Dieter Loibner

Dieter Loibner The skipper put his ship in neutral, then shut her down. There was just blissful silence. Lunch was served on the engine box cover: chile relleno burritos with Mexican Coke. For Tim Nolan, 78, “hobnobbing” from his 20-foot open double-ender Canvasback while puttering along the Port Townsend, Washington, waterfront is a cherished ritual. It’s like a modern-day variant of Nathanael Herreshoff’s daysailing regimen. Preparation time: zero.

Listen to the Story Here “The crucible needs to come down a bit,” Pete Langley instructed the handlers of the gantry. His crew was performing a quotidian, well-rehearsed routine—a slow dance by men in hard hats and silver firefighting suits—at Port Townsend Foundry in Washington state. Apprentice Josh Gosiak gently tilted the vessel and the 2,000-degree liquid silicon bronze that it held toward the sprue of a casting mold made of olivine sand.

To a novice, steam being introduced from the hot, wood-fired boiler to Dodo’s engine is an audiovisual treat. While Paul Hylton, the boat’s owner, turns valves and pulls levers in a choreographed sequence, the boiler room fills with creaks, moans, burbles and hisses as the US Navy Type K 1918 two-cylinder powerplant springs to life.