Visitors to Cama Beach State Park will be able to learn boat-building and borrow hand-made boats to take out into the salt water.
The Center for Wooden Boats plans to open a site at the park on June 21, the date of the park’s grand opening.
The center has been working with state parks officials to open the site at Cama Beach for 15 years, said Jake Beattie, the center’s deputy director.
“The development of the park took longer than anyone anticipated,” Beattie said. “It’s a complex park, and it’s a complex partnership.”
Cama Beach has a long history. Local American Indian tribes used the site as a seasonal campground, and some tribes say their people lived there long-term during certain eras. The site later became a fishermen’s village, then a summer resort, owned and operated by Lee and Muriel Risk throughout World War II and into the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, the couple’s daughters sold the property to Washington State Parks, with the caveat that it be preserved for future generations.
The Center of Wooden Boats has been waiting to open at Cama Beach since the state bought the land, Beattie said. Next month, the old boathouse and the old boatman’s cabin, refurbished but still boasting 1930s charm, will be the center’s Cama Beach site.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
@4. OT ByNumbers hedder:The Center for Wooden Boats at Cama Beach
Activities offered:
n A boatbuilder, the center’s Artist in Residence, will take on apprentices for one day or multiple days.
n Wooden boat rentals for excursions on the water.
n Toy boat building for children to learn to use hand tools on wood.
n Tugboat story time for children to hear stories about boats and the sea.
More info: 206-382-2628.
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