About FGNW - Club History
Northwest Group History - As seen by Doug Griffith
Just who is Fiberglassics Northwest?
Part 1
We know where we’ve come from, but do we know where we’re going?
I’ve been around you guys for long enough to see a lot of changes. I’ve seen the original “Skag-boyz” boat club founded by Tim Jones and Ida Rae McDonald back in 1995. These two people had the original vision of a group of Skagit and Bellboy enthusiasts supporting one another in the restoration and use of these two Northwest classic boat lines. They were pioneers who not only had a great idea, but were willing to put their time and money behind it. Because of this innovative idea I was able to gaze upon a beautiful red and white 1957 20 ft. Skagit Express for the very first time, in none other than the Kingdome during the 1996 Seattle Boat Show. I remember thinking… of all the boats I see, this is the one I’m going to get! From this moment on I became a Skagiteer. Within a year I too had a 1957 20 ft. Skagit Express. If it wasn’t for Tim and Ida Rae I’d probably be driving a Boston Whaler right now. The Skag-Boyz club did not survive beyond 1996, but perhaps it would still be around if we had done a better job of getting the word out.
A few years later I ran into another Skagiteer named Bill Roberts. Now this is a guy that personally has more energy then most large families! Bill also has an eye for beautiful old fiberglass boats. I remember Bill and I sitting in my dining room in the late ‘90s looking through memorabilia from Tim & Ida’s club, and we decided that maybe we could get the old club back together and make another run at realizing the Skagit club dream. Well at this particular time I had just started a new job, with two babies in the house, a 1-1/2 acre lawn, and an old Skagit that was completely stripped and needing to be restored. Undaunted, we started posting flyers at marinas, running adds in the Buy n Sell, and making a lot of phone calls. It was 70% Bill Roberts and 30% everybody else. He was pulling people and resources together like no one had ever seen. He was a “Skagit Building Machine!” We had roadhouse meetings up North in those early days, because no one besides Scotty had a running Skagit and this is where most of us lived. Then we had our first ever South Sound Club meeting in Tacoma at the Dock Street Landing and Café. It was the largest group we ever got together in one place (maybe 20 of us), and Bruce Bridwell was giving away these really cool Classic Skagit baseball hats to anyone who joined the club (I bought three memberships)! I remember somebody mentioning that there was a maritime museum across the parking lot, so after our meeting we all walked over there to check it out (it is now the site for the Tacoma Working Waterfront Museum). The following month we had our first ever “In the water meet” at American Lake in Tacoma. Some boats ran, and some boats didn’t but they all went out, and we all had a great time! We were now officially a boat club! It was Bill who called me with a great idea about hooking up with a guy named Kelly Woods, and his website called fiberglassics.com. We all talked about it and decided that this website (devoted to the restoration and use of old fiberglass boats) seemed able to do what we had only dreamed of, so we though we’d invest our resources in his organization. Well the growth we saw from the website (and particularly the message board) was phenomenal! After some collaboration with other Skagiteers we decided to call ourselves the Classic Skagit Boat Club. Next we decided it was time to share our spirit with the rest of the Puget Sound area, so we made a large banner and proudly displayed it during parades, boat shows, and meetings & rendezvous because we wanted to let everyone know that we were “for real” and we took our classic heritage seriously. Last summer we saw the realization of the dream that we all envisioned. Marty Loken hosted the 2nd Annual Lake Whatcom North Sound Classic Skagit Rendezvous. It was an outstanding event! We filled the lake with beautiful old fiberglass (and wood) boats, and very enthusiastic Skagiteers. We had members from at least 3 states in attendance. I remember talking with Tim Jones over coffee on Sunday morning. I asked him if we were finally achieving everything he had hoped for during those early club beginnings. He said “Doug this is way more than I ever envisioned. I never thought we’d see anything like this. This is great!” After such an outstanding event, and an unprecedented spirit of cooperation and friendship it seemed like the horizon was the limit for our boat club. Unfortunately there were a few spoilers, with self serving intentions who decided if the club did not embrace their way of thinking that we would have to cease being the Classic Skagit Boat Club altogether, or risk a law suit as they had now registered our club’s name (in all it’s many forms), and we did not have their permission to use it. Amazing! Just as the Classic Skagit Boat Club moved on from it’s humble beginnings as the Skag-Boyz , we have now moved on from the CSBC…
Hence Fiberglassics Northwest was born. But who is FGNW? Are we a group of Skagiteers that no longer have any meaningful identity because we have lost our ability to call ourselves what we really are, or are we really much more than that? I believe the answer is- we’ll have to wait and see…
Just who is Fiberglassics Northwest?
As far as I personally am concerned, I will always be a Skagiteer, because being a Skagiteer is not defined by owning a boat that happens to have been manufactured by Skagit Plastics, or by belonging to a club that has the name Classic Skagit in it. It is about an unquenchable spirit that resides in all Skagiteers…
Our club has always been made up of people that are much more than merely boating enthusiasts. I have been amazed at the generosity, and kindness I have seen in so many of my fellow Skagiteers. Our friends have taken their time and resources to drive (hundreds of miles sometimes) to our club sponsored events, for the privilege of hanging out with other Skagiteers. We’ve faced angry dogs, giant blackberry bushes, even gunfire for the possibility of retrieving long forgotten old fiberglass (soon to be) beauties. We’ve shared our knowledge & experiences, our talents, and our love of old boats with one another, whether we’ve known each other for many years or we just met today. We have something wonderful here, something that goes far beyond our boats. Something that I believe is worth saving, and nurturing. This is why I am not willing to let the club (yes that’s right- I called it a club) die. I think of the wonderful people I have met through our many events. Not only are they Skagiteers, but they are my friends. I truly look forward to getting together with you guys, and I hope that will continue for many years to come…
One of the best things about our club is the fact that we are willing and able to share the load. Tim was the first, then it was Bill, then there is Ginny, Bruce, Kelly, Marty, Dick, Scotty, Don, Jim, Paul, James, Steve, Dennis, Sonny… I could go on and on. The fact is that with our combined talents, our willingness to work together, and our desire to collectively build something wonderful that is far greater than anything we could create on our own, we have created a unique alliance of people. Whether we call ourselves Fiberglassics Northwest or Classic Skagit Boat Club, it really makes no difference. What matters is that we continue to build this legacy, not just for ourselves, but for our families, and for our communities.
Doug “Skagitman” Griffith