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Rebuilding the Western Flyer

Western Flyer was built at Tacoma’s Western Boat Building Company in 1937. In 1940 John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts chartered the iconic Tacoma built sardine seiner for a trip to the Sea of Cortez. Renamed and neglected, the boat sank in 2012. In 2015 the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op contracted to rebuild the Western Flyer.

Tim Lee and Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-operative partner Pete Rust led the reconstruction of the Western Flyer. The project began in earnest in 2018 and the rebuilt vessel was launched in June of 2022. Tim is an accomplished shipwright, and having taught boatbuilding for over a decade is adept at leading an audience through an interesting and complicated boatbuilding process.

Tim Lee has worked as a professional shipwright for 35 years. He taught wooden boat construction for 13 years at The Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, serving as chief instructor for eight of those years. In 2013 he returned to commercial work and became a member of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-operative.

Tickets: $10 - Non Member $8 - Member

• Left - Western Flyer at the beginning stage of the Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-op led rebuild.

• Right - Lead Western Flyer shipwrights Tim Lee and Pete Rust stand at the bow of the rebuilt Western Flyer.