Beyond the Boat

In this episode of Beyond the Boat, I sit down with Dave Schoeggl, longtime owner and steward of Summer Wind , formerly E. Lester Jones , a 1940 wooden vessel built by Astoria Marine Construction for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Dave grew up around wooden boats on Lake Washington and has spent a lifetime on the water. For more than three decades, he and his wife, Tami, have cared for Summer...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat , Leroy talks with Christine and Jeffrey Smith of the David B , a nearly century-old wooden vessel carrying guests through Southeast Alaska. Their story begins with a boat they believe may have chosen them: a weathered vessel with an original Washington Iron Works engine, hidden craftsmanship, and enough promise to inspire years of restoration. Today, the David B...

There’s a moment when a boat stops being just an object—and starts becoming something more.  In this conversation, Tucker Piontek, lead instructor at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, reflects on how that shift happens. His path into the world of boats wasn’t direct. It moved through design, fabrication, and composites before a project on the schooner Adventuress changed how he saw the...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat , Leroy Lewis talks with writer Lisa Nickel , who grew up aboard a 42-foot wooden tugboat in Tacoma, Washington. What began as a family boat soon became something much deeper — a place of work, adventure, pride, and belonging.  Lisa shares what it was like to grow up as part of a working tugboat family: learning lines and dock duties, helping with meals during ov...

Aaron LaPointe grew up around the water—but it was wooden workboats that pulled him in for good. Now he’s the Executive Director of the Historic Maritime Foundation, stewarding a growing fleet of historic vessels and building a hands-on pathway for young people and career-changers to enter the maritime trades. In this conversation, Aaron and host Leroy Lewis talk about the quiet honor of workboat...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat , Leroy Lewis talks with Jamie Trost —Senior Captain, manager, and co-owner of the Traverse Tall Ship Company—about what it really means to operate traditional sailing ships in the modern world. Jamie has served on an extraordinary range of vessels—including the Lady Washington —and he describes the unseen reality behind a “simple” day sail: hiring and training c...

In 1931, an elegant 87-foot motor yacht was designed by Callis and built in San Pedro, California as Holiday for William Morris Jr. of the William Morris Talent Agency. She cruised the West Coast from Mexico to Alaska and hosted dockside gatherings filled with actors, musicians, and cultural figures of the era—her teak decks and mahogany salon reflecting a time when craftsmanship meant pride in ar...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat , Leroy talks with John W. Clauson , Executive Director of Kitsap Transit , about an unlikely centerpiece in a modern public transit fleet: M/V Carlisle II , a 1917 wooden ferry still serving the Port Orchard–Bremerton run. John shares how Kitsap Transit first partnered with a private ferry operator across Sinclair Inlet, why Carlisle II became the one vessel wor...

Brian Harte lives on Ireland’s south coast, in the fishing village of Glandore just northeast of Skibbereen, where boatbuilding has followed the river inland for generations. A shipwright since 1998, Brian talks about learning from master craftspeople, now mostly retired, the slow satisfaction of timber work, and what it feels like to bring a weathered wood back to life—hand-planed, sanded, and va...

At 89, Larry Benson has lived a full life alongside wooden boats—from a childhood on a 1920s bridge-deck cruiser in wartime Bremerton to his current years aboard Thelonious , a 1953 Ed Monk Sr. design. In this episode, Larry shares how an old family boat reappeared at Expo 86, how a “casual” look at a Stevens picnic boat pulled him back into boating, and how he eventually found—and fell in love wi...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat , Leroy Lewis sits down with Jim and Margie Paynton to follow the 85-year life of their 1940, 42-foot Chris-Craft double-cabin enclosed-bridge cruiser. One of just 31 hulls built, the boat is still in its original configuration and still running on her original gas engines—now in the care of only her fifth owners. Jim and Margie share how they tracked down the fa...

In this episode, we’re joined by Blaise Holly, a commercial fisherman turned shipwright, now the owner of Haven Boatworks in Port Townsend, Washington. Blaise grew up back east, studied literature at Middlebury, and detoured through Mystic Seaport to help build the topsail schooner Amistad before spending years fishing salmon and halibut aboard the 48-foot FV Alaska .  For the past 19 years, he’s...

In this episode of Beyond the Boat, host Leroy Lewis speaks with Todd Powell about the complexities of owning, buying, and selling wooden boats. They explore the myths surrounding wooden boat ownership, the changing attitudes of buyers, and the unique challenges faced by sellers in the current market. Todd shares his extensive experience in the boating world, discussing memorable trips, the import...

David Miller—longtime steward of Sea Nymph II , a 1946 Monk Senior 46-footer—joins Beyond the Boat to trace a Puget Sound classic’s lineage and life. We cover the Coast Guard roots behind the name, decades with the Wilhelm family (including escorting the USS Missouri ), and the careful restorations: mahogany cabinetry, Port Orford cedar planking, and period-true upgrades. David shares the learning...

Jeff shares the story of his family’s 1935, 18-foot Reinell runabout—its history, their adventures aboard, and the famous guests who once joined the previous owners on guided fishing trips. Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains t...