On Jun 9, 3:37?pm, "JimH" wrote:
I watched an interesting segment today on John Ratzenberger's 'Made in
America' on Devlin Boats (Olympia, WA).......wood hulls with 'stitch and
glue' technology (vs. lapstrake).

http://www.devlinboat.com/sgfp.htm

http://www.devlinboat.com/sgfp.htm#STITCH-AND-GLUE

http://www.devlinboat.com/constructionsockeye45.htm

http://www.devlinboat.com/constructionkokanee38.htm

$800,000 for a 45 footer, all hand crafted. Not my style of boat but an
interesting construction technique.

Devlin's boats are pretty salty. They appeal to folks who like
traditional and workboat styles (as I do), but may be too funky for
many people and that's entirely understandable.

He was a bigger player among boat builders up this way several years
ago, and seems to have shifted into semi-retirement mode.

One of the "knocks" on the stitch and glue technique is that the same
factors that make it easy for a hobbiest to build a boat also make it
pretty easy for the hobbiest to screw up the process. There are people
who swear by, and others who swear *at* stitch and glue. I have
encountered a stitch-and-glue boat so riddled with rot that it's most
certainly unsafe, but I don't know whether it was built by Devlin or
built in somebody's backyard to one of Devlin's general designs. On
the other hand, there are a lot of enthusiastic fans of Sam's designs
as well as the stitch-and-glue process and his overall reputation as a
boat builder is very good.

Foks who are enthusiastic about plywood like the fact that it will
flex a microscopic amount in a seaway......sort of the same theory
currently espoused by some well respected builders who continue to use
encapsulated wood stringers and bulkheads vs. "all glass".

Sure hope it was raining to beat heck if they took some footage of
Devlin's place over on Totten Inlet. We work pretty hard at fostering
the image of a cold grey rain forest out here. (Discourages
relocation- we really need a couple of "No Vancancy" signs on I-90 and
I-5 at the Washington borders).

Off to root for the hydroplane we co-sponsor- and see whether our 19-
year old female rookie driver once again clobbers all the experienced
and older guys. After one race, we're in first place for national
points in the ULHRA standings.......but that's like leading the league
in a baseball pennant race at the end of April. It's a long way to the
end of the season. Anything can happen and something probably
will. :-)