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From: Paul Montgomery <paul_at_paddleandoar.com>
subject: [Paddlewise] old school building
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:53:47 -0800
I just posted a video of a start-to-finish building of a REAL stripper.

http://paddleandoar.com

Paul Montgomery
paul_at_paddleandoar.com
http://paddleandoar.com
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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] old school building
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:22:35 -0800
Paul Montgomery wrote:
> I just posted a video of a start-to-finish building of a REAL stripper.
> 
> http://paddleandoar.com

Remarkable job.  Shows the old school way of doing things.  The skill of 
those guys at caulking seams is stunning.  Production speed like that is 
gone forever, though old school devotees keep the thread alive.

Fans of this sort of thing might pick up an issue of WoodenBoat magazine 
and check out some of the ads for old tools and materials:  oakum, tar, 
actual _manila_ ropes, etc.

WB:  http://www.woodenboat.com/index.html

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] old school building
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 08:00:36 -0800
Thanks for posting this, Paul. I can remember boatyards like this (no
hardhats!!!) in the 1950s but most of them are long gone now. Boatyards in
many city waterfront areas have been replaced by trendy restaurants, upscale
boutiques and pricey condominiums.

In fact, Sue and I drove around the marina at Dana Point trying to find a
shop that carried marine fasteners and couldn't find one!!! We could find
lots of pay-parking and numerous restaurants with salty names but nothing
that a person who was working on a boat would find useful. Even that
mainstay of marine stores, West Marine (we remember their first store) has
moved out of the port area up into town for everything but deck shoes and
pricey clothing. Finally we asked a couple our age who looked like they knew
their way around and they told us how to get to the local hardware store on
101. And the owner of that store wasn't sure how long stores like his would
be able to stay in business. But we got our fasteners.

Who could have imagined, even 20 years ago, a marina area with no
chandleries? Or, in fact, no working boats at all but only yachts.

I could go on about my old port district in Everett, WA (just north of
Seattle) which razed all the old shipworks and signed a contract for
yupified condos only to have the entire deal collapse with the bankruptcy of
the condo outfit in the recession. Now all they have are empty spaces.

Excellent video of how it was done in the 1950s and, in some places, how
it's still done today. But you must search them out. In Puget Sound only
Port Townsend has a "Port District" worthy of its name.

That video is a keeper.

Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 6:53 AM, Paul Montgomery <paul_at_paddleandoar.com>wrote:

> I just posted a video of a start-to-finish building of a REAL stripper.
>
> http://paddleandoar.com
>
> Paul Montgomery
> paul_at_paddleandoar.com
> http://paddleandoar.com
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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] old school building
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:46:31 -0800
Craig Jungers wrote:
> Thanks for posting this, Paul. I can remember boatyards like this (no
> hardhats!!!) in the 1950s but most of them are long gone now. [snip]
> Excellent video of how it was done in the 1950s and, in some places, how
> it's still done today. But you must search them out. In Puget Sound only
> Port Townsend has a "Port District" worthy of its name.

Port Townsend is certainly the most extensive example; other ports where 
you can find shreds of this in my part of North America:

Ilwaco, WA
Charleston, OR
Newport, OR
Astoria, OR
Bellingham, WA
Nanaimo, BC
Silva Bay, Gabriola Island, BC

If you need fasteners or similar gear for your kayak, smaller outlets often 
have stuff West Marine does not, and sometimes at a better price.

In many cases, it is a lonely boatyard, boatyard school (Silva Bay is an 
excellent one), or a chandlery/marine store associated with a smaller port. 
  Larger cities seem to swamp them.  My town has a stellar example in the 
form of the 40,000 SF home office/outlet of Englund Marine and Industrial, 
a seven-outlet operation spread from Westport, WA to Eureka, CA.  EM is a 
family-owned business with a large dependence on the commecial fishing 
industry, which probably contributes 70-80% of its gross receipts.  I 
suspect this is typical for most chandleries in smaller coastal ports in 
OR, WA, BC, and northern CA.

There used to be three chandleries in my town, but as the commercial 
fishing industry dwindled, the other two and their employees were gradually 
absorbed by EM.

Disclosure:  my fiance' has worked for EM's home office these last 
three-four years, so I am not an impartial source.  I do not get any income 
from them, but she does!  I get to go to the annual crab feeds.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] old school building
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 09:45:21 -0800
On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 8:46 AM, Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> wrote:

>
> If you need fasteners or similar gear for your kayak, smaller outlets often
> have stuff West Marine does not, and sometimes at a better price.
>

West Marine would not be my first choice but it's ubiquitous. The store
where we finally did find suitable fasteners (not for the kayaks, btw) was
about a mile away on hwy 101. What amazed me was that even West Marine -
which had a store in the marina - did not carry anything really useful at
that store. The West Marine store with any useful stuff was also about a
mile away.


> My town has a stellar example in the form of the 40,000 SF home
> office/outlet of Englund Marine and Industrial, a seven-outlet operation
> spread from Westport, WA to Eureka, CA.  EM is a family-owned business with
> a large dependence on the commecial fishing industry, which probably
> contributes 70-80% of its gross receipts.  I suspect this is typical for
> most chandleries in smaller coastal ports in OR, WA, BC, and northern CA.
>

When we built our sailboat in the late 1970s it was in Everett, WA and we
had our choices of several chandleries within walking distance of the slip
as well as of three shipwrights who could do everything from hull repair to
interior cabinetry. I don't know what remains but it doesn't look like much
when I drive through it. Of course, fishing ports are not what they used to
be, either. The Ballard, WA fishermen's terminal used to be exclusively
trollers, gill netters, trawlers, crabbers, seiners and the odd antique
halibut schooner with not a yacht in sight. That's changed considerably.
Although, in fairness, much of the fishing fleet today consists of boats far
too large to fit into a 75-foot slip.

I suspect many boaters in Everett would kill for an Englund Marine outlet.

Anacortes has a couple of places but you have to have local knowledge (handy
everywhere, no doubt).

It was a treat to watch someone use a brace-and-bit to install decking in
that vid. The contractor rebuilding my burned shop couldn't work for two
weeks and when I asked him why he told me that the air compressor that
powers their nail guns wouldn't work in the cold weather. I thought to
myself - but didn't say it - "too bad your hammer arm is broken, too."

The shop, by the way, is now two full stories high with an apartment (with
windows) on the main floor (the City now requires that a "garage" can only
be built if there is living quarters on the lot unless it's commercial
property - long story), full standing headroom storage above (used to be
only a half loft with standing room only under the peak of the roof), one
14-foot door vehicle door, one 10-foot vehicle door and 18 feet of clearance
in the main shop area. We should have a roof over the building in two weeks.

As long as their air compresor keeps working.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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