A Rich Boat Building Legacy

Boat building became one of the first industries on Gig Harbor's waterfront with the launch of the Vine in 1890 at the Gig Harbor Mill, and more than 140 wooden boats were built along the waterfront between 1912 and 1931 at three prominent boatyards: Skansie Ship Building Co. in Millvile, Robert Crawford Shipyard at the head of the bay, and Anderson and Sons Boatyard at this site. Conrad Anderson, a native of Norway who came to the harbor around 1910, worked as foreman at the Skansie shipyard before opening his own facility here in 1920, where his yard built 15 fishing boats from 36 ft. to 74 ft. long. After Anderson retired in 1937, his sons continued operating the site until selling it to Art Glein in 1946. Glein removed the old structures and built the house and boat facilities that remain today, then built and repaired many kinds of boats until 1950, when the harbor froze, boats could not reach the yard for repairs, and his business suffered badly. He sold the business to boat builders Ed Hoppen and Don Harder, who renamed it Eddon Boat Company, and Hoppen soon became sole owner, concentrating on pleasure and commercial craft including the Minto and Eddon Gig dinghies. In 1958, Hoppen built and launched Thunderbird Hull No. 1, designed by Seattle naval architect Ben Seaborn, an affordable sailboat created through a Douglas Fir Plywood Company design competition that required a boat suitable for both cruising and racing. Although Seaborn developed the initial concept, Hoppen's building skill and design knowledge were credited with truly creating the T-bird, whose agility and handling surprised both men in its first sea trials. During construction of hull #3, Hoppen produced a complete set of plans for do-it-yourself builders, and while he continued building T-birds at the yard, hundreds more were built at home. In 1969, the International Thunderbird Class Association was formed to promote T-bird racing and maintain consistent scale and measurements, and by the late 1960s thirty fleets had formed worldwide, with many still active today in the International Regatta.

Gig Harbor, Washington · United States