The Muskrat, an 88-foot scow, has been at the Shipwright’s Co-op for several months now. As all scows, it was built during World War II, designed to haul cargo to locations, such as the Aleutian Islands. These powerful wooden vessels are still valuable to fishermen today due to their shallow draft. They are able to pack a lot of fish and materials for how much water they draw. Skegs are on the bottoms allowing scows to sit securely at low tide. This fills a niche for fisheries in Alaska. All scows are the very same design yet few plans exist. Shipwright’s Co-op has repaired and maintained many scows and understands their unique strengths and weaknesses. During the recent boat repair work aboard Muskrat, the names of original shipwright’s were discovered scrawled inside the hull. One of the shipwrights climbed into the narrow crawl space to make a photograph.
Reflections on 2021
As 2021 comes to a close and we reflect on this year, we would like to thank everyone for all the support during another unusual year. This year marks our 40th-anniversary of repairing, constructing, and maintaining all types of boats. We’ve come quite a ways from building our original
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