Sunday, March 24th was an overcast and cold day to be out on the water. Russell was not deterred. Paul Bieker's new design (the Riptide 41;"BLUE") was in the water and Russell was invited to check it out. "BLUE" is one of the most innovative racing sailboats around and sailed almost 23 knots on her very first sail. { read more about it. }
Bieker Boats design team of Paul Bieker and Eric Jolley are responsible for designing our PT Skiff, the 18.5ft fuel efficient motor skiff kit, sold by PT Watercraft. The PT Skiff, "Pika", built by J. Brandt in Seattle, was also there to compliment the gathering. 
While on the dock at Shilshole Marina, a wedding party came down the dock and the bride and groom asked for a ride in the PT Skiff. Jan obliged and the smiling couple posed for photos. Russell snapped a few along side the wedding photographer. The PT Skiff has been put to work as a regatta chase boat, a marine research commuter, a phototgrapher's platform and now as a wedding prop!
Since we sold our PT Skiff, 
.., we have been using our experimental tornado cat motor boat for any over water commuting. The 'Grasshopper" (as we sometimes refer to it) has many many miles on her 15hp motor. The trip from Port Townsend to Seattle takes about 2 hours and generally uses about 2 gallons of fuel. This boat was designed on the back of an envelope and it is definitely a unique boat. No, there are no plans available.. 
Russell was able to surf a cargo ship's wake for about 10 miles before the intensity of it got to him and he exited the wake. The trip from Port Townsend to Seattle and back, with favorable currents and surfing, used about 3 gallons of gas. This short video does little justice to the fun he was having.
Tag: pt skiff
Self Bailing modification
We now have the option with some nice drawings for making the PT Skiff self bailing. Follow this link to see it! http://ptwatercraft.com/ptwatercraft/PT_Skiff_self_bailing.html
PT Skiff clips from summer 2010
This last summer we drove the skiff across country and had some opportunities to splash in the Atlantic and Chesapeake. Alas, my video skills are not too hot. I compiled some of the better clips from the summer in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpJoJfkA0j0
I would like to mention that Russell has been working on the nesting dinghy design and we hope to start a blog for it soon. Cheers.
Port Townsend to Desolation Sound
On September 15th, as the City Hall tolled 9:00am, Russell and I were pulling out of Port Townsend Harbor in the PT Skiff. We were loaded up with nearly 600 lbs between the 2 of us and gear. It was foggy and cold on Puget Sound but that is nothing new.
We were headed for Desolation Sound BC to visit friends with a new baby. We had not devised a dodger and the weather was questionable but we were happy to be off on an adventure even if it was just for the short time we had available.
We spent 8 days total on our trip, camped ashore every night, travelled some 360 miles at an average of 15knots, and burned about 30 gallons of gasoline. We did prepare an option for sleeping onboard but never needed it since campsites were plentiful along the way. We got caught in the rain once between Ganges and Wallace Island but we had our foul weather gear and watertight bags.
The only semi rough water we encountered was East of Nanaimo and even that was mild. We didn’t even have to slow down, though trying to hand hold the camera steady enough to show the gps was a real trick. I will be putting together a short video of that day, surfing the Navy’s wake and Dodd Narrows.
The biggest threat of the trip was the raccoons!
On Wallace we had to tie our food bins up between 2 trees and chase the critters off, but our last night out on Jones Island in the San Juans, we were slack and the coons got into everything, devouring all the food we had left and making a disastrous mess in the boat and on the dock. We could have kicked ourselves. We mourned our stupidity over breakfast at Rocky Bay Cafe in Friday Harbor.
The other difficulty was not having a tide chart with us. We had wanted to tie up at the very end of Sturt Bay on Texada but decided the risk of getting stranded in the morning low tide was too big. We tied the boat just south of where we had floated over a good 5 feet of water. The tune of rapids woke us before daylight and in the morning the whole area was high and dry. Our precaution paid off and the skiff still floated in a foot of water outside of the channel and we were free to continue our trip.
All the way home we had current against us but being able to hug the shore and make use of back eddies gave us a knot + on our speed.
It was a beautiful trip that climaxed at our friends homestead near Quadra. Add to that, fresh fish and a campfire dinner, hunting Chantrelle mushrooms and enjoying the amazing wildlife of BC at close range, such are the things that made the trip extremely memorable. The skiff made it easy to get away on short notice and return home in a short weather window.
PT Skiff Rendezvous 2010
August 8, 2010 is now marked on the calender as the first PT Skiff rendezvous. PT Watercraft and "Pika" met in Puget Sound and compared boats and notes and each took turns at the wheel of the other. Paul Bieker and family happened to be Seattle bound on their boat which provided a great photo platform and we were able to get some video. The PT Skiff Rendezvous 2010
Pictured here you will see the "Pika" powered with Evinrude's E-Tec 25hp. We are working on a fuel consumption study and comparison for the two boats to be published soon.
"Pika" has her driver's seat and grates held snug with velcro to great effect. Furthermore, the builder opted for a larger forward hatch. He also kept the side decks clear finished and the wood grain looks really nice next to her "20 feet of Bahama water"-blue hull paint.
Of his return trip, the owner of PIKA wrote:
"Not sure if you guys noticed the large Hapag Loyd container coming down the sound as we split. He was running at 20 kn and I took his stern by about 100 yards and got on his east side a bit north of Point-no-Point. He had an awesome wake and I ended up surfing and carving sweet bottom turns for 5.5 miles until I had to bail out for Edmonds. Now, THAT is more fun than you are allowed to have in a powerboat! Truly the surfing was just brilliant. Everything came together perfectly, flat water, lot's of space, and a big ass container ship running at 20 kn in the right direction. Who knew the skiff would bottom turn like my 9'6" longboard, over, and over, and over again. I am still grinning!"
Building the second PT SKIFF, an ongoing blog
MARCH 29th, 2010
Weighing in lighter than expected at 340LBS.
MARCH 08, 2010
Following are pictures of the hull glassed and the final gloss coat finished. We are ready to paint the hull this week.
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
A bunch of good friends showed up to turn the skiff over. Thank you!
February 14th, 2010
Happy Valentines Day World.
Progress as of today.. All inside structure and finish work is complete. We are ready to turn the boat over and glass the bottom.
PT Skiff prototype 2 Feb. 13, 2010 
PT Skiff prototype 2 - Inside structure and finish work complete
January 25th, 2010!
I know! I know! I am getting slack with blog posting! Well, dang... It is not like there hasn't been a whole lot happening!
Today I am posting a shot of the CNC cutting that happened on the 15th and a couple of shots of the recent final coating of the inside of the PT SKIFF. We have decided to keep it clear coated as this boat is our showpiece and people have really loved the clear finish. Further, the construction techniques are clearly visible and it helps people get a good picture of how the boat went together. So here goes...
Paste this YouTube link into your address bar to see a brief clip of the coating.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyaVfV-yeo
JANUARY 1st, 2010!
Happy 2010 to all! We are back online again ...
All 3 seat tops ready for final installation. Almost all surfaces have been glassed and are ready for the final gloss coat of epoxy.
Cheers for now...AE
DECEMBER 28th, 2009
HOPE EVERYONE HAS ENJOYED THIS LAST WEEK! I know we have not updated recently but that does not mean progress has not been made between entertaining friends and family and being entertained. We will be uploading new photos shortly of the console and drivers seat in and the forward floor in and more. Wishing all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and may 2010 be a positive year for you!
DECEMBER 20, 2009
DECEMBER 8, 2009
This past week we finished glassing the chines and have been making the patterns for, and cutting the lumber parts for this boat and at least 5 more kits. Pictured below are the glue-cleats placed near their positions.
DECEMBER 2nd, 2009
Filleting and taping the chines..
NOVEMBER 24th
NOVEMBER 23
New pictures and more to come.
NOVEMBER 16th,
Progress is being made! The next set of pictures shows aligning the stem, topside panels and sheer clamps, transom inwhales and side decks prep.
Updates are happening weekly so please keep checking. We could easily be twice as far but the manual is specific and comprehensive and all will no doubt agree, worth the time taken to create it. Cheers..AE
November 10th
Over the last couple of weeks, we have made a lot of progress even though we are working on the builder’s manual more than the boat.
Pre-finishing parts is a large part of the job in the beginning of building this boat. This stage goes really fast on the bench and means very little finish work later.
The assembly goes really quickly thanks to the tongues and slots. Here are some pictures of where we are to date and we will post more in the next few days.
November 1st.
Pre-finishing parts is done and the cradles are ready. This first week of November will see the skiff get wired together.We have been able to refine much of the building technique with this skiff so that the manual reads better and your building experience will be easier.
Pre-finishing is the first part of building the PT Skiff.
Building has begun. See here all the ply parts cut.
