Sometimes things look right until you try to match the parts. For example, we check  puzzle joints on every kit before shipping. However, it is easy to assume that a really simple little part is right. This is what happened recently when a customer in Australia wrote saying, after everything else being so perfect in the kit, the mismatch of this one little part, the inwale doubler, had to be a mistake. Well, he was absolutely right and we really do not know how many kits went out with this little part that does not fit correctly.  I can only imagine that quite a few of these kits went out and quite a few builders just dealt with it quietly.

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The curve does not match and it should.

How did this happen? We used to cut this little doubler on the router table with the nesting notch that matches the notch in the transom inwale. Then we started having it CNC cut. I guess we never really checked.
So, we now have a stack of correctly cut inwale doublers. If you are not yet at this point of your build, please contact us to get the new piece. If you had to adjust or re-cut this little piece, please accept our apologies.

If you have a part that looks wrong or does not fit, we count on you letting us know. Thank you for choosing a PT 11 nesting dinghy kit!

AEB 😉

What do you think of when you think of Port Townsend, WA? If you have ever been here, the first word in your head might very well be BOATS!

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Port Townsend Annual Wooden Boat Festival. Photo: Ashlyn Brown

Port Townsend has a unique maritime culture and when you crest the hill as you enter our town, you are struck by the view of our snow capped mountains, beautiful bay, sailboats, work boats, haul-out yards & marinas, Victorian architecture, pristine shorelines and more boats, boats, boats!

This amazing photo is borrowed from the internet, taken by Steve Mullensky
This amazing photo of Boat Haven and Port Townsend is borrowed from the internet, taken by Steve Mullensky
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Launching Cito. Photo: Ashlyn Brown

What we have is a real but also socially and environmentally conscientious working waterfront that specializes in the highest degree of craft in the marine trades. Wooden boat expertise is high on that list but certainly not exclusive to it as metal craft are built or repaired here too. Our local foundry and metal shops here produce top quality products for projects far and wide. Not surprisingly, many of our skilled workforce are graduates of the NW School of Wooden Boatbuilding, considered one of the very best in the country. In every big or little workshop, interesting things are being built, prototyped, repaired and restored.

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Sliver Project at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building. Photo: Ashlyn Brown

The energy is high and is unique in its collaborative spirit. These small businesses help each other, working across platforms and skill sets. When a boat project comes in, the owners can be sure that this little town offers a powerful spectrum of skilled labor and expertise, and customized quality that only small, family and individually owned businesses can offer.

Am I advertising the Marine trades of Port Townsend? Yep! Here is why.

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Sail maker Sean Rankins and team double check new sails. Our tradespeople are passionate about boats and about their craft. Photo: Ashlyn Brown

 

 

 

Like so many working waterfronts, our port faces some financial challenges for critical infrastructure projects. Government funding has dried up so our Port authority has posted some experimental yard rates in a misguided effort to pick up the slack revenue. However; the effects of these rate hikes are evidenced by an empty yard compared to previous years. Our Marine Trades businesses know that remaining competitive is critical to a town like ours.

I am reaching out to Pacific North West boat owners in particular. Perhaps quotes from the Port of PT for haul out and space rental would interest you. If the price does not work for you, please tell them, or tell us! Simply not responding to a quote will not educate an administrative office.  The Port Townsend marine trades businesses want your business. We know that price matters and our marine trades businesses want a project to fit your needs and your budget.

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Enjoying Port Townsend's exciting sailing season. Photo: Ashlyn Brown

Further, see our Marine Trades Association listings and find out how they can help to make a haul out here more attractive. Even if some other yards can offer lower prices, few if any, can offer the craftsmanship concentrated here.

Please help our Marine Trades keep Port Townsend’s Working Waterfront competitive.
You can also take this brief survey! Your information is never sold! This is for our local research only.
Thank you! May 2018 be a wonderful year in some special way.

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Additional resources regarding WA's maritime industry and strong towns movements;

WA to become the most sustainable maritime industry in the US by 2050

WA Dept. of Commerce Maritime industry defined

WA State economic impact study; Maritime Sector, update 2017

WA State strategic proposal for Maritime Sector 2017-2019

Strong Towns .org

Tour PT's Shipwright's Co-Op with Off Center Harbor

Yet again, the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival succeeds in educating, inspiring, and show casing a truly beautiful fleet. We had a good show even though the loss of Meade Gougeon was often the topic of discussion. So many admired him.  I want to thank everyone who visited our booth. Also, big thank you's go out to everyone who showed their PT Watercraft masterpieces! There were 2 PT Skiffs present and Off Center Harbor just might be producing a video about them, featuring designers, Paul Beiker and Eric Jolley. Stay tuned!  Several Spears and PT 11's were present but there was literally no wind for the scheduled regatta so that was a non-event this year. Perhaps next year!

Thank you to WEST SYSTEM, our tent partners, Electric Paddle for test driving the new electric motor on the PT Spear, (stay tuned for more on that) and the NW Maritime Center for making it all happen. I will load up a few photos. 😉 AEB

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PT Skiff Takin' Five
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early morning on the dock

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etched glass on one of the boats.. loved the detail.

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early morning

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Cito
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Rupert
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tender to Xanadu
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wind
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our booth

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PT Watercraft and WEST SYSTEM

Port Townsend Watercraft is closed June through mid July this year as we will be sailing the boat back from Ketchikan after the Race to Alaska,  discovering places new to us along the way. Getting to take a cruise of some kind every year is a big reason why we run our own business and it supports our ability to maintain our high standards of quality. It refreshes our minds and spirits so we can devote ourselves to producing these custom kits, writing books, and develop new ideas.

If you have just discovered our site or have been following our designs for some time, it is good to let us know sooner rather than later that you have decided to build one of our kits. We have a convenient Quick Deposit button on our website that puts you in a ‘first come, first serve,’ position. Upon our return, we will contact you and begin the process of preparing kits on order. ptwatercraft.com

While we are away, some of our products can still be purchased with timely delivery. See the links below image.

PT Watercraft.comE-books (PDF downloads) immediate delivery of download link to your email. Plus other book links.
Epoxy Basics and Scarfing Basics Print books on Amazon- search by title
Epoxy Basics and Scarfing Basics can be found in some stores, including Wooden Boat,(Brooklin Maine), Admiral Ship Supply, Edensaw Woods, NW Maritime Center, (Port Townsend), Fiberglass Supply,(Burlington WA),  Fisheries Supply(in store Seattle)
Delrin Turn Dogs (Hatch Toggles) at CLC boats
Carbon Eye-straps (Glue on!) at CLC boats
Builder manuals-use the Buy Now option. There may be some delay via third party shipper.

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The PT 11 out in the bay with an RC sailboat and a classic motor yacht.

The 41st Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival is happening September 8-10.  We are so happy to announce that we will be there again, sharing a tent with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy.

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Our booth with WEST SYSTEM EPOXY and 3 PT 11's on display!

I am told that there will be several PT 11's, Spears and Skiffs at the festival. We also hope that anyone in the area with a PT 11 or PT Spear, will come over for the "under 26ft" Regatta in the afternoon on Friday. Wouldn't it be fun to have a fleet of our dinghies to compete against each other? There is also a rowing race on Saturday  morning. They should have a schedule up soon; Tickets go on sale July 1st. We hope some of our PT11 family club will set up one class regattas over the next year and we will help spread the word via our Quarterly Newsletter.

We hope you will enjoy discovering all of the information on our website, Videos on our Youtube channel, and please do not hesitate to send your questions to info@ ptwatercraft.com. (no space) We will respond as soon as we can.

Happy Summer and Fair Winds! 😉 AEB

As the days tease us with warm waves of air and then sudden plunges in temperature, I know Spring is almost here. Suddenly it feels like there is just so little time left before we have some deadlines looming. The biggest is the Race to Alaska in which Russell will be participating in a Gougeon 32 Catamaran. I am quickly learning just how much preparation there is in taking on such a challenge! Be sure to follow the race. It is entertaining and inspiring!

Entering the R2AK also means that we will be unable to ship orders during the period from June 1st through mid July. We will be sailing the boat back from Alaska so the office will be closed during that time.

At present, we have a number of kits available; Both Spears and PT 11’s. If you have been planning this Spring/Summer project, please let me know!

If your PT 11 or Spear is almost finished and you are ready for your sailing rig, We have a run of rigs almost ready!

PT 11 quote/order form
PT Spear quote/order form
2017schedule-grafic

😉 AEB

Our mahogany riser blocks of the past were beautiful complex shapes that performed a nicely functional duty; to give the oarlock socket more bearing and to offset the height of the seat relative to the height of the oarlocks. They were, however, rather beastly to make in the quantities we have been needing.

To improve production, Russell took the design to Turnpoint Design and figured out how, with minor changes, they could be machined on the CNC router. The remaining labor, (sanding out the tooling marks and rounding the upper edges ) is a great deal less time consuming than the previous version.

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Comparison photo, new style left, previous version-right.

They are still made out of Sapele Mahogany.  For those of you who wanted riser blocks this Fall when they were not available, this is our new product. Please let us know what you think. We have them IN STOCK! 😉 AEB

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Now available as of December 20 2016

 

Since we first started selling kits for the PT 11 we have been continually updating the kit, building process, and the boat to make it better.  It's in our nature to do this and it means the boats get stronger, lighter, easier to build, perform better, etc.

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click the photo for a detailed post about our rigs.

A good while back, through friends in the high tech world, we developed a connection with a company called Innovative Composite Engineering, a renown carbon tube company in Washington state. They now make our lightweight booms for the sailing rigs.

The 7 1/2' booms are incredibly lightweight. The tubes start at 20 ounces each. With the gooseneck, hardware, main sheet & vang tackle, they weigh 40 ounces.  No one is likely to get knocked out by one of these booms in a gybe and so far they have been strong enough (remember not to over-do the boom vang).

While the masts we sell have been extremely reliable, we knew they could be lighter. After a year of bugging I.C.E. to come up with a mast for us, we finally got a prototype.

The masts that we have been using are modified windsurfing masts. We have to modify them because they are stepped in a short socket and the loads where the mast comes out of the socket are quite significant and different than the loads applied to a windsurfer mast.
The new masts have extra layers of carbon at the lower end starting just above deck level and ending just above where the boom connects to the mast. These extra layers of laminate mean that we will have to do less work to the lower end to make them strong enough.

How light is the new mast? It’s light! The current two-piece masts weigh 104 ounces (2937 grams); already impressively light. The new mast weighs 69 ounces (1950 grams)!

We stress tested the prototype mast as shown on land (and on the water) using two 180 pound people on the rail and the mast was fine.
Having two people on the rail is strongly discouraged by us because of the twisting loads it puts on the boat, the very high loads at the mast step, and finally the mast.
In other words, what we are really after is a feather weight mast, not a mast that could break the boat.

The weight of the rig is directly related to ease of use. Our theory (and it seems well proven now) is that the easier the sailing rig is to use, the more it will be used. Our rig was already the lightest, easiest to use, and most power-per-pound dinghy sailing rig out there. Now it is significantly lighter.

We will pay quite a bit more for the custom masts, but because they will be less work to finish we will likely be able to keep the complete sailing rig cost the same.

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Ashlyn can't get much mast bend.
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Russell and James hike out with approx 360 Lbs.

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We did a load test on the ground, tying the mast to a building and getting two people hiking out on the rail. This was a little scary, but a very effective way to see if the mast was strong enough. (RB)

Ashlyn's footnote: Our ballast assistant in these photos is a local luthier. Here he is holding the 15' 1" mast up by the tip to see how it sounds as a Didjeridoo.

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What sound can it make?

See this silly video to hear....

I had him lower the tip for the video because, in the camera, the green house behind appeared to dominate. I regret this now since it would have looked fine. It was impressive how easy it was to keep it up in the air. (AEB.)

As more PT Spears are built, the question of an ideal dolly has been asked. Recently, Russell and I joined friends in Port Townsend for a day of sailing. Our friends both own PT Spears; the one-piece version of the PT 11. Each are transported differently. ptwatercraft.com"Pato" arrived in this truck. This is actually an older photo on a day when we left from the launch ramp.

"Rascal" has its own little trailer.

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Rascal has a small trailer

Both PT SPEARs have dollies since their humans often launch by themselves. One uses a kayak cart purchased from our local Pygmy Kayaks. We found that the kick stand on this particular cart was a little tricky to get to and adjust with the dinghy being wider than a kayak.

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using a kayak cart
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tipping into the water..

ptwatercraft.com"Rascal's" human, being a plumber by trade, created his own sturdy dolly.

PVC pipe with a fixed "kick" stand. Sturdy and always in the right place so no need to access to raise or lower.

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Made from PVC plumbing- support stand visible here.
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eazy-peazy
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getting ready to splash

I also found while writing this post, that there are thousands of images online for kayak and dinghy dollies. It is important to note that the PT SPEAR, at 85 pounds, is easy to manage with a very simple dolly (like a kayak dolly) compared to most of the more complex dinghy dolly designs shown online. UPDATE: One customer has offered his design and details for a PVC dolly he uses for his PT SPEAR: PDF HERE

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getting ready to sail away...
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The perfect day for a dinghy sail...
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beach picnic

A brief clip using the PVC dolly:

AEB 😉

I feel very fortunate to have such an interesting and creative family. I am taking this opportunity to share links to my mother's current project. Now in her seventies, she has been building a horse drawn gypsy wagon with little or no resources. The magic of those resources appearing when most needed has been a recurring theme and creates inspiration for anyone wishing to launch a seemingly impossible project.

Toti Bleu Gypsy Wagon project. Blog - or - PDF book of blog posts Purchases of the book help fund this cool project. Suzanne is also a painter. In contrast to the whimsical watercolor illustration below, she also works with acrylics, capturing the beauty and essence of the French country side, as well as home and pet portraits. The sale of these lovely paintings that are way under priced in my opinion, also provides funding for her continued creativity. AEB 😉

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Toti Bleu, a project starts with a dream and an idea envisioned.