What’s the wooden-boat-lovin’est town on the West Coast? From what we’ve seen, it has to be Port Townsend, WA, a Victorian-era port town perched along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Wooden craft of all sorts are built and maintained here — you’ll find everything from museum-quality sailing dinghies and rowboats to stout commercial fishing vessels tough enough to brave the rough and rowdy waters of the Alaskan fishing grounds. In addition to splendid sailing yachts maintained in Bristol condition, the area is home to two of the West Coast’s premier wooden boatbuilding facilities: The Northwest Martitime Center and the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building.

The Maritime Center is perched at the water’s edge at the west end of Port Townsend’s picturesque main street, which is lined with ornate, late-19th-century architecture. Open to the public year-round, it allows you to observe accomplished shipwrights practicing their craft, or take hands-on classes in everything from boatbuilding to navigation. (These are the folks that put on the Race to Alaska, by the way. R2AK starts June 23, with a $10,000 prize for the winner.) 

About 10 miles down the road at Port Hadlock you’ll find NSWBB, one of the premier wooden boat-building schools in the country. Long-established, well-funded, and fully accredited, its top-notch facilities attract students from all over the country and beyond. We stopped by to visit former Bay Area boatwright Jody Boyle, who moved north from Sausalito with his family last year and is now a NSWBB instructor. Hands-on courses there prepare students for professional careers in all sorts of wooden boat construction and maintenance. Among the many boats they’re currently building is a cold-molded two-man submarine commissioned by a fan of the school. 

If you love wooden boats, you owe it to yourself to visit these impressive facilities next time you’re in the area. An ideal time would be September 9-11, while the 40th annual Wooden Boat Festival is taking place.

It’s not surprising that a construction project as challenging as the Panama Canal’s expansion would see substantial delays and cost overruns, but it was a bit shocking when cracks were discovered last summer in the solid concrete ‘sill’ beneath at least one rolling lock gate installed in the Canal’s new Third Lane. According to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), however, the problem has now been corrected and the new locks are undergoing testing in anticipation of being open for business in late June. 

According to a recent Reuters report, the Panamanian government anticipates a 30% increase in Canal revenues due to the expanded capacity — an additional $1.4 billion annually. Completion of the costly project will allow transit between the Pacific and Caribbean for ships that are roughly a third wider than the current Panamax size standard — and that can carry 2.5 times more shipping containers (TEUs) than their predecessors.

But because the new Post-Panamax standard facilitated by the Third Lane will not be able to handle the world’s largest cargo ships, ACP head Jorge Quijano has said that his organization is now considering construction of an even more ambitious project that would accommodate these gargantuan New Panamax vessels that measure up to 1,400 feet long by 180 feet wide! Meanwhile, there hasn’t been much buzz lately about the proposed Nicaraguan canal, which some critics feel has little chance of being built due to funding problems with its original Chinese backers. 

We’ve got Panama on our minds these days, as we’ll be helping our partners from Tahiti Tourism host a Tahiti Sendoff Party for many of this year’s Pacific Puddle Jumpers on Sunday, March 6, at the Shelter Bay Marina on the Caribbean side of the Canal (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). If you’re in that area, and are heading across the ‘puddle’ this season, you won’t want to miss this free, highly informative program and party. As in years past, all crews will be interviewed and photographed for an article in Latitude 38 — a chance to capture your ’15 minutes of fame’.

A similar function will take place in Mexico, February 29, at the Vallarta YC, at Nuevo Vallarta’s Paradise Village Resort (3 to 6 p.m.). All registered 2016 Puddle Jumpers are welcome.