We took our 15' Lobster Boat out for a sea trial with the Spirit 2 electric motor—and came away impressed with the pairing. At 500–600 watts, the Lobster Boat moved comfortably along at trolling speed, with plenty of additional power available when we wanted a little more speed. And we got an unexpected test of the Spirit 2's capability: when our 17' Salish Voyager lost the wind, the Lobster Boat and Spirit 2 had enough power to tow her all the way back to the dock. Quiet, simple electric power paired with one of our most versatile boats. The Lobster Boat can motor, row, or sail—giving you plenty of ways to enjoy a day on the water. Watch the sea trial to see the Spirit 2 and Lobster Boat in action.

Learn how to rig your Gig Harbor Boat Works Melonseed for sailing. This step-by-step video walks through the rigging process from start to finish, so you can spend less time setting up and more time on the water. The Melonseed is a classic sail-and-row boat designed for simple setup, easy handling, and beautiful performance under sail or oar.

Our new Spirit 2.0 motor just arrived. Join us for unboxing and mounting on the Salish Voyager. #handmade #boat #electric #motor

All in-stock boats are 15% off, including upgrades, options, and accessories. ⛵️🚣🏻‍♂️ Details about the sale here - https://ghboats.com/stories/august-sale Check out what is in-stock and ready to ship now (or soon if choosing a boat in fiberglass or assembly)! Call or Text us at 253-851-2126

All in-stock boats are 15% off, including upgrades, options, and accessories. ⛵️🚣🏻‍♂️ Details about the sale here - https://ghboats.com/stories/august-sale Check out what is in-stock and ready to ship now (or soon if choosing a boat in fiberglass or assembly)! PS: Ron is not for sale 😉

Learn how to set up the Mast, Boom, and Genoa for the 10' Navigator (and 9.5' Captain's Gig). This tutorial includes the High Performance Option: Bow Sprit, Genoa, Lines and Blocks for the head sail. The standard Navigator, Captain's Gig, and 8' Nisqually are built with a Main Sail (mast and boom) only.

How-To Video for setting up mast, spars, and centerboard to sail the 15' Lobster Boat with a Lug Rig Sail.

At Gig Harbor Boat Works, we’ve always prioritized two things: ✨ Building the highest-quality small boats from the finest materials ✨ Providing a livable wage and strong benefits for our skilled craftsmen and craftswomen As many of you know, the cost of quality materials, tariffs, and inflation have continued to rise. To keep doing what we do best — building heirloom-quality boats by hand, right here in Gig Harbor — we’ll be implementing a price increase in 2026. If you’ve been thinking about ordering a boat, now is the time. 💡 Place your deposit before the end of the year to lock in 2025 pricing for a 2026 delivery slot. You can start building your dream boat anytime with our online Price & Quote Tool, or reach out to us directly at Boatshop@ghboats.com — we’re always happy to help. Thank you for supporting our small team for the past 40 years. We can’t wait to build for the next 40. ⛵️

Meet the new 15' Lobsterboat — your all-around workhorse on the water. This versatile design will plane with a 10HP motor, sail beautifully with a lug or sloop rig, and row with ease. Motor, row, or sail to your favorite crabbing spot. Spend the day on the water with family and friends. Fish comfortably with all your gear. No matter the adventure, the 15' Lobsterboat is built to do it all.

It's starting to look like a boat! This month we've been designing and building the interior for our redesigned 15' Lobster Boat. There's been a lot of waving our hands at it while discussing different approaches, comparing the original version and talking about what to change vs what to keep. Turning around 3D models on our computers, mocking up cardboard pieces, all to make sure everything flows together nicely. The structure you see taking shape here is temporary, we're building the interior shapes that we want so we can form the molds around them (just like we did for the outer hull). Ultimately that wood structure will be removed so the actual fiberglass seats can be installed into place.

Lobster Boat milestone report -- mold complete! This is a critical juncture when we find out if we did everything right with prepping the plug, waxing it thoroughly and laying down the critical inner layer of the mold (which is the finished surface that ultimately shapes the hull). We're thrilled to report that the mold released cleanly from the plug, and has the glossy, flawless finish we needed. So we can proceed onward to building the hull for the prototype! We're exactly on schedule, pulled the mold on the day before Thanksgiving, and the first hull is in layup right now. Big thanks to the fiberglass shop crew for gettin er done! 💪 #lobsterboat #boatbuilding #gigharbor #ghboats #smallboats #craftsmanship

Lobster Boat plug... DONE! The plug is the most critical piece of the project, since it will be used to make the mold, which will be used for every Lobster Boat boat we make. It needs to be flawless so that the future hulls that come out of the mold will be flawless, too. Check out that shiny mirror finish. *chefs kiss* 🤌 We start building the mold next week!

Want to take your Scamp sailboat out for an overnight camping trip? Or how about creating a nice shady spot to hang out on hot days? Our convertible camping cover can easily be set up in different configurations as your needs change throughout the day. Check this 12' Scamp microcruiser out in person at the Annapolis Sailboat Show Oct 10-14, 2024! Show info at https://ghboats.com/2024/08/annapolis-sailboat-show-oct-10-14-2024/

Falk gives a a quick behind-the-scenes on our redesigned Lobster Boat build! Before we can build a fiberglass boat, we need a mold. And before we can build a mold, we need a "plug"... a perfectly shaped hull to form the mold around. Here Falk shows our work-in-progress on the plug we'll use for the hull mold. Since the hull mold will be used for every future fiberglass Lobster Boat we build, here's lots of detail work in this phase to ensure we end up with a flawless shape. The plug is being built from MDF instead of wood. Since the plug itself will never go in the water, that means we can use this affordable material that you'd never use for the hull of an actual boat. MDF has a consistent density and texture, so we don't have to work around any flaws or knots you'd have in natural wood grain. As a result, fairing the boat into its final shape is much less time consuming than it would be otherwise. Learn more about our 15' Lobster Boat at https://ghboats.com/our-boats/15-maine-lobster-boat/

Katie gives a "Show and Tell" of the 3D design rendering for our new Lobster Boat, coming this summer! Learn more about the redesign and preorder special at https://ghboats.com/2024/06/lobster-boat-update-3-preorders-now-open/

From length to blade shape to materials... we get a lot of questions about oars. Here's how to choose the best oars to suit you and your boat.

This beautiful Melonseed rowboat in classic white features laminated wood trim, slide storage hatches, Forward Facing Rowing System, and tandem sliding seats.

By popular request, Fredrik and Nancy took some video for us about how they use their Beach Rollers with their 17' Salish Voyager sailboat, "Wild Places." The rollers help them pull the boat up above the tide line so they don't wake up to any nasty surprises while they are beach camping in remote areas of Alaska! Here they show their technique for pulling the boat up the beach, including selecting an anchor point on the beach, positioning the rollers, and setting up the pull lines for both low angle and high angle beaches. Our friends at Duckworks are happy to hook you up with your own pair of beach rollers at https://duckworks.com/beach-rollers/. For more information about the Salish Voyager by Gig Harbor Boat Works, see our website at https://ghboats.com/our-boats/17-salish-voyager/