Driving into Port Townsend, the first thing you see below the hill is an expansive PT Boat Haven to your right. Boats of all kinds and sizes of all varying conditions are being restored. The town is also home to the Northwest School of Boat Building and the PT Maritime Center has a new building at the end of Water Street. I gave a talk for my SUP book there a year ago as part of their Wednesday speaker series in the Chandry. The Boat Haven is worth taking a peek exploring the winding road taking you past all types of boat facilities and shops passing Port Townsend Brewing and the Pourhouse (like beer?). Friend Tim Nolan's shop near the Pourhouse designs commercial watercraft such as the Port Angeles pilot boats. Tim's a local SUP paddler who was instrumental in developing the use of the CNC machine for boat building.
Want to launch your boat/board? Find Haines Street in the Boat Haven for a nice sandy beach launch. Plenty of parking, open all the time. In the book, Trip #36.
Rob Casey is author of Kayaking Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, 60 Trips and Stand Up Paddling Flat Water to Surf and Rivers, both by Mountaineers Books. He owns Salmon Bay Paddle a SUP school in Seattle. Get in touch: rob@salmonbaypaddle.com
