Vessel Launch Signals New Era for Giddings Boat Works

Giddings Boat Works has launched the 67 – foot F/V Patriot at the Charleston Shipyard, celebrating the first complete steel – hulled vessel constructed at the rejuvenated boat yard since 1999.

Under construction for more than a year, the 200 – ton fishing boat will homeport in Newport, Ore. Once fully outfitted with gear, this combination vessel will be fully capable of shrimping, crabbing and tendering in all ocean conditions from Oregon to Alaska, said designer Tullio Celano of Oregon – based Crescere Marine Engineering Inc. “They’ll be able to fill holds and have enough reserve stability and buoyancy to handle any condition that can happen,” he said.

The Patriot is powered by a single Cummins QSK19 marine diesel, 610 – horsepower engine, which is becoming more common in the bigger boats. It sports a 70 – inch propeller and is scheduled to go to sea for the upcoming crabbing season. Celano said that the boat building industry’s construction methods have become very refined in recent years, utilizing methods adapted from the ship – building world. All framing, hull plating, and other components are computer designed and precision cut, and then shipped to the boatyard for assembly. Even with better technology, Celano said, boat building remains a relationship between designer, builder and owner. Celano and Pettis sealed their deal with a handshake and the boat’s design and construction were an interrelated process. As Giddings laid the keel, the team continued to send drawings back and forth with comments and design changes.

“At the end of the day , it’s another fishing boat,” Celano said. “What’s unique is Giddings has not produced a new vessel in 14 years.”

The construction of the Patriot and another new vessel, the 72 – foot F/V Miss Emily for Brookings fisherman, Todd Whaley, signals Giddings Boat Works is making progress toward its mission to reinvent the company as a large boat builder. “We’re job builders. We’re creating employment,” said Mike Lee, Giddings general manager. “That’s one of the things we’re most proud of.”

Giddings is well known for construction and refit of several boats that have been featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” program, including the F/V Time Bandit in 1991. But like most small boatyards, the business gradually found steady work in boat repair and refits, until Pettis’ order for the Patriot.

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Giddings Boat Works, October 4, 2013