Port Townsend Watercraft BLOG » wooden boat

CLC could bring your kit to Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival

Ashlyn Brown — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:43:41 +0000

But you have to order now to make sure they have space in the truck....Click the image for details.
The PT 11 will be displayed at the Chesapeake Light Craft booth on the point. Come see us!

A brief guide to setting up and sailing your PT 11

Ashlyn Brown — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:09:18 +0000

In the building manual for the PT 11 it says: "The PT 11 sailing rig is designed to be light and easy to use, not to be bullet proof." In developing this rig, weight and ease of use were the biggest priorities. "Hiking (sitting on the rail and leaning out) is okay for one person to do but not two. Sailing with two and having one person hiking and the other sitting inside is okay too, just not two sitting on the rail."

The PT 11 sailing rig arrives ready to use with all of its running rigging. One small item is up to you and that is the traveler line. This is the line needed to clip your main sheet to.

You can tie a line with a little slack, using the existing holes on the transom inwale to clip your main sheet onto that. This self steering blog post shows this method.

The traveler can be be made shorter as shown below by drilling holes about 7" from the centerline (14" apart). We drilled 5/16" holes and then applied a few coats of epoxy to the walls of the holes to seal the plywood.

The traveler line can be around 3/16 diameter and be held with stopper knots underneath the inwale.

A short PT 11 traveler

This image shows the tiller/hiking stick in the self-steering position. This is good for brief periods and works best when going upwind and only works when the boat is heeled.

When sailing, if you feel resistance on the tiller, check to see if the rudder is completely down or if you have caught kelp or other debris. Keeping the threads in the knob clean and greased is important. The threads in the knob are brass and the pin is stainless steel so it will corrode. A bit of maintenance will insure the knob does its job and keeps the rudder down.

For post-2021 kits, use the forward daggerboard cap turndog to hold down the daggerboard by closing it over the hold down pin.

Pre-2021 daggerboards are thicker and shaped differently at the top. A loop of line at the right length becomes a hold down when captured by the aft turndog.

The Tack clips onto the boom as shown. (This image shows an older style gooseneck.)

The outhaul (asymmetric) snap hook clips into the clew and the outhaul line should be snugged through the v-cleat on the boom:

PT 11 Outhaul configuration during a regatta. Schooner Sir Isaac in the background.

The vang clips into the eye strap on the mast.

The vang controls the twist of the sail. Controlling twist is important for getting the most power out of the sail, but don't overdo it! Some twist is good but the boom isn't un-breakable.

When adventuring or in fluky winds, we carry our oars with the oarlocks in the forward sockets and the handles tucked under the bow as shown above.

If you are new to dinghy sailing, avoid this use of a slip knot on the main sheet. Unsuccessfully yanking the slip knot free in a puff is a recipe for capsize.

If you capsize when sailing, after righting the boat, make sure the mast is fully seated in the socket before taking off again.

If you are new to dinghy sailing, it is better to start in protected waters or when there is an onshore breeze, preferably steady but not strong.

Keep your weight forward for speed, but move aft in stronger breezes and downwind sailing.

If the water is cold in your area like it is on Puget Sound, wear a wetsuit or drysuit in case you end up in the water. Hypothermia is no joke. It is always advisable to wear a life-jacket/PFD.

Learn to stall, or "park" by pointing into the wind and letting the sheet go. When the wind picks up more than you feel ready for, or you have taken water over the rail and you are feeling a little out of control, this is a good way to take stock: bail, check your rudder and daggerboard for kelp, sort out lines, and take a swig from your thermos before heading off again. The sail will flap and make noise but that is not a problem. When you are ready, reign in your sheet, and continue or head for safety.

PT 11 videos page:

A Rendezvous in Seattle

admin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:22:08 +0000

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.

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2010

admin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:27:00 +0000

Wow, what a weekend! First and foremost, thank you all for coming and spending time talking to us about the PT Skiff. I hope all your questions got answered and you have had a chance to check out the website if you had not seen it before. The enthusiasm expressed by so many of you made the show a real pleasure for us. While I personally did not get many photos taken, J. Brandt and his wife, who built their PT Skiff earlier this year, not only brought their boat up from Seattle, and gave rides, they also took some great pictures. I am posting them below.

We have the opportunity to run the PT Skiff from Port Townsend up into BC this week to trial it as a camp cruiser. We will be keeping notes and taking pictures which I will post when we get back by September 24th. After that we have reserved the CNC machine to start cutting kits for confirmed orders. Email us if you want your kit cut sooner than later. We will ship according to order received. Thank you all again and for those of you who did not make it up to Port Townsend for this great festival, there is bound to soon be images and video up on the woodenboat.org website. Perhaps we will see you next year or sooner! Cheers for now, PTW

Port Townsend Watercraft BLOG » wooden boat

CLC could bring your kit to Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival

But you have to order now to make sure they have space in the truck....Click the image for details. The PT 11 will be displayed at the Chesapeake Light Craft booth on the point. Come see us!

A brief guide to setting up and sailing your PT 11

A Rendezvous in Seattle

Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2010

But you have to order now to make sure they have space in the truck....Click the image for details.
The PT 11 will be displayed at the Chesapeake Light Craft booth on the point. Come see us!