Crew 407 was formed in the summer of 2006 out of Troop 407,
latter reformed as Sea Scout Ship "Tuvaaq". Tuvaaq is the name of
our Boat (Umiak) and is IñupiaQ for hunter.
During
the winter of 2007 we began consulting with the Center for Wooden
Boats on
Lake
Union and hit upon the idea of building and crewing an Umiak, Alaskan Native Skin on Frame
style boat. With help from Corey Freeman at the Skin Boat School
in Anacortes we began construction in March.
Crew members have helped mill the Western Red and Alaskan Yellow
Cedar, scarf (join) the wood members together, form the wood into a
hull shape and lash the boat together with seining twine. Final hull
construction took place at the Center for Wooden Boats during the
Wooden Boat Festival in July
2007, there we fit and sewed on the ballistic nylon skin (flak
jacket material).

Our crew was given a very helpful boost through a grant from
the Muckleshoot Charitable Fund that
provided for the initial boat building cost.
The Umiak was launched during a ceremony
on 3 July 2007 at the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake
Union.

The first expedition was undertaken in Summer of 2007, the
crew camped on Hope
Island in the South Puget Sound and explored the Hamersley
Inlet, Totten Inlet and Skookum Inlet. Crew used four sweep oars
borrowed from the Center for Wooden
Boats.

Once the
hull was completed the Crew focused on designing and making oars and
paddles, as well as two sails with spars.
12 foot
sweep oars were hand planed from
fur planks at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle over
the 2007 Winter Holiday Break.

Spars were made from Sitka Spruce planks. Sails were designed by the
crew, our design was then sent to a sail maker (Sailrite) who cut out panels to make
a sail kit which was then sewn together by the Crew. Our sails are two traditional
style Sprit sails, a 55 sq ft fore and a 75
sq ft main, that are simple to use and provide a low center of
effort that ideally suites our craft. Sails and rigging were
completed in April 2008.
The Crew participated in the 2008 International Pacific
Challenge held at the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union, Seattle.

June 2008 the Tuvaaq and her crew of seven youths and two
adults participated in the Shipyard School
Raid, an eight day 120 mile traditional open
boat trek from Gabriola Island to
Desolation Sound along the
Straight of Georgia in
British
Columbia.

If
you are interested in joining or supporting our Crew please contact
Crew Advisor Brennan Phillips at Umiak407@gmail.com , our web site link is
www.crew407.com .