45th Wooden Boat Festival Lifetime Achievement Awards
by Wooden Boat Festival 1 Aug 2021 21:00 UTC
September 9-12, 2021
Wooden Boat Festival © Mitchel Osborne
The Lifetime Achievement Awards will kick off this year's Wooden Boat Festival on Thursday, September 9th, at 5:30 PM! Want to invite others to the Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony? Share this Evite!
Note: RSVPs are not necessary to attend.
This annual event recognizes exceptional contributions to our community in the areas of Community Spirit and Culture, Boatbuilding and Design, and Lifetime Achievement. For almost 15 years, we have celebrated people who have made wooden boating what it is! This year's honorees are:
Community spirit and culture - David King
Profile by Steve Oliver
David King's lifetime achievements in boat building and his myriad contributions to the preservation and advancement of the industry leave no doubt that he is clearly deserving of this award.
Following his graduation from Harvard in 1971, Dave chose a new course—to become a shipwright. He began his new career working for a boat builder on Chesapeake Bay. He later drifted north to the Bath Marine Museum and ultimately arrived in Port Townsend during Festival in 1978. He worked at numerous yards, out of his truck in the Boat Haven, progressed to General Manager of Admiral Marine Works, and ultimately was a founder and the CFO of Townsend Bay Marine from 1999 to 2015.
His eight years of service on City Council (four as mayor) have been vital to the advancement of the maritime industry here. Equally important is his dedicated service to Maritime non-profits including the Wooden Boat Foundation, the Northwest Maritime Center, and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.
Community spirit and culture - Diana Talley
Profile by Kaci Cronkhite
In those many messy, memorable ways one builds community in a town of indie marine trade makers, Diana Talley has been an anchor. Straight-talking empath, sometimes boatyard agitator, and salty raconteur, Diana has been a listener, planner, leader, and mentor to many since arriving here in 1990.
As one of the first woman shipwrights/boat shop owners in Port Townsend, her work space—Taku Marine—served as headquarters for the "coconut wireless" for boatyard news, port politics, and career and boat owner transitions.
Through the kindness of fellow fishermen, friends, and the maritime community, she was able to get a foothold—"I couldn't have survived without their generosity." In that spirit of local action and thoughtful generosity, Diana served on numerous boards and committees, ran as a candidate for Port Commission, served as Shipwrights' Regatta Goddess, presented as Festival faculty, and co-founded the PTMTA. The truth is she helped us all—to grow, fight, give, forgive, and grow again.
Lifetime Achievement - Jake Jacobson
Profile by Daniel Joram
As a young man, Jake was drawn to boats. He sailed his smart sloop, Hard Alee, to work in Sitka and on adventures along the BC coast and Haida Gwaii before going to Aberdeen to work on building the new tall ship Lady Washington as a shipwright. He eventually became her captain and assumed the mantle of an educator and mentor for several generations of shipwrights and sailors in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Jake sailed the west coast many times on Lady Washington, Hawaiian Chieftain, and Kaisei, and completed epic ocean passages on the Schooner Lynx, HMS Bounty, and HMS Endeavor.
As a shipwright, Jake worked on everything from tall ships and tugs to his friends' boats, and he tackled them all with strength and patience. His message was always clear—keep the traditions and knowledge alive, teach others, and pass the torch on. He valued mentorship, a good joke or story (especially one that "punched up"), and was a good shipmate, always. This community is better for having Jake around; many of us hold dear Jake's way of paying knowledge and humanity forward.
Read the full profiles here
Earlybird discounted tickets on sale August 7 at woodenboat.org. Buy your tickets before August 21, for earlybird pricing and to be entered to win great prizes including three nights at the Swan Hotel for Wooden Boat Festival 2022.