Welcome! Here in the Pacific Northwest, its been a wonderful summer, and we have been keeping busy building boats for your summer and fall fun! It's been a typical Northwest summer except with the warmest weather arriving a week or two earlier than in recent memory, which made the fourth of July just great. Now, however when we look at the calendar we start thinking "Where did the time go?" It's not too late to get out and enjoy your summer, so put your boat on the car and drive down to the lake. Remember these are the days we live for! We are making plans for the next couple of weekends and bet you are too. See you on the water!

As many of you know we have friends who live along the Montlake cut so we are fans of the Seattle Boat Parade. It's always a great time, and this year was no exception. We had a great time talking to folks along the route, as always. For those of you who unable to attend we've taken some photos to let you know what you missed.

Now we would like to alert those of you who are thinking about getting a boat for a winter cruise in the warm South Sea's, or as a Christmas present under the tree. And that is the line is getting a bit shorter as the season progresses, but the closer we get to the holiday's the longer it gets. So if you are thinking ahead to the holidays for a gift for that someone special now is the time to put your money down and secure your place in line. If you need us to hold your boat until that magic day in December, just let us know and we'll work out the delivery schedule with you.

These photos are from the sidewalk along South shore of the Montlake cut. We usually try to arrive in time for the rowing races but got a bit busy this year and only made it in time for the parade. There is a Marine band that plays in the park next to the Yacht Club, providing free entertainment for everyone. There is often free parking along the side streets; you Husky football fans know what we mean. For Opening Day, you will have to walk, but it's not too far, and if you are bringing someone who can't walk you can drive pretty close, drop them off then go park. Note at noon, once the Montlake bridge goes up, it stays up until nearly 4pm or later depending on the boat traffic. So stay on the side where your car is parked or be prepared to walk to the University bridge and then back to the car. (Don't ask how we gained this bit of knowledge!)

Check out this cross between a car and a boat!

Well we think that what makes a good car and what makes a good boat are generally mutually exclusive. But these do look fun, and whatever floats your "car" or boat we say!

Now some may say that the civil war is over, but the battle over hard sided vs inflatable dinghies appears to be back! Just kidding, they both have their uses and we sell inflatable tubes for our hard sided dinghys if you need the extra stability. (Floation Collars, or Dinghy Dogs)

As you can see from the photos, we had a great time at the parade. The weather is usually cloudy, but not rainy and it's a good reminder for us to get our boats out and on the water. There are more photos at the Seattle Yacht Club website if you are interested.

As our regular readers know from the April Newsletter we are back in the open ocean sliding seat business. Well since it has been several months since we last wrote, a lot has happened. We built and with Erden's help installed the seat rails to his and our specifications. The installation went well.

Erden Eruç rode his bicycle to San Francisco, then drove home, picked up his boat drove it back to San Francisco and waited for the weather to cooperate. The weather gave him fits; he tried once to row out of the San Francisco harbor and was blown back. So he moved North and tried again this time succeeding. He's now out in the Pacific, just having passed the Tropic of Cancer. He's rowing well and in good health and doing great. You can follow his trip here http://www.around-n-over.org

Erdun at our shop with his boat ready for the seat rail installation.

This is a closeup of Erdun's new seat and rails. Notice how similiar it is to the one we use on the Melonseed.

The boat at the docks in San Francisco.

The view looking Westward toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

Being towed back into the harbor, due to adverse conditions. This photo is looking Eastward at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Erden collecting garbage from the ocean. But you can also see the runners from our sliding seat here.

We are vicariously enjoying Erden's trip and welcome his regular updates. If you enjoy them as much as we do, be sure to sign up for the notifications on his website.

We will continue to provide updates in our newsletters as we receive updates from Erden.

Roz Savage got our name from the folks who build these ocean going rowboats and of course decided to retrofit her boat with one of our rigs. Her boat is different from all of the other boats we have put rigs in so we had to create new forms and measure and remeasure and talk to her boat mechanic. But it all worked out and she is out in the Pacific rowing away.

Ron Savage in Antigua after her Trans Atlantic Row.

A closeup of Roz Savage's seat. Notice that it's a bit shorter than Erdun, both because of the layout of her boat and because of her shorter legs, a longer range isn't necessary.

Roz in San Francisco waiting for a weather opportunity.

Roz leaving San Francisco with wind, and waves, but moving well.

This woman may not look it but she is tough. She has already rowed the Atlantic and is now attempting to be the first woman to row the Pacific. We are pretty sure that if luck and the weather bless her voyage she will make it.

You can of course go directly to her website and sign up for updates. And as we hear from Roz we will add stuff to our newsletters. Roz Savege Rows the Pacific

Our Mailbag again has been overflowing this summer so We're sure you will enjoy reading about these adventures as much as we have.

Adventure Definition: Any undertaking, either physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, or spiritual, in which the outcome is not known at the start of the undertaking.

Last Sunday, a friend, Glenn, from Poulsbo came up to Port Townsend for a boat trip. Our overly ambitious goal was to leave the dock at Fort Worden, ride the outgoing tide out past Point Wilson, and sail down to Protection Island. The tide was to turn at noon, and we would follow it and ride it back into Port Townsend Bay in the afternoon. It was to be my first trip along the exposed, northern shore of the Quimper Peninsula.

We left the dock at 9:00. We would have left earlier, except that we had been up the night before till late, along with a dozen other folks playing old time music on banjos, fiddles, guitars and sundry other stringed instruments. Getting up at 7:30 to be ready to sail at 9:00 was more than enough challenge.

9:15 found us rowing steadily with the current past the broken down fog horn at Point Wilson. The only problem was that once we were past Point Wilson, the current dissipated, and there was not a breath of air. What to do?

We left the sails up, and I began to row. Great exercise. I enjoyed it for a full two hours. The seas were almost flat calm. Around noon we were adjacent to Glass Beach (the entrance to Discovery Bay). Knowing that soon we would be rowing against the incoming tide, we reluctantly turned the boat around to return to Fort Worden.

On these days in which a weak high pressure system hovers over the region, this lack of wind in the earlier hours is quite normal. It is also normal for the winds to increase up to 20-25 miles per hour in the afternoon from the West or Northwest. As soon as we turned around a light breeze came up and we were able to put up the oars. As we approached Point Wilson, we now had a steady breeze and the hull was gurgling happily along. I love sailing this boat wing on wing, and intend to find an inexpensive whisker pole to keep the head sail from surging. By the time we passed the point, the breeze had become more than a breeze. We turned south, and headed for the dock on a reach. We were moving very nicely now. Very nicely. It was a sheer delight. I don't think I have really had such a nice reach when sailing by myself.

The first thing that occurred to me is how much easier, and more efficient of a sailor, Mudshark is when there are two able, 175 pound adults on board. Normally, I would have reduced the head sail and reefed the main under these conditions. But with two of us on board, we both leaned out a bit, and we easily kept the boat upright. Glenn, who was sitting fore of me, held on to the main sheet. I was aft and held on the head sail sheet (still full out) with my right hand and the tiller with my left hand. We were ripping along.

The time came for us to turn towards the dock. Beating windward, the rub rail went right to the water. I immediately backed off on the jenny, but Glenn said, .Let me do it with the main . just keep the headsail set properly. We held a steady course, and much to my surprise found that we didn't need to give up to much. The rail went down to the surface, but not below it. Glenn and I stayed perched on the side deck which helped tremendously. It seemed as though we were heading nearly directly into the wind and at a rip roaring speed. I was very impressed with the boats performance on this point of sail. And excited at this new side of my boat.

As we approached the beach, I brought her into the wind, quickly reduced the head sail, and then took down the main. We rowed the last 100 feet to the dock.

Was this an adventure? I think in a small way that it was. The small amount of sailing we did was absolutely fantastic, and I got to see another side of my Jersey Skiff. Having a second person on board opens up new possibilities!

I did make another observation on Sunday. Last year, when I put the boat in, folks would walk by and ask, What kind of boat is that? On this past Sunday, folks walked up and said Is that a Gig Harbor Jersey Skiff? We even had a kayak approach us while we were rowing and ask us if we liked our Jersey Skiff. So, the Jersey Skiff is getting known in the area!!

Yours, David T.

Hi Dave!

This June my family came out for a visit and I took them to one of my favorite spots in the Northwest, Deception Pass State Park. This park is located on the North end of Widbey and the South end of Fidalgo Islands with a cool high steel bridge between them. The current can be fierce here as there is a lot of water on either side that moves during the change of the tides. Fortunately there is a boat launch on either side of the pass so no matter which way the wind and current is blowing you can always find some protected water. Because the tide was coming in as we launched, I used the boat ramp at Coronet Bay and rowed us over to Hope island State Park for lunch. You can see this place on google maps Deception Pass Satellite view

Looking Eastward from my lunch log.

I bought a sandspike and used it to keep the boat from floating off as the tide came in. With this weather, an empty milk carton would have held the boat, but the sandspike is easy to use, so that's what I grabbed first.

Looking Westward from my lunch log.

I don't think I could have ordered a prettier day than the one I got. Everybody was very happy with the trip. We saw an eagle soaring and the usual assortment of gulls. This Dory really has been a great boat for me. Gary P.

Hello Dave,

So here are a few shots of the boat we bought from you on Okanogan Lake as you can see we like it a lot. We are about 2k off the far shore where we have a place. Seems like we fill it up though with all five but with one less adult or two less kids it rides high enough. I have very cool pictures from the first summer at Banfield but they are not digital.

Thanks Mike B.

The whole family out for a row. We are a bit loaded but the boat handles it well.

My wife out for a row by herself. She can really get this boat moving when she puts her back into it.

So that's all the news for now. We hope to hear from you soon. We'll be busy working on our next newsletter as well as your boats. So if email is slow, please call.