlock, WA.

Saturday, August 7th is the date for the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding’s second annual Sail-In.
The event begins at 1:00 pm and ends around 6:00 pm.

ALL ARE INVITED! This informal gathering is for people of all ages. There are great things happening in lower Port Hadlock, come see for yourself. No need to RSVP, just show up and enjoy.

Traditional Boats of the Pacific Northwest Conference

Last weekend was the First Annual Small Boat Conference hosted by the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon.

Sam Johnson, Executive Director of the Museum organized this conference to develop a list of traditional boat types of the Pacific Northwest Coast of the US. The region is broadly defined as extending from Alaska south to Northern California and east to the borders of Oregon and Washington.
Boat types will include native craft, recreational boats and work boats to 120 feet.

The first conference strove to identify and develop strategies for the documentation and protection of these historical craft.



We heard from James Cole, Chief Estimator with the Elliot Bay Design Group, on the Evolution of the Fishing Vessels of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Alaska.

Bob Chenoweth, curator of the Nez Perce National Historical Park in Spalding Idaho spoke of his research on the Dugout Canoes of the Columbia Plateau.

Tom Croteau, Maritime Program Coordinator for the HAER Maritime Program of the National Park Service talked about his experience documenting historical vessels using laser total station digital surveying techniques (imagine laying down the lines of a 50 foot boat in four hours!).

With some time left at the end of the day, conference participant and skin kayak guru Harvey Golden was asked to give a presentation on the evolution of the skin-on-frame kayak, which included a sneak preview of his work on an upcoming book about these highly evolved arctic hunting vessels. (Harvey tells me he has 46 kayaks he's built, in his living room).

At the close of the conference, the consensus was that the first step in documenting existing historical boats was to compile a list from the community at large.

Everyone is encouraged to provide photographs and anecdotal information about boats they may know of. While the owner's permission is required for a survey, anyone can nominate a boat for consideration.

The old traditional boats of the Pacific Northwest are fast disappearing. There have been many fine craft designed specifically for Northwest waters and built in prestigious local boat yards, but little attention has been given to documenting them for posterity. Once the list begins to develop, a strategy for documentation and preservation will be implemented.

In cooperation with other maritime organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest, The Columbia River Maritime Museum is looking for information about the traditional boats of the region. Of interest are boats of all types, in any condition. The location of models, plans, photos or other information is also of interest. This information will be used to develop strategies for the documentation and preservation of an important maritime heritage that is rapidly being lost.

Please help if you can. Call the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon and ask for Sam Johnson or Jeff Smith (503-325-2323) or e-mail the Museum: johnson@crmm.org
.