PT Skiff

September 20, 2026 by Ashlyn Brown in All, For Sale, PT Skiff

PT SKIFF For Sale (PNW)

PT Watercraft Skiff For Sale: (Click photos for larger view)

“deep blue” is an 18′ 6″ center console PT Watercraft skiff, carefully built by her original owner Mark Ramsby in Portland Oregon using stitch-and-glue construction from a precision CNC-cut kit made of 12 full sheets of premium Okoume plywood. She was first launched in 2015. Mark customized seat tops with mahogany for additional visual elegance.

She is hull #11 of the 16 total PT Skiff design kits from Port Townsend Watercraft. Mark did a superb job of construction and he documented the project in a 32 page build log which will come with the vessel.

Features:

Engine: 2015 Suzuki 20HP 4-stroke, flushed with fresh water after every use; estimated at well less than 100 hours of use.

Flotation & Storage: Meets USCG standards with foam flotation beneath the foredeck, gunwales, and stern seat.

Two watertight bow compartments with additional dry storage is found under the center bench and hinged helm seat.

Un-ballasted weight with motor is ~550 lbs. Average fuel consumption 1 gallon per hour.

Skeg for smooth tracking in turns.

Full Fiberglass Reinforcement: Hull fully glassed inside and out with West System Epoxy; tabbed and filleted seams reinforce all joints.

Trailer: 2015 EZ Loader 14-17/1250 galvanized trailer.

Always covered when not in use.

Design Heritage

The PT Skiff earned recognition as a finalist (2nd place out of 73) in Woodenboat Magazine’s 2009 Design Challenge; praised for combining fuel efficiency, speed, and handling.

Designer: Eric Jolly / Bieker Boats, Seattle, WA.

Kit Manufacturer: Russell & Ashlyn Brown / Port Townsend Watercraft, Port Townsend, WA. http://www.ptwatercraft.com/ptwatercraft/PT_Skiff.html

Unique Benefits of the PT Skiff

Exceptional Performance & Fuel Efficiency: Capable of 22 knots lightly loaded and 16 knots with four passengers and gear — powered by just 20 HP and burning only 1 GPH.

Narrow Hull for efficiency and smooth ride in a chop.

Ballast System: built-in 32 gallon/256# water ballast system for added stability at rest and underway. Tank can be drained underway or when hauled.

Easy Trailering & Launching: Lightweight design allows towing behind small SUVs or cars, with simple launch and retrieval for single-handed operation.

“deep blue” has been gently used only as a “knock around” skiff and has never been used for fishing on any other harsh uses.

Only 16 PT Skiff kits were sold and it is extremely rare to find one for sale. See designer gallery HERE.

_____

The boat is located in the Seattle WA area. Initial contact: Ashlyn Brown PTWATERCRAFT@GMAIL.com

‘DEEP BLUE’ Additional PHOTOS :

January 22, 2026 by Ashlyn Brown in All, Instructional, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff, PT SPEAR

Printable instructions

This list had many resources for our builders.

Links to Instructional and Informative pdf pages.

( mostly arranged alphabetically under categories. Also listed are a few blog posts or you can search the blog with keywords or categories)

Maintenance

#1 : Dinghies maintenance & troublshooting

#2 : Foils and sailing rig packing notes .pdf (pre-CLC)

BRIEF PT 11 build overview photos (pdf) RB/brochure

Detail installations or Replacement – PT 11 or SPEAR

Back seat attachment point and 4th leather pad

BALER for the PT 11 & Spear (pdf)

Bumper installation (PT 11 & Spear)color .pdf

Carbon eyestrap installation Opens in a new window (pdf)

DETAILS from the end of the manual updated 2019 Color Photos

EYE Strap installation instructions (pdf)

Fillet Stick & Chisel stick instructions (pdf)

GASKET installation / replacement Opens in a new window (pdf)

GUNWALE FIX printable PDF for the PT 11 Nesting Dinghy

Leathers installation (PT11)

LEATHER PADS patterns (use 8.5×11 paper to print)

HANDLE for the aft section of the nesting dinghy (pdf)

Installing the PT11 back seat cleats after the aft buoyancy tanks are assembled.

Non Skid Ideas, photos and links

Sail-hank installation-e (color PDF) – PT 11 & SPEAR Sail snap hook replacement

Simpler puzzle joint gluing method pdf.

String loops and tether gluing instructions (pdf) TURNDOG installation (pdf)

DIY IDEAS

DIY DOLLY (PDF) by B. Crutchfield

DIY garage ceiling dinghy rack (PDF) by B. Crutchfield

DIY sailing Rig notes Opens in a new window (pdf) (Booms)

Cheap Oars – one way to make them better Opens in a new window. (PDF) by a PT 11 customer

Electric Motor

Mounting the EP CARRY on the PT 11 & Spear(pdf)

EP carry website

EP Carry sampling at the Port Townsend Boat Festival

EPOXY and Varnish

Epoxy Basics e-book. “working with epoxy cleanly & efficiently”

EPOXY Video short: Epoxy gloss coat & tipping

EPOXY coating small parts Opens in a new window (WEST SYSTEM article) (printer friendlyPDF:Coating Small Parts by Russell Brown)

EPOXY: Metering and Mixing TASK SHEET Opens in a new window (pdf) by Russell Brown and published by Proboat Magazine. Shared with Proboat permission.

EPOXY Lessons series preview on Off Center Harbor (membership recommended to view in full. Builders of the PT 11 or Spear: Contact us for exclusive access)

Notes on Epoxy & “toxic waste” Opens in a new window(pdf) by Ashlyn Brown

Varnish (UV protection) over Epoxy (WEST SYSTEM article)

WEST SYSTEM Safety information and resources

FLOTATION and PRESSURE

Flotation and the PT 11 and the PT Spear

Pressure relief valve ideas for air buoyancy tanks:

Manual screw insert, PT 11 screw pressure valve info1
Gortex valve, Gore-Tex-Vent-Installation
Gortex dots; An Idea for the Vented Volume Dilemma

MANUAL intros

PT 11 builders manual introduction Opens in a new window (pdf) by Russell Brown (pre-CLC)

PT SPEAR builders manual introduction Opens in a new window (pdf) by Russell Brown (pre-CLC)

Flotation and the PT Skiff (blog)

PT Skiff Cleat Schedule (printable pdf)

PT Skiff tools list

Alternative information from PTW

Beginning Tortured Plywood Opens in a new windowpdf by Russell Brown

OLDER:

PRE 2019 kits: PT11 2019 preliminary updates (pdf)

SCAMP Hatch instructions Plywood SCAMP hatch kits are not available from PT Watercraft. These instructions may provide a loose basis for making your own.

January 31, 2025 by Ashlyn Brown in All, For Sale, PT Skiff

PT Skiff for sale on the East Coast

This beautifully built and well loved PT Skiff from the original kit is presently for sale. (1/30/25)

Details about the boat and where it is listed are in this PDF: While Aweigh Copy II

and on the OCH classic Boat SHow: https://classicboatshow.com/classified/18-port-townsend-watercraft-pt-skiff-2016-while-aweigh/

Owner testimonial:

Nine years ago this month, I was anxiously awaiting delivery of my skiff kit and little did I know about the journey I would begin. I had built a few things from wood like bookcases and a covered deck, but nothing that even approximated the 126 or so pieces of Okoume that I became so intimate with. I learned much from the process of going to work every day, following your superb directions and asking for help when I needed it. And as I would often say about the Catboat we owned for 15 years, “…every day we take her out, she teaches me something” So too, building my Skiff taught me much.

I never would have expected to make a wonderful new friend, Damian…as well as Linda, and a cohort of “boat shed rats” who would enrich my life immensely. I have learned so much from this experience and always remind myself that many of my favorite books are about what goes on inside boat sheds.

But, having just clocked my 80th birthday, and the fact that Teri and I recently downsized our lives, I think it is time to allow someone else to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The enjoyment and satisfaction I have garnered since I first dreamed the dream of building a boat almost a decade ago is priceless. The mere 120 hours on the meter are in no way a true measure of those feelings. And there is nothing that swells the ego quite like being able to say, “….yes, I built her.”

I have listed her on the Off Center Harbor Classic Boat Show;

https://classicboatshow.com/classified/18-port-townsend-watercraft-pt-skiff-2016-while-aweigh/

June 10, 2021 by Ashlyn Brown in All, Instructional, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff, PT SPEAR

June update on Kit availability progress

PT 11 kits will become available this year if all goes as planned. The hiccups include supply chain issues and rising shipping and material costs. We are making forward progress.

We have been working with a well established kit company who long mentored our fledgling business and really wants to produce our kits. We will continue to manufacture and supply them with specific parts that make our kits unique.
This has been an incredibly interesting and challenging task to put our process into a transferable format. We are ‘creatives’, not ‘business managers’ persay. That we have managed, is nothing short of amazing to me as I fill in lengthy spreadsheets with suppliers, part numbers, current pricing, how many of what per kit, etc. Everything needed updated numbers. This rather daunting assignment has simply taken time to accomplish as Russell continues to make large runs of certain parts that get stocked in advance, to determine how those parts should be priced.
We have redesigned our rudder and daggerboard with help from very skilled friends. The new foils are thinner (18mm), denser, and slicker. The birch plywood is not as handsome for clear coating as the Okoume but we are pretty pleased with the overall change. Modifying the foils kits affected several other parts of the kit, so those changes are being made as well as a total rewrite of the foils manual.
We are working on a boomless rig for the PT 11. Why? Besides greater simplicity of set up and even lighter weight, a large portion of the cost and labor in our current sailing rig is in the boom. We have asked our favorite sail designers to work on this but getting a prototype is one of the supply chain hiccups. We know there will be trade-offs. It is the only way we see being able to keep producing sailing rigs that we would want to use ourselves.
With the retirement of our connective hardware machinist at the end of 2019, early inquiries at machine shops nationwide were not encouraging and we will not take this overseas. We discovered, however, that Port Townsend has a first class, family owned and operated machine shop. Truth be told, the initial quote took time to digest but we considered quantity, precision, and other local advantages. We just picked up the first run and the parts are excellent.

Kit pricing is to be determined but we expect minimal change. Our efforts to simplify parts of production are also intended to offset increased costs in other areas aiming to stabilize cost to the builder.

We expect to announce kit availability later this Summer. The details of ordering will be explained in the next update.

I continue to add names to a list of seriously interested builders. Everyone on that list will receive an email update before this blog. I do this because some of you have been waiting a year for news of kit production continuing. It is all of you on that list especially, whom I wish to thank for your patience and encouragement. It is deeply appreciated. We are excited about finding a pathway forward.
First in production will be the PT 11 Nesting Dinghy and second, the PT Spear. We are not ‘there’ just yet and we totally understand if you find or have found a different project to work on.

Thank you again,
Ashlyn Brown

P.S.
The PT Skiff is not in our hands at this time. There is no manual that addresses design changes. The designers may have some information for experienced builders but we will not be offering tech support for that project for the time being.

October 25, 2019 by Ashlyn Brown in All, Announcements, Instructional, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff

Rolling Perfection UPDATE 2020

ROLLING PERFECTION
Recently we did a rather large paint job where the bubbles left by the roller refused to pop and the result was a very pock-marked finish that took a distressing amount of sanding to make smooth again.
Why did this happen? At first we weren’t sure, but now we feel the need to bring up two possible causes for paint-job disasters to be avoided.

Two things we learned are: The reactor (the smaller can) has a two year shelf life from date of manufacture. While I’m sure I have successfully used paint that was older than that, if the reactor starts to thicken, don’t try to use it. There is a code on the bottom of the can, but you’ll have to call the phone # on the side of the can to get them to tell you what it means. Apparently Interlux will not provide the reactor separately.
The other thing we are learning is that over-thinning can also cause the bubbles not to pop. It seems like 15 percent thinner (as our book recommends) can be too much at times. We just did a large job thinned at 10 percent that came out amazingly well. While we have had excellent results in the past thinning up to 20 percent, that may have been an anomaly. We will update the Rolling Perfection book to discuss both of the above issues.

Using this paint with the roller only method can be relatively painless, satisfying, come out beautiful, and last forever. or, like any paint, it can all go wrong. There are so many factors that can influence a paint job. Our experience with this paint has been almost all positive, but one bad experience can be a wake-up call, especially for us, as we happen to sell a book on the subject.

Also, we haven’t used all the colors of Perfection and don’t know how that relates to handling and results.
We do know that clear Perfection seems to need to be tipped and we know that some colors cover much better than others: In the whites, Matterhorn, which is darker, covers much better than the whiter whites and Platinum, which is a very light grey, covers even better. With Matterhorn and Platinum it’s possible to do a two-coats only paint job.

Remember that besides a good respirator, good ventilation is very important. If working indoors, an exhaust fan is key. The fan should be in one end of the shop and an open door or large window at the other end. This paint doesn’t smell for long, but when it’s going off it’s very bad to be around. RB.

September 27, 2016 by Ashlyn Brown in All, Events, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff

40th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat festival

Two weeks have already slipped by since the festival! I am late to express my deeply felt gratitude to everyone who makes the festival happen, (http://nwmaritime.org/) , all who participate, and all who come to talk wooden boats and all things boaty. I realize that is a big blanket statement.

ptwatercraft.com — Our booth with WEST SYSTEM EPOXY and 3 PT 11’s on display!

For the past 5 years we have been very fortunate to share a tent with WEST SYSTEM EPOXY. This year Alan Gurski (CEO) and Bruce Niederer were on hand with their comprehensive and unbiased knowledge about epoxy; its uses, history, and the very chemistry of it all. If you want to understand epoxy, pros and cons, these are the guys to talk to.

There were more than a few of our customer boats in the festival. PT 11 nesting dinghies and PT Spear dinghies were to be seen on boats, behind boats, at the docks, and out in the bay.

Two customer PT Skiffs graced the festival as well. Both boats are mind blowingly beautifully built and equally unique interpretations of the kit. High compliments are due to these two builders.

Steve Merrill wipes the morning dew from his PT SKIFF, Takin’ Five. Steve has been meticulous with his build, taking his time. He says he has been really enjoying it and getting creative especially with his ‘expanding’ driver seat and his self bailing installation.

This seat hinges up, slides forward and ……

….expands into a romantic, “side-by-each” joy ride seat. My jaw dropped upon seeing this. But, alas, there are NO PLANS for it so you will have to charge up the brain-waves to create your own if you want one!

Our friend, Cooper Parish, took time off from his high-tech job at Scaled Composites in Mojave, to help us at our booth again this year. We love having him! We want him to keep returning every year so we make sure he gets plenty of sailing time in! In spite of being the smallest boat with the least sail area, Cooper sailed ‘Rascal’, a PT SPEAR, to a 3rd place finish (out of 6) among the Non-T-Bird class in the 26ft and under race.

Of the events in the bay over the weekend, I totally missed getting photos of the Schooner Race. With a piping wind, it was one of the fastest schooner races on record at the festival. It was over before I could get to the beach with the camera. I hear it was eventful! John and Anne Bailey’s recently re-launched , Sir Issac, snuffed the fleet.

The PT Wooden Boat Festival is always a colorful affair. It is an overwhelming weekend for us, exciting, exhausting, and encouraging. Customers often visit us at this time and we see our ‘family’ growing. We are seriously looking forward to holding a casual, PT11 sailing regatta of sorts and I will keep you posted on any development in that direction. Thank you all again. AEB 😉

Fun overview Video off of You Tube..

September 16, 2015 by Ashlyn Brown in All, Events, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff

2015 boat festival was great!

This is kind of a long post featuring my festival pictures, our booth, the Pt 11 on the water, a customer built PT Skiff, end show humor, & video links…

The Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival is a great event any year. This year, the 39th, was no exception. We had two hot and sunny days and Sunday cooled considerably under cloudy skies. In spite of the Hood Canal Bridge closing earlier in the week and again for a flotilla, people made it to our peninsula.

I did not get as many festival photos as usual but here are a few. It is hard not to get the same pictures as everyone else. Everywhere you look seems photo-worthy.

For PT Watercraft, the festival is increasingly a family reunion of sorts. Among the thousands who visited, were quite a few builders of our kits; some of our earliest customers, some who recently completed beautiful boats, and some who are just beginning construction. We were so happy to see everyone. We even have show regulars who are still dreaming about building a PT 11 or a skiff, and they come every year to stroke the bright-work, listen to conversation, ask new questions. It is great to see familiar faces.

Our booth photos;

Schooner Martha has returned to Port Townsend. The Port Townsend Sails loft cheered as Martha tied up at the dock:

You can probably tell that I love our wooden boat festival even if I talk myself hoarse over the three days. I walked the docks Thursday afternoon as boats were filling the harbor, and again early Sunday morning. The Sunday Sail-by is a highlight, though this year I found myself talking to booth visitors more than watching the hundreds of boats out on the water at once. Still very impressive! I expect lots of videos will appear on Youtube.

See a fun NWMC video of getting the boats into the harbor:

Our annual helper, Cooper Parrish, raced the PT 11 in the 26ft & under, and then sailed around during the Sail-by. Cooper makes very cool things at Scaled Composites in Mojave and we are so grateful that he is happy to take time out and join us at the show. Our friend Simon Miles of 206 Composites here in Port Townsend, had the Patin out as well. The Patin is probably the first beach cat design ever. Interested cat sailors might want to check out videos of the Vela Patin.

Customer built PT Skiff ‘Mojo’, was in the water. It was great to have a skiff at the festival for folks to check out. Builder/owners Mark and Meg were rightfully proud of their boat. Mark chose to really spiff it out with various woods, a sprayed paint job in indigo blue, and some plush outfitting choices.

At the end of the festival, packing up has a party like feel to it. We all survived a fun but physically challenging weekend. Our friends and show neighbors, Chesapeake Lightcraft, often display a bit of end show humor. This year, they thought the Wee Nip bar next to them was closing the festival with ‘BYOB’ for a fill up. Well, John and crew brought a boat! Thanks John for all the laughs!

January 3, 2015 by admin in All, Events, Instructional, PT Skiff

A PT Skiff taken to the ‘next level’

Launched!

Brian in Australia has completed his PT Skiff and I think there is much to consider about what he has done with his boat. After developing sensitivity to epoxy, he had to hire help to finish the boat and we tip our hat to his perseverance. Clearly Brian is a stickler for detail and he has maintained a clear vision for his skiff. He sent a detailed account of his choices for outfitting the boat and it is this account that I want to share. I have put it together as a PDF document (HERE) that you should be able to download or read online. It is filled with photos to compliment his notes. If you are currently building a PT SKIFF, these notes will be informative. If you are thinking about building one, this should wet your appetite! His boat is very impressive!

In addition, the following photos arrived with this ‘Launch report”

My PT Skiff launch went extremely well today. Everything worked.

The photographs attached were taken during the initial 15 minute warm-up of the motor at the boat ramp at Adelaide Sailing Club. Whilst it looks very calm at the ramp (large breakwater), we ventured out into wind waves up to 1 metre in St Vincent’s Gulf. The wave fetch here is approximately 38 nautical miles from the other side of the gulf with the wind in a WSW direction. I have checked our weather website tonight and the wind was 11 knots gusting to 14 while we were doing stage 2 of the motor run-in (2000 to 3000 rpm).

The boat was lively. Whilst it is quite tender at the dock, once you understand that you can deal with it.

We went upwind for about 20 minutes. The boat was reminiscent of a lively sailboat. The boat was bouncing around a little into the wind waves, though it was dry. The boat was very pleasantly quiet even in the one metre waves. After flooding the water ballast tank, the boat was a little more stable, but did not show any significant loss of speed into the breeze.

Running downwind (again limited to 3000 rpm) the boat started surfing the waves. It was fun.

The first 1 hour of run-in is now complete and I can now use the boat at weekends without causing queuing problems at the ramp.

October 10, 2014 by admin in All, Events, Instructional, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff

The 38th Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival

September 5-7th were the days of the 38th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.
This year was unique for us due to having a relative fleet of PT 11s on hand; 8 or 9 PT 11 dinghies could be seen over the weekend of marvelous sunshine and sailing breezes, tethered behind their “motherships” in the harbor or out in the bay among so many beautiful boats!

Joining them was our own PT 11 captained by Cooper Parish.

Cooper (who currently works for Scaled Composites) has built a PT 11 at the NW School of Wooden Boat Building. Many of our friends and customers share our deep appreciation for innovative aircraft as well as boats. We love the following picture Cooper sent to us earlier this summer, (wearing a Port Townsend Watercraft hat!) and we love having his help at the festival!

As usual, I did not get out and about to take more pictures. The reason, I am pleased to say, is that our display maintained a virtual flood of visitors and our team (including my wonderful sister, Dana) was happily kept busy showing off 2 PT Elevens (one on the stand and one for rowing demos), and a PT Spear, (generously loaned by Mr. Swantner).

Our tent hosts, the smart folks from WEST SYSTEM EPOXY, were on hand with expert epoxy advice, interesting props and informative booklets. This year’s festival was also special and memorable due to having our dear friends, Kathy Massimini & Steve Callahan here. Steve was a guest speaker for the festival. If you have not read his book Adrift or don’t know about Steve, you’ve missed out. See his website HERE.

You might already know about Off Center Harbor, and all of the really well done, interesting videos they offer on a wide range of boating topics. We were honored (and pretty camera shy) to receive an interview request from the OCH team. Filming took place right after the festival and the video will be available sometime in the future. Thank you Steve Stone and Off Center Harbor!

The fine weather inspired more boats to be out sailing for the entire three days than I have ever witnessed in my 5 years of attending. The final ‘Sail-By’ was quite spectacular. If you missed it this year, mark your calendar for the first weekend of September 2015 and keep an eye on the NW Maritime Center website for events over the year.

Please enjoy a small album of pictures I took during the Festival.

Some videos of this years’ festival are on You Tube. This is a particularly artistic slide show. HERE

PTW AB 😉

October 10, 2014 by admin in All, Instructional, PT 11 Nesting Dinghy, PT Skiff

We ‘stick’ with WEST SYSTEM

Many of you already know about EPOXY WORKS magazine, a FREE publication from Gougeon Brothers Inc, that is sent out twice a year. Issue #39 for this Fall of 2014 reviewed Russell’s EPOXY BASICS on the back cover!

This is a huge bonus for us and many of you have proven that! We had such a run on books within days of the magazine landing in mailboxes, that I have been kept busy sending them out. I want to thank those of you who had to wait with faith and patience for your back ordered copies. THANK YOU!
So why did Gougeon Brothers do such a nice thing? All I can say is that we are thrilled. Our relationship with Gougeon Brothers/WEST SYSTEM, is based on our long history and trust of their products, through which a lasting friendship has emerged. Russell’s nearly constant work with epoxies over the last 40 years has given him many opportunities to try various brands. His livelihood has depended on very refined composite workmanship and building lightweight, tightly engineered parts and craft. Many experiments, challenges, and successful projects have lead him to trust in one epoxy in particular; WEST SYSTEM.

The Gougeon brothers have an fascinating history and the company maintains an expert team unafraid to ask questions of themselves and the products they represent. In the spirit of doing what is right, ( yes, they do carefully consider environmental impact), full time scientists continually test every imaginable epoxy related scenario and tweak their products to best serve their customers of many industries. Their loyal customer base depends not only on having the best physical properties and workability in their epoxy, but also on knowledgeable customer support. The full time tech support staff at WEST SYSTEM are, in that down-to-Earth, humble, mid-western way, generous with their knowledge. If they don’t have an answer for you right away, they will find out, and get back to you, even if it takes lab testing. All this greatly benefits the casual epoxy user as well.

Calling the company during business hours (phone #1-866-937-8797) will not reach an automated phone system…. Nope, a real person will answer and politely direct your call… I know… hard to imagine these days.. Can you tell we like these folks? I hope so. We have the highest respect for the people in the company and the principles on which they base the production of excellent products; integrity being far more important to them than fancy marketing. Working with the folks at Gougeon Brothers/WEST SYSTEM, is always a pleasure. Such person to person relationships, with friends, customers, and business associates, rank high on my list of things that make life meaningful. For a well written article about the Gougeon brothers, see: GOUGEON. G-O-U-G-E-O-N GOUGEON by Dan Spurr in Professional Boatbuilder Magazine Issue #125, beginning on page 36. You can buy the issue HERE: Also, coming soon in WOODEN BOAT MAGAZINE ; an article by Jim Brown called, “Catching Up With Meade Gougeon”.