From the book “Tracing Footsteps” about the history of Jefferson County, Washington, by Pam McCollum Clise
“In the winter of 1991-2, Pete Johnson, a local shipwright at the time, talked with Scott Swantner about having a local race for the boat builders in February, one of the coldest months of the year. The idea gained momentum and Swantner, Johnson, Dr. David Lewis, Libby Keefer and a handful of others organized the first Shipwrights Regatta. In the beginning, you had to either be a shipwright or sail with one. There were a dozen or so boats that participated made of Ferro cement, wood, fiberglass, steel, in all sizes. That first year, they just got together, planned the time and place, and when the race was finished had a small party at the Landfall Restaurant, with all the chili and scow chow they could eat and a couple of six packs of beer. Awards were a collection of informal and humorous items. Perpetuated awards for the event are now donations, pieces of art, and oddities still providing a lot of fun for the race participants each year. Among the awards are the Taku Award [now missing], a wooden box with the Kodak timer inside and a Plexiglass cover given to the first boat over the starting line. The Hook Award is made from the handle of a bilge pump and given to the last boat to finish to indicate that they should have hooked the boat ahead of them. The Directional Helmet Award goes to the boat that has headed in the wrong direction, gone the wrong way around a mark, missed the mark or other blunders. There is a fanciful list of other awards given out each year, most locally made with a sense of humor.”
My Recollections of Shipwright’s Regatta by Diana Talley
When I came to town, I could count on one hand the number of shipwrights that did not own a sailboat. The backbone of our fleet, almost all, old wooden wonders, owned, used and loved by our community of shipwrights. Our boats were our teachers, our inspiration, our connection to a broader world. Family members. Shipwrights: those who build or repair vessels of all sizes, often working 7 days a week, year round in all weather; bless them. There was a kind of brain trust group who noticed our tendency to work first and neglect life. A plan was hatched. The Shipwrights Regatta. Put down the tools, cast off the lines and remind yourself why you love boats, on the bay and mid-winter, with your competitors, your community.
Doug, a shipwright, whose business was called Doug’s Shim Shop and one of my neighbor boys on the dock and part of the brain trust, came to me. “We’re all going sailing on Sunday and I want you to come with us.” “I can’t go sailing. I have to work on my boat.” “No Diana, you’re coming with us! You absolutely have to take this day off for sailing!” Typically and not happy, I fought it all the way to jumping on the boat and motoring out the harbor. And then of course, life, wind, water, sailing… one of my all time best days. Ahhhh. Life, indeed.
Our first awards ceremony was impromptu and proprietary at Rob’s Landfall restaurant. We huddled around the wood stove. Less than a shoestring, we shared a 4 or 5 pack of beer amongst the fleet. Doug cooked up a huge pot of Scow Chow (a tasteless, healthy mix of beans, seeds and cardboard) which we were grateful to inhale. We recognized and celebrated our shipwright community. The regatta grew from there. No particular rules of racing, no starts, horns, classes. A course would be set, a different sailing master each year. Every year a different skippers meeting and awards ceremony venue. Jim Peacock would sail out a ways, light the fuse, put his fingers in his ears and the cannon would signal the start of the “race”. The awards ceremony lasted longer than the race and almost everyone won a prize. FUN! Community! Life!
I was “forced” (kicking and screaming) to participate in last weekend’s regatta (2021). My sweet friend, Scott Walker, insisted I join him on our bay, in a boat I’ve worked on for years but never sailed. SUBLIME!
From Lectronic Latitude – Feb 6, 2003
Pt. Townsend, WA
A summer-like day brought out a record number of vessels and sailors for Port Townsend’s twelfth annual Shipwrights’ Regatta. Saturday, Feb. 1, saw 51 sailing vessels of all sorts galloping about Port Townsend Bay, and spectators on the piers and hillsides enjoyed the halcyon conditions that lured the fleet of shipwrights out for celebration.
The regatta is sponsored by the Wooden Boat Foundation to foster camaraderie, competition and community participation for the dozens of shipwrights along the waterfront and the vessels in their care. For the purposes of the Shipwrights’ Regatta, “If you have ever so much as used a screwdriver on your ‘ship’, join this fleet of shipwrights for a day that reminds us why we do it.”
The tugboat Isswat served as race committee platform, with Sea Scouts from the Wooden Boat Foundation’s scout ship Falcon assisting. Conditions were mild with a warm southerly breeze of 8 to 15 knots, a stark comparison to the near gale conditions of last year. The 9.2-mile course directed sailors twice past City Dock, across Port Townsend Bay to round the old navy tower by Rat Island and on a reach to and from Mid-Channel Bank at the entrance of the Bay.
The winner of line honors from last year’s regatta, Pacemaker, led the fleet to the first windward mark but was passed by some of more recent additions to the fleet. The reaching legs provided opportunities for the less weatherly vessels to regain distance lost on the beating legs, and local knowledge of the currents figured into the strategies of the vessels that performed well. Captain Pete Helsell, in deference to the fleet of largely wooden vessels, modestly raised the point that only in Port Townsend would the first fiberglass boat to finish, his Spirit, be led by two wooden vessels.
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