Georgetown Wooden Boat Show

Georgetown Wooden Boat Show takes place on Front Street, in the waterside tourist area of the very quaint Georgetown, South Carolina. We exhibited the Paper Jet there in 2009 and won the Special Award because of the innovative features of the new design that hadnt been seen in those parts before. Our very modern little yellow boat stood out in the midst of traditional wooden craft.

Paper Jet set up and waiting for the 2009 show to open.

We are going to be there again this year and we will have company. Two local Paper Jet builders will have their boats on the show also. This is a great opportunity for those who are interested in building this design to see the boats in the flesh, look at the details and discuss the building process. Or just to come along and look at what has proven to be a very eye-catching and interesting design. It never fails to draw crowds wherever we show it. The PJ is very different from any other boats that are normally seen on wooden boat shows.

At the time of our last appearance in Georgetown the Paper Jet sail numbers had just reached 35. Now we are at more than twice that number, with numbers 77 & 78 supplied in the past few weeks. We now have 13 PJs on the water or being built on the US East Coast and those numbers will continue to grow.

Kits are now available through our office, cut for us by Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) in Annapolis MD. Dont try to order from them, they will not sell it to you. You must order from us, via our USA plywood kits page . CLC have cut 6 kits for this design in the past year and delivered very high quality along with excellent service. You can order just the plans to build with your own materials or you can order a plywood kit that has all plywood components accurately cut on a CNC machine, packaged and shipped to your door ready for you to start building. You can also order a kit of epoxy, fibreglass and consumables needed to build the PJ.

Our East Coast PJ numbers are now growing to where we can start arranging regattas. We have a tentative arrangement in place to hold the first Paper Jet East Coast Championships in 2014, as part of the WOOD Regatta on Charleston Harbor. With enough support, that can become an annual event.

To see more about this and our other designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/ and please also come visit us at the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show if you are in that area.

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Port Townsend Pocket Yachters Boat Show

Theres a new boat show in Port Townsend, Washington: Pocket Yacht Palooza.



Port Townsend’s Northwest Maritime Center will be the site of the first annual Pocket Yacht Palooza, a one-day boat show organized by the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters club to celebrate traditional small rowing and sailing boats.









The show, free to the public, is scheduled for Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.





Pocket Yacht Palooza will feature boats belonging to several Puget Sound area groups, including the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters and the Puget Sound chapter of the Traditional Small Craft Association. Boats from the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding and the Northwest Maritime Center’s boatshop will also be displayed.


Organizers are appealing to owners of small rowing or sailing craft in the 10-foot to 23-foot range to participate in the event and everyone interested is invited to participate. Newcomers are more than welcome.
And, if you are in the process of building or restoring your small craft, theyre interested in that too.








“We’re eager to celebrate a wide variety of smaller boats, whether built of wood or fiberglass and we know there are hundreds of interesting trailerable boats on the Olympic Peninsula, so we’d like to hear from owners who might be willing to display their small craft during the Pocket Yacht Palooza.” says my friend, Marty Loken.

No entry fees will be charged, Marty tells me.

“This is not one of those judged shows where people need to worry about whether their boat is in perfect condition.” The main goal, he said, is to display a variety of interesting designs and appreciate the different ways in which designers and builders have produced smaller watercraft that are functional, seaworthy and suited for surprisingly lengthy cruises.






“Most of us appreciate the famous quote of Larry and Lin Pardey, a couple who circumnavigated twice aboard a pocket cruiser. Go Small, Go Simple, Go Now.”




The Pocket Yacht Palooza is co-sponsored by the Small Craft Skills Academy, a four-day program that begins May 20 at the Northwest Maritime Museum. The Skills Academy is being organized by small-craft adventurer Howard Rice, who will speak the same Saturday evening, May 19, 7 p.m. at the Northwest Maritime Center, describing his harrowing rounding of Cape Horn—both directions—in a small Klepper sailing canoe. The public is invited to attend. Admission will be $7.00 per person. Sponsored by the Northwest Maritime Museum and Small Craft Advisor Magazine.


The Port Townsend Pocket Yachters are great folks. I guarantee you will enjoy this show - the weather is always sunny in Port Townsend!

The address for the Northwest Maritime Center and location of the Pocket Yacht Palooza is:
431 Water St, Port Townsend, WA 98368





Those who are interested in bringing a boat to display in the water or on a trailer should contact organizer Marty Loken: Marty@islandboatshop.com

There goes Marty now...

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The Car Show

Every July we have our annual "Books and Backpacks" drive at work. This fundraiser helps provide students with the school supplies they need but cannot afford in these trying times.

But for us, it means its time for our annual car show!  In addition to a cookie, everyone who contributes a donation gets to vote for their favorite sports car. The car with the most votes wins a trophy. Its great fun and we look forward to it every year.

I must confess that, while most of my co-workers are into sports cars, my DNA appears to be missing the sports car gene that they all have.  I get the same thrill going 7 mph that they get at 107 mph.  Consequently, I do not own a sports car.  Still, my co-workers have shown a keen interest during the past two years in the building of Ellie and invited me to display her at this years show.


There were several beautiful Porsches

There were Corvettes, old and new

Jack brought his 1950 Mercury "Louie Louie"

 There were some classics

A Chevelle and a Challenger

And there was Ellie.

Ellie, of course, didnt stand a chance of winning this event.

After all, many of these beautiful automobiles have interiors crafted of the finest leather. Ellies interior is made of salvaged firewood.

Their exteriors have gleaming paint jobs, beautifully hand waxed to a mirror-like finish.  Ellies exterior is covered with hardware store porch and floor enamel.

No need to bring Ellies tiny 2.5hp outboard. It would be no match for the sweet rumble and exciting thunder of any of these powerful sports car engines.

I would wager that some of the owners have as many hours invested in their show cars as I have in building Ellie, and most have invested easily 10 times as much of their hard earned money.

So you can imagine my utter surprise when Jeff, our lead Engineer and car show host, came running out shouting "Joel, you won the car show!"

How is it possible that Ellie could win an event such as this?

It certainly wasnt my doing. My boat building skills are average at best.  Besides, I built Ellie to be sailed, not to be a museum piece, and it shows.

No, there is only one possibility.

There can be but one logical explanation.

There is just Something about Navigator

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Toledo Oregon Wooden Boat Show 2013

Whew! Just recovering from a long weekend at the annual boat show in my home port. This show happens every third weekend in August and its always a lot of fun in the sun, on the water. Of course there are the boats, many of which were created by their owners. The live music is excellent, the food is very good, there are activities for kids, demonstrations of kayak skills and paper boat races. The last is completely insane. Toledo is a mill town and the paper used in making the boats is a water resistant packing material donated by the mill. The rest is up to the imagination. Im afraid that to get the full effect, you have to visit the show.

My cruising dory, Mistral was in the thick of the action, at her usual mooring and I talked myself hoarse in three days, visiting friends from near and far. Our Teak Lady sailboats were in action, giving rides up and down the slough and the Toledo Community Boathouse provided rowing and paddling craft for free, to all comers.

I asked some friends to help take photos, which you can find on Dorymans Flickr site. You will recognise many boats from previous years as well as newcomers to the fleet (some of us just cant quit building).

Speaking of building, a real highlight of this show is the Family Boat Build. Starting on Friday, each group begins their boat, which was a  kayak this year. By Sunday afternoon, the boats are launched and tested by the proud owners. This little fifteen foot kayak is so appealing, Im going to build one myself. The hull is already begun. It will be the annual winter boat build, here on Doryman, so stay tuned

Electric Tug from doryman on Vimeo.

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Depoe Bay Boat Show and Crab Feed 2013

Doryman just got back from this years Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show and Crab Feed. Being one of the first local shows of the season, the question on everyones mind is the weather. The participants and visitors to this annual April event are true coastal denizens who know to bring layers of clothing and be prepared for everything from sun to hail to snow.

This year, the weather gods smiled on Depoe Bay and though we felt a few sprinkles, the sun peeked out from behind scattered clouds often enough to keep spirits high. The harbor is a tiny hole in the rocks named for old Chief Depoe, who welcomed white settlers here in the late 1800s. The once thriving commercial fishery has been reduced, but a lively charter service thrives on the local bottom fishery and whale watching. Theres a lot of pride in this little coastal town and the residents pull out the stops to welcome guests with fresh cooked crab and amateur boat builders come from all around to show their craft and get caught up with gossip after a long, wet winter.

As for gossip, Doryman often gets so consumed with visiting, he almost forgets to take pictures to share with all of you. So here are a few, though to see all the boats, youll have to stop in next year yourself. You wont be disappointed, I guarantee it. Dont forget your raincoat and sunscreen!

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1st Annapolis Spring Boat Show

Heres Windalier at the 1st ever Annapolis Spring Boat Show being held from today, April 27 through Sunday, April 29 at the Annapolis City Docks and surrounding vicinity.  Shes design #1615.  The boat is currently on the market for $395,000.

Broker Jeff Grey will be at the show all weekend.
Contact:
Mobile: 774-454-7638
Email: jgrey@sparkmanstephens.com

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