"I've taken mine down the Mississippi River twice. She's been hauled up and down beaches, taken rough hits to rocks — hell, some nit wit threw an M-80 in her once. She's taken it all in stride."Jordan Hanssen 17′ Jersey Skiff · Owner
Est. 1986 — Gig Harbor, Washington
Built to last
Built to last
generations.
Ten handcrafted boats — eight feet to seventeen — built by hand on the shores of Puget Sound.
A small craft manifesto
Some boats are built
Some boats are built
for a season.
Ours are built
for generations.
The Fleet — Ten Boats, One Workshop
Eight feet to seventeen, hand-laid in Gig Harbor since 1986. Hover any boat below to preview.Tap a thumbnail to preview.
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Our story
A four-decade legacy of handcrafted small craft.
Founded by Dave Robertson in 1986 with a single idea — that small boats should be lightweight, beautiful, and a real pleasure to use — Gig Harbor Boat Works is now run by a Washington family who carries the same standard. Every hull is laid up by hand. Every fitting is set by someone whose name we know.
We don't chase trends. We build boats we'd be proud to hand down to our own families.
Read our history →40+Years of building
100%Made in Washington
50States delivered
Our Philosophy
Boats built the right
Boats built the right
way.
Great boats come from clarity of purpose, not from trying to be everything to everyone. A few quiet principles, set down in 1986, still drawn through every hull we lay today.
Built one at a time, not on a line.
We build each boat individually, not on an assembly line — so we can focus on what matters: long-term durability, smart engineering, and materials chosen for performance, not convenience.
Designs the water has already tested.
The most efficient rowing boats were refined long before modern software — through generations of real-world use. Traditional hull shapes that glide, track, and perform with surprising ease.
Small craft, and only small craft.
We build only traditional rowing and sailing small boats. We don't chase trends or diversify for the sake of growth — we build boats that will be as good in twenty years as they are today.
In their own words
"If you are in the market for a small sailing craft or personalized tender for your boat, give these guys a call. The Gig Harbor Boat Works Crew are building some beauties."David Pannen Sailor & customer
"Beautiful boats and incredible craftsmanship. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Can't say enough good things about GH Boats."Nina Cattani Customer
The Newsroom
All Stories →
Where these boats end up.
Loreto to La Paz, Part One
Wild Places head south for warmer water and longer days, in a 17-foot Salish Voyager bound for the Sea of Cortez.
Carol and Sally on Saguaro Lake
The SCAMP wasn't designed for the Arizona desert. Carol and Sally made it one anyway. A small boat finds its captains everywhere.
Wild Places, back in Baja
A return crossing. New chapters. The same hull, the same crew, the same stretch of horizon that keeps drawing them back.
Begin your build
Your horizon
Your horizon
is closer than
you think.
Whether you have a clear picture or only the beginning of one, we are happy to talk it through. No sales pitch. Just a real conversation with the people who build every boat by hand.
