Three Sheets Northwest

Harmless red algae blooms showing up on Puget Sound

Deborah Bach — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:00:07 +0000

If you see a red-orange bloom on the water while boating on Puget Sound, don’t worry. The Washington Department of Ecology says it has received laboratory confirmations that several of the tomato soup-colored blooms showing up on Puget Sound are harmless to people and are not the so-called “red tide” that refers to paralytic shellfish [...]

Northwest Nautical History | How Anacortes Got Its Name

John Sabella — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:00:09 +0000

In 1876, ambitious surveyor and mining engineer Amos Bowman reached Fidalgo Island with his wife and liked what he saw. Bowman envisioned a town carved from the forest that would become the “New York of the west” and serve as the railroad terminus for an anticipated railroad expansion across the north Cascades to the Pacific. He established [...]

Swimming pigs attacked by seagulls

Dana Greyson — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:45:00 +0000

“Maybe we should have a pig roast on Major Cay beach, and invite all the cruisers,” Wayne suggested. He was joking… I think. We were sorry we missed out on the legendary “lechon” roadside stands selling succulent roasted pig in Puerto Rico.Major Cay’s famous for its aquatic porkers. Clever of those wily Bahmian ranchers to [...]

Interview | Doug Hylan, wooden boat designer and builder

Dan Mattson — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:15:51 +0000

PODCAST SHOW NOTES Today’s interview is with Doug Hylan, owner of D.N. Hylan & Associates in Brooklin, Maine. Doug grew up north of Boston with the allure of a small lake in his neighborhood. He was fascinated by boats and at an early age finished building a skiff that his dad and brother had only [...]

Brushed again

Robert Salnick — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

Have any brushed stainless on your boat? On Eolian, our stove is brushed stainless. This finish is produced in the factory by sanding the metal surface. The thing is, stainless is hard, but not so hard that use, and more importantly cleaning attempts, can scratch it, ruining that beautiful, uniform appearance. On our stove, [...]

Avoiding the Seattle Harbor Patrol’s attention

Mike Brough — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:33 +0000

Being stopped by the Harbor Patrol is one of those things very few people look forward to. To help avoid unwanted attention from the Seattle Harbor Patrol, they have produced a booklet covering Seattle area Regulations & Information for local … Continue reading →

Old technology is new again at electric boat showcase

Deborah Bach — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:00:10 +0000

Quiet, low-impact propulsion will be the focus at the second Electric Boat Showcase at The Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle this Sunday. The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 19, will feature half a dozen electric boats ranging from to a 17-foot wooden launch to a 37-foot replica of an [...]

Marquesas Islands

James & Jennifer Hamilton — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:13:34 +0000

The Marquesas Islands first showed up in version four of our planned itinerary across the South Pacific. We weren’t even going there initially, not because it wasn’t appealing, but because the islands were a long run east from Hawaii. And we decided to make it even more challenging by going to Palmyra Atoll and Fanning [...]

Author shares tale of seven-year cruise at CWB Friday

Deborah Bach — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:28 +0000

Wendy Hinman knows about cruising on the cheap. Hinman and her husband, Garth Wilcox, cruised the Pacific for seven years on their 31-foot boat on a budget of just $33 a day from the $1,000 monthly rental income on their Seattle home. They cruised 34,000 miles without refrigeration, a hot water heater, a generator or [...]

Pink Boat founder walks away, but regatta continues

Deborah Bach — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:13 +0000

Last summer’s inaugural Seattle Pink Boat Regatta, held on Shilshole Bay, drew around 50 boats and raised $36,000 for breast cancer research. At the heart of the effort was a man named Thomas Watson, who planned to sail solo and non-stop around the world in his distinctive pink sailboat with the goal of raising $1 [...]