The Beachcomber Skiff is a 15-foot long skiff with a rockered bottom suitable for rowing or carrying a small engine. We built these boats as rowboats.
The boat was designed by Nelson D. Gillett in the 1940’s as a big husky skiff capable of carrying nearly a half-ton of weight in the form of crew, passengers, fishing gear, crab pots and the like, to support a family’s lifestyle based on small farming and coastal fishing. Mr Gillett espoused these ideas, and the boat’s design, in a pamphlet he wrote and sold in the 1940’s while working in a defense plant in the Pacific Northwest during World War II.
We were honored to have Nelson D Gillett’s daughter, Bunny Hamersla, join us with members of her family from Alaska, Washington and California for the launch of this boat.
This Beachcomber-15 was built by students in the class of 2014 working with Instructor Ernie Baird. It was built of copper riveted sapele planking bottom and was finished with an oiled finish. It weighs 315 pounds dry and is rated to carry 975 pounds of passengers and cargo. It is an extraordinarily capable skiff.
The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding is located in Port Hadlock WA and is an accredited, non-profit vocational school. You can find us on the web at www.nwboatschool.org .
Our mission is to teach and preserve the fine art of wooden boatbuilding and traditional maritime crafts.
We build both commissioned and speculative boats while teaching students boatbuilding the skills they need to work in the marine trades. We sell our boats to help support the School. Give us a call should you like to discuss our building a boat for you.
You can reach us via e-mail at info@nwboatschool.org or by calling us at 360-385-4948.
