Beyond the Boat

Leroy Lewis
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Personal Journals

Beyond the Boat shares the stories of the people and communities who keep wooden boats alive — through ownership, seamanship, craftsmanship, education, operations, and stewardship — and how those paths invite others into a living tradition. These are not just stories about boats. They are stories about responsibility: the choice to care for something that must be worked, maintained, taught, and passed along. Each episode explores how wooden boats continue to matter because people choose to carry them forward — and, in doing so, make room for others to step in. Hosted by Leroy Lewis, the podcast centers on lived experience. Some guests are owners. Others are captains, shipwrights, educators, yard workers, volunteers, or operators. What they share is not a title, but a relationship — one that connects craft, seamanship, memory, and community. Together, these voices reveal a world where meaning lives not just in the boat, but beyond it — offering listeners a way to imagine where they might belong. Support & Independence Beyond the Boat is listener-supported, following a public-media model. Support is voluntary, quiet, and never required to listen. Listeners may choose to support the show as: Supporters — contributing occasionallyMembers — offering ongoing monthly supportStewards — individuals or institutions providing deeper, sustaining support aligned with the mission There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no calls to action inside episodes.  Note: "Stewards" are "Members" who will be periodically acknowledged for their support. Acknowledgments, when offered, appear only outside the storytelling. Support helps cover production costs and ensures these stories remain independent and freely available.

  1. EP# 14 - Slowing Down Aboard the David B

    May 22

    EP# 14 - Slowing Down Aboard the David B

    In this episode of Beyond the Boat, Leroy talks with Christine and Jeffrey Smith of the David B, a nearly century-old wooden vessel carrying guests through Southeast Alaska. Their story begins with a boat they believe may have chosen them: a weathered vessel with an original Washington Iron Works engine, hidden craftsmanship, and enough promise to inspire years of restoration. Today, the David B is more than a charter boat. She is a home, a workplace, a companion, and the center of a community that includes crew, returning guests, mechanics, shipwrights, and people whose lives have been changed by time aboard. Christine and Jeffrey share what passengers often do not see: the winter maintenance, the constant responsibility, the long season, the food planning, the weather decisions, and the quiet pressure of caring for both people and vessel. They also describe what the boat gives back: adventure, companionship, connection, and the rare chance to slow down in a wild landscape. This conversation explores wooden boat stewardship, old engines, wood-fired cooking, Alaska’s living landscape, and the way a boat can become part of the family. Learn more at: https://northwestnavigation.com/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    1h 8m
  2. EP# 13 - Becoming One of the Hands

    Apr 5

    EP# 13 - Becoming One of the Hands

    There’s a moment when a boat stops being just an object—and starts becoming something more.  In this conversation, Tucker Piontek, lead instructor at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, reflects on how that shift happens. His path into the world of boats wasn’t direct. It moved through design, fabrication, and composites before a project on the schooner Adventuress changed how he saw the work—and his place in it. What begins as a story about learning a trade becomes something deeper. Tucker shares what it feels like to take apart and rebuild a historic vessel… to recognize the hands that came before you… and to realize that you are now one of them. He talks about the pride and weight of that work, and how it eventually led him to teaching—where the goal is not just to build boats, but to shape how people think.  At its core, this episode explores what wooden boats give back. Not just skills or craftsmanship, but presence, perspective, and a connection to something that carries forward through time—through hands, through care, and through shared experience. Tucker Piontek is the lead instructor at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock, Washington. With a background in industrial design, fabrication, and composites, he brings a broad perspective to the craft—one that blends traditional skills with modern realities, and emphasizes problem-solving, curiosity, and the human side of making. Find out more about the NW School of Wooden Boat Building: https://nwswb.edu/about-us/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    44 min
  3. EP# 12 - The Fifth Member of the Family

    Mar 21

    EP# 12 - The Fifth Member of the Family

    In this episode of Beyond the Boat, Leroy Lewis talks with writer Lisa Nickel, who grew up aboard a 42-foot wooden tugboat in Tacoma, Washington. What began as a family boat soon became something much deeper — a place of work, adventure, pride, and belonging.  Lisa shares what it was like to grow up as part of a working tugboat family: learning lines and dock duties, helping with meals during overnight tows, hauling out each summer for paint and repairs, and joining the close-knit community of wooden tugboat owners at Olympia Harbor Days. Along the way, she reflects on how the tug Teal became, in her words, a “fifth member” of the family. The conversation also explores Lisa’s later path from teacher to writer, and how her book Tugboat Sandman became a way to preserve a disappearing part of Puget Sound history. Together, Leroy and Lisa talk about stewardship, memory, work, pride, and why some boats continue to live on long after they leave the water. This is a warm and thoughtful conversation about wooden boats, family life, and the stories that keep maritime heritage alive. Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    35 min
  4. EP# 11 - Not Just Preserving Boats — Preserving Pathways: Aaron LaPointe and Historic Maritime

    Mar 1

    EP# 11 - Not Just Preserving Boats — Preserving Pathways: Aaron LaPointe and Historic Maritime

    Aaron LaPointe grew up around the water—but it was wooden workboats that pulled him in for good. Now he’s the Executive Director of the Historic Maritime Foundation, stewarding a growing fleet of historic vessels and building a hands-on pathway for young people and career-changers to enter the maritime trades. In this conversation, Aaron and host Leroy Lewis talk about the quiet honor of workboat careers, why the “historic” side of tugboating is disappearing even as modern tugging booms, and what it takes—money, community, and stubborn love—to keep big timber boats alive. They dig into Aaron’s personal roots of responsibility, the legacy of his grandfather’s tugboat career, and the foundation’s “history in motion” model: getting these boats off the dock, into people’s hands, and back into the world where they belong. This is an episode about stewardship as privilege, preservation as community work, and the kind of joyful responsibility that makes people show up—again and again—for boats that can’t survive without them. https://www.historicmaritimefoundation.org/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    41 min
  5. EP# 10 - A Poem That Sails: Captains, Crews, and the Work Beyond the Boat

    Feb 23

    EP# 10 - A Poem That Sails: Captains, Crews, and the Work Beyond the Boat

    In this episode of Beyond the Boat, Leroy Lewis talks with Jamie Trost—Senior Captain, manager, and co-owner of the Traverse Tall Ship Company—about what it really means to operate traditional sailing ships in the modern world. Jamie has served on an extraordinary range of vessels—including the Lady Washington—and he describes the unseen reality behind a “simple” day sail: hiring and training crews, balancing maintenance triage with public programs, reading weather like a second language, and delivering an experience that’s exciting without ever compromising safety. Along the way, we explore why tall ships still matter: for most of human history, five to seven knots was the fastest way a person could travel for days on end—and the teamwork required to do that hasn’t changed. These ships don’t just preserve history. They create it—every time a crew learns to work together, and every time a passenger steps aboard and feels what it means to rely on other people. www.tallshipsailing.com, https://www.facebook.com/TraverseTallShipCompany, https://www.instagram.com/schoonermanitou/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    57 min
  6. EP# - 9, More Than a Charter: Stewardship, Alaska, and the Long Way Around

    Feb 12

    EP# - 9, More Than a Charter: Stewardship, Alaska, and the Long Way Around

    In 1931, an elegant 87-foot motor yacht was designed by Callis and built in San Pedro, California as Holiday for William Morris Jr. of the William Morris Talent Agency. She cruised the West Coast from Mexico to Alaska and hosted dockside gatherings filled with actors, musicians, and cultural figures of the era—her teak decks and mahogany salon reflecting a time when craftsmanship meant pride in artistry. Over the decades, that same yacht lived many lives. Purchased by a Seattle family, commandeered during World War II as U.S. Navy picket ship Q-136, later serving the federal prison system, and eventually donated to the Bellingham Sea Scouts—where she was renamed Discovery. Today, Discovery is owned and operated by Ben Swanson, who grew up aboard wooden boats and followed Alaska north long before it became a destination brand. In this episode, Ben shares how a childhood on the water shaped his instincts, how independence came through conflict and hard-earned authority, and why he chose stewardship over scale. We talk about the unseen labor required to run a wooden vessel, the judgment calls made in remote waters, and how small-group voyages turn guests into lifelong friends. This is a conversation about responsibility, patience, legacy—and what it means to carry not just people, but history, forward. https://alaskacharters.com/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    55 min
  7. EP# 8 - A 1917 Wooden Ferry in a Modern Transit System

    Jan 14

    EP# 8 - A 1917 Wooden Ferry in a Modern Transit System

    In this episode of Beyond the Boat, Leroy talks with John W. Clauson, Executive Director of Kitsap Transit, about an unlikely centerpiece in a modern public transit fleet: M/V Carlisle II, a 1917 wooden ferry still serving the Port Orchard–Bremerton run. John shares how Kitsap Transit first partnered with a private ferry operator across Sinclair Inlet, why Carlisle II became the one vessel worth keeping when the system acquired the operation, and what it means to steward a wooden boat that’s still working for the public. Along the way, we explore what it takes to keep a century-old wooden ferry in service—from Coast Guard inspections and plank replacement to Port Townsend yard traditions to the powerful role of community attachment in keeping history alive. www.kitsaptransit.com/static/483/our-ferry-fleet http://www.kitsaptransit.org/ Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    35 min
  8. EP #7 - Old Court, Quiet River: A Shipwright on Ireland’s South Coast

    Jan 2

    EP #7 - Old Court, Quiet River: A Shipwright on Ireland’s South Coast

    Brian Harte lives on Ireland’s south coast, in the fishing village of Glandore just northeast of Skibbereen, where boatbuilding has followed the river inland for generations. A shipwright since 1998, Brian talks about learning from master craftspeople, now mostly retired, the slow satisfaction of timber work, and what it feels like to bring a weathered wood back to life—hand-planed, sanded, and varnished to a mirror finish. He reflects on the shrinking number of traditional wooden-boat builders in Ireland, the pride of “keeping up” with the people who built the boats before him, and why he’s committed to passing those skills on.   Beyond the Boat is an independent, listener-supported project. Listener support helps preserve and share the stories of wooden boats, their caretakers, and the communities that surround them. Support sustains the listening, but it never steers the stories. If you’d like to help keep the show afloat, you can contribute as a supporter or become a monthly member at: www.buymeacoffee.com/beyondtheboat There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no obligation to contribute. The stories will always remain free to listen to. Special thanks to Todd Powell for ongoing monthly support, and to Peter McGraw, Charlie Syburg, and Jim & Margie Paynton for their generous contributions to the project. Have feedback or know someone who should be on the show?  Email me at: BTBoatPodcast@gmail.com

    28 min
See All (14)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Beyond the Boat shares the stories of the people and communities who keep wooden boats alive — through ownership, seamanship, craftsmanship, education, operations, and stewardship — and how those paths invite others into a living tradition. These are not just stories about boats. They are stories about responsibility: the choice to care for something that must be worked, maintained, taught, and passed along. Each episode explores how wooden boats continue to matter because people choose to carry them forward — and, in doing so, make room for others to step in. Hosted by Leroy Lewis, the podcast centers on lived experience. Some guests are owners. Others are captains, shipwrights, educators, yard workers, volunteers, or operators. What they share is not a title, but a relationship — one that connects craft, seamanship, memory, and community. Together, these voices reveal a world where meaning lives not just in the boat, but beyond it — offering listeners a way to imagine where they might belong. Support & Independence Beyond the Boat is listener-supported, following a public-media model. Support is voluntary, quiet, and never required to listen. Listeners may choose to support the show as: Supporters — contributing occasionallyMembers — offering ongoing monthly supportStewards — individuals or institutions providing deeper, sustaining support aligned with the mission There are no paywalls, no exclusive content, and no calls to action inside episodes.  Note: "Stewards" are "Members" who will be periodically acknowledged for their support. Acknowledgments, when offered, appear only outside the storytelling. Support helps cover production costs and ensures these stories remain independent and freely available.

Information

  • Creator
    Leroy Lewis
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Beyond the Boat
  • Show Website
    Beyond the Boat