Port Townsend - Grand Banks Yachts

PT’S VINTAGE APPEAL 

vintage 

ON THE BLUSTERY FRONTIER WHERE 

NORTH AMERICA IS CARVED OUT BY THE PACIFIC, 

HISTORIC PORT TOWNSEND EMBRACES AND 

NURTURES ITS NAUTICAL HERITAGE. 

appealSITTING COMPLETE WITH A STUNNING NEW MARITIME 

CENTER THAT SERVES DOUBLE-DUTY AS A MECCA 

FOR SHIPWRIGHTS AS WELL AS A MODERN-DAY 

SHIP’S TRAINING CENTER, “PT” IS A THRIVING 

EXAMPLE OF SEAMLESSLY BLENDING THE OLD 

WITH THE NEW. 

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY \ JONATHAN COOPER 

A look at the docks that will host the 37th 

Annual Wooden Boat Festival this September 

6-8 ... along with a few festival candidates 

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Launched in 1913 at Rice Brothers’ Yard in East Boothbay, Maine, the gaff-rigged schooner Adventuress is a common sight on Port 

Townsend Bay and beyond. Operated by Sound Experience—a local non-profit—Adventuress hosts youth education programs for over 

3,000 young adults and adults annually. According to SoundExperience.org, the program is actively supported by hundreds of volunteers 

who help crew for school groups, public day sails, week long trips and continue the work of historic preservation and restoration. 


Adventuress under sail, with a training group on board. 

Near the entrance to Port Townsend sits a welcome sign 

that bills this gem of town as a “Victorian Seaport and 

Arts Community.” That’s true enough, but far from the 

whole story. Port Townsend has not only acknowledged its maritime 

heartbeat, it has embraced and elevated and nourished it. Among 

its world-class boatbuilders and marine tradespeople, within the 

sparkling and relatively new Maritime Center, and throughout its 

residents, business and civic leaders, you’ll find saltwater and spar 

varnish running through the veins of this singular seaside town. 

Situated about as far northwest as you can go in the United States 

without plopping yourself into the vast Pacific, Port Townsend, 

Washington, is both a haven and a breeding ground for artists, 

furniture-makers, bakers, booksellers and boat builders. Its appeal 

is unmistakable: with towering Douglas fir trees and sweeping views 

over the entrance to Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 

Port Townsend offers something for everyone: a small movie theater 

and performing arts center, quality restaurants and grocery stores, 

art galleries, and even car-ferry service from the mainland if you’re 

planning to rendezvous with landlubbers. 

Port Townsend Shipyard, just west of the public marina, is one of 

the big attractions for seafarers; the 150-foot/330-ton might of their 

TravelLift brings many an impressive species of ship to its expansive 

grounds. It is often a fun diversion to simply walk the gravel yard 

and inspect the variety of ongoing projects on the hard. The local 

Wooden Boat Foundation and the Northwest School of Wooden 

Boatbuilding both call the shipyard home, as do many of the marine 

businesses that cater to boat construction, repair, and restoration— 

with an emphasis on wooden boats, of course. 

Farther up the road into town, many of the beautiful Victorianera 

buildings stand proudly preserved as homes, B&Bs and other 

enterprises. A swoon in the town’s economy during the late 1800s 

prompted a population exodus that actually helped maintain Port 

Townsend’s charm rather than “renew” it, preserving it for over a 

century to come. As the economy improved during the 20th century, 

the town grew vital and vibrant, pulling in tourists by the ferryboatload. 

Today Port Townsend is as picturesque as it is quaint, sporting 

a full-time population of just ten thousand residents. 

Many of those residents have witnessed a renaissance over the past few 

decades; festivals attract visitors far and wide to celebrate everything 

from independent cinema and steampunk to rhododendrons and 

vintage cars. The most renowned event of all, though, is the annual 

Wooden Boat Festival, now in its 37th year. With more than 300 

wooden vessels, dozens of indoor and outdoor presentations and 

demonstrations, a who’s who of wooden boat experts and thousands 

of wooden boat enthusiasts, it is the largest wooden boat festival in 

North America. 

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The festival takes place each year at Point Hudson Marina and the 

adjacent Northwest Maritime Center, where Jake Beattie is the 

enthusiastic and energetic young Executive Director. A jewel of 

contemporary design, the Maritime Center features contemporary, 

large-timber architecture featuring open spaces, breezeways, a café, 

chandlery, nautical library, and much more. This is Jake’s domain, 

and it operates as a unified social and educational meeting place. 

It serves as a modern example of the community business model, 

as six separate business entities share office space within its walls. 

It has a state-of-the-art training center for ship’s captains—or 

young, aspiring captains—to train in a virtual world complete 

with huge flat-screen displays and expensive software. It contains a 

beautiful Center for Wooden Boats, where just about anyone with 

the time can rent space, access tools, and mind-meld with other 

knowledgeable shipwrights (and in Port Townsend, knowledgeable 

shipwrights are the norm). 

Education has become a primary focus of the Maritime Center as 

well. Programs for troubled youth offer classes in shipbuilding from 

scratch; on my tour I saw the skiff that is used as the model for 

teaching these kids how to loft water- and station-lines, and mill 

and assemble their own boat from raw materials. 

In Port Townsend’s public schools, experiential education will soon 

take on a whole new shape and dimension. Jake, along with Port 

Townsend Schools Superintendent David Engle, have developed 

a plan to integrate teachings from the Maritime Center into the 

school system. The idea is “place-based curriculum that unifies 

learning along a central focus for a student’s entire school career.” 

In other words, why not use Port Townsend’s biggest geographic 

benefit—and this amazing new facility—to their full advantage? 

From the age of five to eighteen, kids in the local school system will 

be able to translate math, science, and history lessons directly into 

continues on page 73 

PHOTO [Above, clockwise] PT’s old and new, represented in sailing 

dinghies; Port Townsend Salmon Club sign and pier leading out to 

the Adventuress in the background; Lots of beautiful handiwork on 

sale at the Maritime Center’s chandlery; Grade school student art 

pinned up on the walls of the Wooden Boat Foundation. 

OPPOSITE A collection of oars for the multitude of rowing skiffs and 

shells that are housed in a separate space. 

GRAND BANKS YACHTS • SPRAY MAGAZINE • 2013 ANNUAL 

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At the Maritime Center, the corridor connecting the 

boat shed, chandlery, and café, with the training 

center, classrooms, and wooden boat center. 

OPPOSITE [Top] Beehive of activity at the Maritime 

Center’s Wooden Boat Foundation where classes are 

held and space can be leased [Bottom] The McCurdy 

Library, a beautiful and quiet space within the Center. 

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PHOTOS [Top] The Maritime Center at sunset. 

[Below, left to right] Stunning example of one 

of the many wooden boats on site; Craftsmen 

at the Wooden Boat Foundation. 


a practical maritime application. Not all of these children 

will go on to pursue a career in the field, but they will all 

graduate with a respect for the sea—and a more informed 

and intimate understanding of their environs. 

Port Townsend once aimed to be called the City of Dreams; 

its ambition was to become the largest seaport on the West 

Coast. That dream may have vanished long ago, but what 

has survived and thrives today is far more important. Port 

Townsend isn’t just quaintly bohemian—it’s a vibrant 

maritime community, bustling with irrepressible passion 

for the boats and boating, strengthened by men and 

women who excel at their trades, and united by a civic 

dedication to the industry. Together they will ensure the 

town’s success well into this century and beyond. 

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local color : s/v miraka 

Port Townsend Primer 

How to Get Here 

For those coming from out of state, Seattle is the nearest city with 

a major airport. From there you can take the Seattle-Bainbridge Island 

Ferry and drive north across the Hood Canal Bridge and up the 

Quimper Peninsula, where you’ll find Port Townsend at the tip. Or 

you can travel via Whidbey Island and hop the short ferry there from 

Keystone directly to Port Townsend. If you’re coming by boat, set 

target coordinates near 48.06.96 N, 122.44.42 W. 

When to Go 

There’s something for every season at Port Townsend, but for warm 

and sunny weather the most reliable months are July to September. 

A perfect time to visit would be early September, during the annual 

Wooden Boat Festival (Sept. 6-8 in 2013), when more than 300 

beautiful wooden vessels are on display: woodenboat.org for details. 

More Information 

Want to learn more or plan your visit? Two great 

websites are loaded with information about 

lodging, restaurants and activities in and around 

Port Townsend: ptguide.com and enjoypt.com. 

By Boat 

Port Townsend is ideally located for cruising the region: a charming 

and beautiful destination for those touring the Puget Sound, or the 

perfect jumping-off point for a voyage through the San Juans and up 

into Canada. Boat Haven Marina is a large facility with lots of guest 

moorage and access to services. Point Hudson Marina is smaller but 

packs a lot more charm and sits just a short walk from the heart of 

the historic downtown. Looking to charter? PT is an easy day’s cruise 

from NW Explorations in Bellingham, an all-GB charter operation 

with loads of regional cruising expertise (nwexplorations.com). 

Local Knowledge 

Port Townsend is home to scores of delightful attractions: museums, 

shops, restaurants, breweries, hiking and beachcombing—and, of 

course the NW Maritime Center and Wooden Boat Foundation. 

Once you’ve hit the main attractions, try an off-the-beaten-path experience 

for dinner: head to the south end of Port Townsend Bay 

for a memorable meal at the Ajax Café in tiny nearby town of Port 

Hadlock. Tie up your boat at the dock across the street from the 

charmingly funky restaurant, then follow the delicious scents of local-grown 

goods cooked by the talented kitchen crew. Amazing food, 

warm service and irresistible desserts await. Visit ajaxcafe.com for 

their menu, directions, special events and more . 

pacific ocean 

washington state 

san juan islands 

port 

townsend 

seattle 

It’s not much of a coincidence that an historic 

seafaring town like Port Towsend and an 

eminent boatbuilder like Grand Banks would 

be linked in all manner of ways across the 

decades. Just scratch the surface and you’ll hear 

stories of how so many boats—and people— 

that have come out of the GB factory eventually 

find their way into the boatyards of this Puget 

Sound seaport. 

Among the many crossed paths and 

connections, the story of S/V Miraka has a 

particularly “vintage appeal” for GB enthusiasts. 

The Miraka was built in 1961 at the original 

Grand Banks factory in Hong Kong, which at 

that time operated under the name American 

Marine. She was a Mayflower—a ketch design 

by Hugh Angelman and Charles Davies— 

the eighth of ten such sailing vessels built by 

American Marine between 1957 and 1962. 

Notably, Miraka is a topsail ketch, with square 

sails on her main mast. Angleman and Davies 

designed the Mayflower with a square sail, 

though most of the buyers never opted for that 

option. 

But Neville Brand did. As a Hollywood actor 

who once appeared in a pirate movie—as well 

as many other films, TV shows and, most 

notably, as the prison warden in the original 

Birdman of Alcatraz film—he may have been 

drawn to the enchanting, storybookish charm 

of a Mayflower with square sails and a "great 

cabin" aft with ornate windows in the transom. 

Whatever the case, Brand commissioned and 

took delivery of Miraka and was her most 

celebrated owner. 

Eventually, in 1992, she was purchased by 

her current owners after they discovered her 

moored at Friday Harbor, Washington, in need 

of some serious tender loving care. 

Which brings the tale of one not-quite-tall ship 

to Port Townsend. As her current owners note, 

“wooden boats such as Miraka require the finest 

craftsmen available, and they are to be found 

in the wooden boat capital of the West in Port 

Townsend.” 

For seven years there she came under the 

constant care and ministrations of Galmukoff 

Marine, “who employed only the best 

shipwrights and artisans available.” 

Fortunately, they had a solid foundation to 

work from. “Miraka’s original construction 

was the best to be found,” say her owners. 

“The quality of the teak is extraordinary, no 

longer available to our knowledge. Her hull is 

1-5/8” old-growth Burmese teak planking on 

4x4" double-sawn I-pole frames, 16 inches on 

center, all re-fastened and recorked. The deck 

is 1-1/2" old growth Burmese teak refastened 

with 2-3/4" silicon bronze fasteners. 

“From that day to now she has been completely 

restored from the keel to the top of the mast. 

All power, electrical and plumbing systems have 

been upgraded and updated or replaced to meet 

today's standards.” 

According to a website that now lists Miraka 

for sale, “She has all the current navigation 

equipment, including an autopilot and GPS 

that integrates with a laptop computer. There 

is not an aspect of her that was overlooked 

mechanically or asthetically.” 

“The list of work accomplished on Miraka over 

the years is endless. She's a beauty, and our only 

problem was that when she was finished she 

wouldn't fit inside a glass bottle.” 

GRAND BANKS YACHTS • SPRAY MAGAZINE • 2013 ANNUAL 

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Port Townsend - Grand Banks Yachts

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