This small tug was designed by the American designer H.C. Hanson in 1957 for the US Forest Service as a Scaler’s Boat. Scalers determine the amount of board feet of lumber in each log cut by a timber crew. Three of these vessels were built commercially in the mid-1950’s to this design for the Forest Service for use in the western United States, all driven, so far as we know, by Chrysler Crown gasoline engines.
Former instructor Tim Lee redrew the lines for this boat in the winter of 2012-13, stretching it to 28 feet. The extension allows the engine box to be moved aft of the pilothouse while the pilothouse can be lengthened a bit. Under his direction, students at the School began construction in 2013.
Instructor Peter Bailey’s students continued work on the boat during the class of 2014. We expect to finish the boat by mid-September, 2015. As of this writing, it is for sale.
The tug is traditionally built, 28 feet long with a beam of about 8 feet. It has a draft of four feet, and displaces about 5 tons.
Our tug is built as a cruising tug. It will be planked in aromatic port orford cedar from southern Oregon over white oak frames. The house sides will be mahogany. The boat will be decked forward with marine plywood to ensure complete watertightness. The boat will be driven by a 54 hp Yanmar diesel engine, and will be customized to the owner’s desire’s before delivery.
Peter Bailey drew a more expansive house and pilot house than designer H.C. Hanson had envisioned to make it more attractive to a cruising couple. It is very nearly an ideal boat for year-round Pacific Northwest cruising on the expansive inland salt waters of the Puget Sound and Salish Sea.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock, on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, and is a private, accredited non-profit vocational school.
Our mission is to teach and preserve the skills and crafts of fine wooden boatbuilding and other traditional maritime crafts.
We build both commissioned and speculative boats to US Coast Guard standards while teaching adult students the traditional wood and wood composite boatbuilding skills they will need to work in the marine trades.
We sell our boats to help support the School. Please feel free to give us a call should you like to discuss our building a boat for you.
You can find us on the web at www.nwboatschool.org .
You can reach us via e-mail at info@nwboatschool.org or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
