Center for Wooden Boats

 Seattle’s a port city with two major lakes, and that sits on a sound, spitting distance from the Pacific Ocean. Ergo, it’s a little boat crazy.

And I mean, “little” boat. Sure, the channels are filled with cruise ships and shipping vessels, but to find your true Seattle sea-legs, you need to paddle or sail—and the Center for Wooden Boats can get you started.

The museum is a living, breathing, working boat dock. On sunny days, you can watch any number of accomplished boatwrights building and restoring all kinds of heritage wooden boats, including skiffs, rowboats and traditional native longboats—even a steam powered craft dating from 1906. 

The Center’s main boathouse has an eclectic collection of exhibits—boat components, maps and other paraphernalia. It’s hard to navigate on your own unless you’re a knowledgeable boat enthusiast already, so don’t be shy about asking the volunteer staff at the front desk to get someone to show you around. 

Of course, the Center offers the opportunity to actually sail. They offer free boat rides every Sunday, rain or shine, and have an extensive livery of boats to rent, with fees ranging between $15 and $30 per hour. Rowboats are available to all; if you’d like to rent a sailboat, call ahead to meet with an instructor who can talk to you about handling the craft.

The Center hosts a lively festival each summer. Held over Independence Day weekend, the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival usually features live music, demonstrations, regattas and boat building competitions, as well as toy boat races for the kids.

 

HelloSeattle tip: The free Sunday boat rides fill up lightning quick during the summer months. Get there early—you can sign up at early as 10am for the 2pm launch—then walk around and grab some brunch at one of the many restaurants around South Lake Union.

- by Caren Gussoff Sumption, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Caren Gussoff Sumption

Caren Gussoff Sumption is a freelance writer and editor from Seattle, WA. She's written for USA Today, the Seattle Times/NW Source, MSN and AOL, and her fiction has been published worldwide. She received her MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.