A 6 • Wednesday, September 30, 2015
BusinessNews Registration open for Olympic Peninsula Tourism Summit Oct. 21 at Fort Worden
Registration for the annual Olympic Peninsula Tourism Summit, held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 21 at Fort Worden, is now open. This year’s program – “Shoulder Season Travel: Broadening the Visitor Experience” – addresses the importance of working cooperatively to promote and grow off-peak travel to the Olympic Peninsula to expand the economic impact of tourism across the Peninsula, according to a press release. This conference is open to all businesses across the region. Deadline for early registration is Oct. 14. To register online or to learn more, visit tinyurl.com/2015OPSummit. Registration for one person to attend is $85, including lunch. After Oct. 14, the cost is $105. Additional attendees from the same organization as the first registration are $75 each, including lunch. After Oct. 14, the cost for the additional registrations is $95 each. This conference is open to all businesses across the region. Debbie Johnson, executive director of the Arizona Office of Tourism and the former CEO of Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association, gives the keynote talk about developing shoulder season travel, and a media panel at the event is to address the topic of broadening communication reach. The afternoon is spent on the topic of building a community of resident experts, and there is to be a session with area experts who share some of their creativity and successes in
extending the tourism season beyond summer in their businesses. Meredith Parker, artist and general manager of the Makah Tribe, gives the luncheon talk about Pacific Northwest Tribal Art and Sarah Creachbaum, superintendent of Olympic National Park closes the day by giving attendees a glimpse of the upcoming year’s National Park Centennial. A vendor marketplace runs concurrently with the conference. Vendor tables cost $125, which includes one registration and lunch, and provides a display table for sharing business information. Deadline for vendors and sponsors to be included in the printed program is Friday, Oct. 9. The Olympic Peninsula Tourism Summit is sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission, a marketing partnership of the chambers of commerce and tourism marketing entities from Quilcene and Brinnon, Port Ludlow, Port Hadlock, Port Townsend, Sequim Dungeness Valley, Port Angeles, Forks, Neah Bay, Clallam Bay and Sekiu. The Tourism Coordinating Council of Jefferson County, the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau representing the unincorporated areas of Clallam County, and the Quinault Innkeepers complete the partner group. For more information about the event, or to become a vendor or sponsor, call Anna Manildi at Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau, 360-808-1664.
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
From computer code to skin-on-frame boats App engineer Matt Hickey turns his talents to super-lightweight designs By Scott Wilson of the Leader Matt Hickey is a software engineer with clients in distant places, for whom he develops apps and programs for cell phones and other technology. Whether or not they know that Hickey lives on a sailboat named Madrone in Port Townsend is not too important in terms of what he produces. But Hickey has always loved sailing, and has taken his affection for boats to a new level. He taught himself how to design an ultra-lightweight dinghy, built a number of them and started a one-man company called Hermit Cove Boats. He sells designs, not boats, and with a bent toward making them as simple and inexpensive as possible, and buildable using easily found materials. His kits provide computer-cut wooden frames, templates and clear instructions. “Hermit Cove skin-onframe boats are uniquely designed to make them incredibly easy to build,” he noted. “They don’t require any special construction guides, like jigs or molds. These are not craft boats meant to be pored over and lovingly varnished all season long. These are rough and ready boats that want to get out on the water.” NYLON SKIN A strong but simple wooden frame covered with a tight and strong nylon skin is the essence of a Hermit Cove boat. Almost any sunshine shows the ribs of Hickey’s various boat designs through the tough synthetic skin. As a sailor, Hickey sailed to the Marquesas, a group of French Polynesian islands in the South Pacific, and all over the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2012, he had the de-masted Madrone trucked to the Pacific Northwest, and in mid-2013 he moved to Port Townsend. He sailed through all of the San Juan Islands, circumnavigated Vancouver Island, Brit-
Matt Hickey has launched a new company, Hermit Cove Boats, to market his designs for superlightweight dinghies. He sells plans and kits to those willing to put a little time into constructing a boat that weighs as much as a backpack. One design also can be turned into a waterborne tent for two. Submitted photo
“While they look good, the real value of skin-onframe construction becomes clear when you pick it up.” Matt Hickey boat designer
ish Columbia, Canada, sailed with friends to Alaska, and did whatever was needed to get on the water and into remote places. When not sailing, he traveled by bike to equally remote places, putting in long miles. And he thought about boats. In 2014, he designed and built what he calls a “camping rowboat,” which he named the Loon. This became his prototype of a wooden-ribbed, synthetic-skinned, lightweight rowboat. A tent cover can be pulled over it to comfortably sleep two in almost any kind of weather. He developed the design on a computer, had a precision plywood frame cut and then attached the skin. In the end,
the 15-foot dinghy weighed 35 pounds, compared to the standard weight of even a lightweight manufactured dinghy, at about 60 pounds. SUPER LIGHT “While they look good, the real value of skin-on-frame construction becomes clear when you pick it up,” wrote Hickey. “No need to strain, ask for help or use a winch. Skin-on-frame boats often weigh less than a backpack.” Who are Hickey’s customers? Well, he doesn’t have a lot of them – he’s just getting started. But he knows the type. It will be someone who has some skill with his or her hands, although they don’t need much. They can follow a design and instructions, and be precise in their measurements, although the kits in-
clude precut plywood parts. They will love building their own lightweight boat. “We offer kits, paper plans and PDF plans,” noted Hickey. “The PDF plans include a detailed instruction manual, access to the support forum, and cutting plans in PDF formats. The paper plans are full-sized, so that you can cut the shapes out of the plywood using the plans as a template. The kit includes the required plywood parts CNC (computer)-cut from marine plywood.” Design names and sizes range from the Owl (8 feet 1 inch long, 4-foot-1-inch beam), a utility boat; Little Owl (6 feet 7 inches, 4-foot beam), wide and stable; and the Pacific Loon (13 feet 4 inches, 4-foot-8-inch beam), which can become a camping rowboat.
Boatyard pollution compliance workshop Oct. 10 at NWMC A free workshop on pollution prevention compliance while working in a boatyard takes place 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St. The workshop is designed for current and future contractors as well as do-it-your-
selfers to better understand boatyard best practices. The first half of the workshop begins at the Maritime Center. The second half is to be conducted outside at the Port of Port Townsend boatyard. For more information, contact Aaron Barnett, 206-616-8929.
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