7/23/2008 9:24:00 AM Boat school goes old school with runabout
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock has launched this classically designed, skillfully built lake runabout. Out for a test run are boat school student Gentry Dick and his fiancée, Samantha Berger, wearing vintage clothing appropriate to the 1930s, when this style of boat debuted. - Photo by Debra Swanson
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding recently launched a 16½-foot classic lake runabout, Sunray. The boat was designed by noted Seattle designer Edwin Monk in 1932; its plans appear in Monk's 1934 book republished in 1992 as How to Build Wooden Boats by Dover Publications Inc.
The boat has that classic 1930s look exemplified by a refined bow flare and slight barrelback aft of the open cockpit, explained Bill Mahler, boat school director. It is framed in white oak with mahogany and meranti planking. Deck beams and foredeck are of Alaska yellow cedar, with a mahogany kingplank. The runabout has a cedar seat and a mahogany windscreen. Power comes from a 30-horsepower Honda outboard engine.
Students in the school's traditional large craft program built the runabout, under the direction of instructor Richard Wilmore and assistant Jeff Covert. The boat is currently for sale and is listed at $19,500. For more information, visit the boat school's website at www.nwboatschool.org and click on the Boats for Sale icon.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located on the waterfront in Port Hadlock. The school's mission and primary activity are to teach and preserve the skills and crafts associated with fine wooden boatbuilding and other maritime arts, with emphasis on the development of the individual as a craftsperson.
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