PORT TOWNSEND — If you want to win a rowing event, choose a state-of-the-art racing shell made out of carbon fiber.
But if your goal is to look good, turn heads and have fun, nothing beats a George Pocock wooden rowing shell, said Sally Giesler of Port Townsend’s Rat Island Rowing & Sculling Club.
“The carbon fiber boats are definitely faster,” Giesler said. “But I’d rather be in a wooden boat.”
The club’s Pocock shells are among the 300 boats on display at the 47th Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, which runs through Sunday at Northwest Maritime and Point Hudson.
The event showcases traditional maritime skills and heritage with speakers, hands-on activities and opportunities for the public to meet wooden boat owners and enthusiasts like Giesler who gladly talk about their passion.
Fans of Daniel James Brown’s bestselling “Boys in the Boat” and the 2023 movie it’s based on will recognize Pocock as the master craftsman who designed and hand-built the eight-oared shell for the University of Washington men’s rowing team that won a gold medal at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
Rat Island Rowing & Sculling Club members love their wooden Pococks, Giesler said, although they nonetheless train in carbon fiber shells.
Wooden shells are beautiful but high-maintenance.
They must be wiped clean and completely dry after they come out of the water and before they are stored. They’re more sensitive to damage than carbon fiber, so any dent or ding must be repaired immediately — a process that can take up to three days.
“They’re exceedingly delicate, but they have to be strong enough to row with abandon,” said Steve Chapin, who builds and restores Pocock singles and teaches the rowing club members how to repair their boats.
Chapin learned how to build a single to Pocock’s exacting standards from Bob Brunswick, the last wooden boat builder at Pocock Racing Shells. He examined Pocock singles inside and out to understand how they were constructed. There were no instruction manuals or drawings to assist him.
“It was an oral tradition,” Chapin said.
Stan Pocock gave Chapin a stash of Western Red cedar that had been hand-picked by his father from his favorite source: a mill in Forks that set aside logs that had that qualities he demanded: long, wide, clear and smooth-grained.
While other wooden boat manufactures use plywood, composite materials and veneers, the hull of a Pocock will never be made out of anything other than a single steam-bent plank of cedar just 3/32 inches thick, Chapin said.
Devin Dwyer of Huntington Beach, Calif., reached out to Chapin to restore a Pocock single he bought seven years ago after reading “Boys in the Boat.” It had been used by the University of California, Irvine, rowing team and needed extensive work.
Dwyer will be compete today in the 27-foot-long scull in the festival’s rowing race.
He’s not in it to win, Dwyer said.
But he’ll sure look good out on the water.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
47th Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival
Today, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Live music on the main stage until 11 p.m. tonight
Tickets
Adult, one day $30 or three days $55
Senior (65+), one day $25 or three days $50
Active military, one day $25 or three days $50
Student, one day $25 or three days $50
12 and younger free when accompanied by an adult
Tickets can be purchased at the festival’s main gate next to Northwest Maritime, 431 Water St.
Tickets to some boat rides are not included in admission to the festival and must be purchased separately.
Getting to the festival:
Parking near the festival is extremely limited, so organizers encourage visitors to consider other options. Free Jefferson Transit shuttles run all day today and a half day on Sunday from Haines Place Park and Ride, 440 12th St. The shuttle schedule can be found at tinyurl.com/mu53dsjc.
The festival map can be found at tinyurl.com/4ke9btwa.
The festival schedule can be found at tinyurl.com/4ptzubxw.
The festival program can be found at tinyurl.com/47z2e9dk.
Wooden boat enthusiasts look over four classic Pocock-built sculls on display during the Wooden Boat Festival on Friday at Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
