Portland, Oregon

[Jim Bow]

I'm new to Portland and I don't know where to go.
I've visited Barbo Machinery, and the Rockler store in Beaverton.
I'm going to the Maritime Festival ( http://www.downtownportland.org ) next weekend, and hopefully will see lots of boats and meet lots of vendors.

But in the meanwhile, where does one go to buy tools besides Lowes, and where do you go to buy lumber?

Is there a woodenboat place to meet people and ask questions?

Any help from the locals will be deeply appreciated!

[pcford]

I'm new to Portland and I don't know where to go.
I've visited Barbo Machinery, and the Rockler store in Beaverton.
I'm going to the Maritime Festival ( http://www.downtownportland.org ) next weekend, and hopefully will see lots of boats and meet lots of vendors.

But in the meanwhile, where does one go to buy tools besides Lowes, and where do you go to buy lumber?

Is there a woodenboat place to meet people and ask questions?

Any help from the locals will be deeply appreciated!

Depending on the depth of your pockets...you might like:


Bridge City Tools....they have a website. Worth a look anyway. An associate uses them.
2545 SW Spring Garden St.
Suite #120
Portland, OR 97219
(503) 282-6997

[Captain Blight]

HOLY CATS!!

My g/f and I just made the decision that insead of Toronto, we should move to Portland... was going to start a thread requesting info but I see somebody already beat me to it!

Well, this is cool. Any info gratefully accepted.

[pcford]

HOLY CATS!!

My g/f and I just made the decision that insead of Toronto, we should move to Portland... was going to start a thread requesting info but I see somebody already beat me to it!

Well, this is cool. Any info gratefully accepted.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of information....but I think it is fair to say that in Seattle, Portland is regarded as a great place to live. Housing prices are much less..though jobs are not as plentiful.

[Captain Blight]

Meh. I work in the tugboat industry. I can work anywhere, and be paid fairly well (for a college dropout :))

[L.W. Baxter]

Crosscuts on NW Front Avenue is the best place for specialty lumber and marine plywood. Woodcrafters on NE 6th carries good woodworking tools, and expensive hardwoods. Oregon Leather on NW 2nd is where to go for leatherworking goods. General Threaded Products on SE 10th carries some bronze fasteners.

What else? Oh, there's a good Polish and Kielbasa sausage cart down in the NW industrial area. Around NW 20th?, I think. Get the works with the grilled onions and peppers.

Can't help with the nightlife, I'm out of date.

[L.W. Baxter]

Also, Danner boots has an outlet store on Airport Way if you need good footwear. And take Mcgloughlin south to Oregon City to find Fisherman's, for fishing gear and some boat hardware. There's a Coastal Farm & Ranch next to Fisherman's if you want to dress up like a cowboy or a lumberjack. The very best selection of fasteners and odd bits of hardware is at Suburban Ace off 185th in Aloha, take 26 west. Witchita Feed and Hardware on SE Johnson Creek Rd is also pretty good, too, if you're on the east side.

Speaking of the east side, when buying a used car from a Russian/Ukrainian/Romanian over there, ask to see the title right away. And if they won't show you the vehicle at a private residence, they are dealing, probably reconstructed vehicles.

Also, don't pick up any female hitchhikers on Sandy Blvd. Probably best to not pick up any men, either.

[Stephen Kessler]

Wink's Hardware and Parkrose Hardware are good old fashioned hardware stores. Gilmer Wood in addition to Crosscut has an awesome inventory. RiversWest Small Craft Association to rent space for small boat building. Then there is Powell Books for all your reading requirements, both entertainment and technical. Powell Seafood and Ho Ho's for good Chinese food. McMinamens, Bridgeport, Widmer's and a million other microbreweries for great quality beers.

[James McMullen]

I lived in Portland for 12 years. (I worked for Crosscut Hardwoods for 4 of them.) Lots of good places to go boating--especially small boats like kayaks or sail & oar boats. The Willamette and the Columbia are dreadfully infested with jetskis during the summer I'm afraid, but there are a zillion little lakes and streams and sloughs that they don't get to. If you are into whitewater, then there are dozens of rivers for paddling or rafting or driftboating--and the ocean is only an hour and a half a way for surfing. The local boatbuilding club is called Rivers West. http://www.riverswest.org/

P-message me and I'll shoot you some e-mail addresses from some of my boater and boatbuilding friends there who'd be happy to share some local knowledge with you about put-ins and launch ramps and such.

I still get down to Portland occasionally. . . .the Bridgeport brewpub, Grand Central Bakery, Alexis Greek Restaurant on Burnside and the incomparable Powell's City of Books are all must-stop's for me.

[Captain Blight]

Thanks, all, keep it comin'!

I've *almost* moved to Portland a half a dozen times. This might be the one that sticks.

[AstoriaDave]

Good info, so far. The original poster wanted to see some wooden boats, also. This organization regulary conducts and attends wooden boat gatherings in the Willamette River Valley, albeit more focused south of Portland than in/near Portland: http://coots.org/ Scroll down for a Calendar of Events. This is a good one coming up in August, down by Newport, OR: http://www.portoftoledo.org/home.cfm?dir_cat=81790

[David G]

Jim,

Welcome to Portland. I think the folks above have hit all the high points. I would reiterate two of the comments: First, RiversWest has an open house every third saturday (yesterday). Good time to find out about that organization & meet some of the good folks; Second, as a member of the Western Oregon Messabout Society (aka Ol' Coots), I would encourage you to check out that website mentioned, and our very active Yahoo Group - MessaboutW - for upcoming events. The Toledo event is in conjunction with the Port of Toledo Wooden Boat Show
http://www.portoftoledo.org/home.cfm?dir_cat=81790
and will include the Pangalactic, Interdimensional Puddle Duck Racer Championship Event (which I shall win... he said modestly).

I'm sorry to say you just missed a great, impromptu event yesterday. A dozen of us took our small boats - ranging from a Bolger Teal to a Core Sound 20 - out to Hagg Lake (about 40 miles west of town) for a sterling day of sailing.

Feel free to PM me for more info. I own a custom woodworking biz in town (Harbor Woodworks: boats & boaty bits, cabinetry, furniture) and you'd be welcome to come by & chew the fat.


"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix" -- Christina Baldwin

[Mark Neuhaus]

Actually, we (RiversWest Small Craft Center) have open house every first and third Saturday at our boatshop. We just started building a Cartopper and rebuilding a solid wood skiff from the Alaskan fishing fleet, so we are trying to be at the shop every Saturday for a while. The location is 1441 N Marine Drive, which is Pier 99, the building with the hyberbolic parabola roof just to the east of I-5 at Marine Drive. Usually there from 9 to 12 or 1 or 2.... Yesterday we even went for a ride out in the Columbia in our 24 ft motorized skiff.

We will be holding the Portland Wooden Boat Show September 13-14 at our shop.

Members get discounts at Crosscut Hardwoods, Tap Plastics, Woodcrafters, and the DeWalt/Delta store out on Airport Way.

Hope to see you there someday, even if just to eat our doughnuts. You take your chances with our coffee, though.

[Captain Blight]

You will see me there eventually! Although it's a shame about the coffee. The bike/coffee culture in Portland is so pervasive, there's really no reason to have nasty coffee unless it's a deliberate move...


Hey wouldja give me a break on shop space if I made up the difference with decent beans? How about if I threw the unrestricted use of my 1953 DeWalt GA radial arm saw into the equation?

[Lew Barrett]

You guys have forgotten to mention another Portland treasure, Powell's. I don't get down as frequently as I used to, but Portland is like Seattle, but without all the attitude. Saltwater boating is easier here though and the wooden boat scene is a bit bigger. I think the art and music scene is both more vital and more honest (don't ask me to define that last term) in Portland as well. As nice a city in many respects as there is, but the last time I was down traffic had turned the corner and become really dense. Hail Columbia!

[David G]

Mr. Barrett - Mr. McMullen mentioned Powell's Books in post #9. It's certainly worth repeating, however. I love prowling their large boating section.


"Education - that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge" -- Mark Twain

[Yeadon]

Get a bicycle ... Portland is a fantastic town to wander via bicycle.

Also go see a Trail Blazer game.

Milo's City Cafe on Broadway for breakfast. And I'm partial to drinking margaritas at Jakes, a block or two west of Powells. Not really a place where you'd expect to get a decent margarita ...

[pcford]

Get a bicycle ... Portland is a fantastic town to wander via bicycle.

Also go see a Trail Blazer game.

Milo's City Cafe on Broadway for breakfast. And I'm partial to drinking margaritas at Jakes, a block or two west of Powells. Not really a place where you'd expect to get a decent margarita ...

Not to mention Spanish coffees at Huber's.

[James McMullen]

Aaaaah, that's right! Spanish coffee at Huber's downtown is fantastic! Look for the sign in the foyer that shows where the high water mark was on that old building during that big flood in 1894. People were rowing their boats around downtown!

http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=000C54BA-31CA-1E8B-891B80B0527200A7

[willmarsh3]

The west coast of Oregon is just an hour's drive or so away. This made for a neat vacation in October 2006. One cool place I found is Depot Bay. They have the Depot Bay Wooden Boat Festival.

http://www.boat-links.com/DepoeBay/index.html

Also it's a good jumping off point for whale watching.

[Dave Gray]

Jim, welcome to Portland. I think all the high points have pretty much been hit already, unless you like soccer, in which case the Timbers are a fun event. Fireworks in my experience are best seen from the east bank of the Willamette. Crosscut Hardwoods is a good place to go. I used to know the owner of Barbo's, he and my old ex-boss were good friends.

If you like hiking the Timberline trail around Mt. Hood has great vistas, especially on the north side. If you want to impress your friends you can do the 15 mile hike up Yocum Ridge in one day - I forget the elevation gain but it is substantial.

Overall Portland is a great place. It has changed considerably in the 36 years I have been here. I expect my grandmother said the same and she was born here in 1898...

[David G]

The Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Festival & Crab Feed is an annual event for the Ol' Coots. If you show up there, you'll meet a lot of like-minded folks.

And if you like good beer, you've come to the right place. They call it Beervana for a reason. My new favorite brewpub/bistro is the Green Dragon. They make their own microbrews and pour a savvy selection of great potions from around the world. And, it's just a few blocks from my shop!

http://pdxgreendragon.com/home

But that's just one. There are brewpubs everywhere you turn - most of them quite good.


"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy" -- Ben Franklin

[Dave Gray]

Heh. Yah, you will never want to drink Budweiser, Miller, Coors, etc. again!:D They aren't beer they are p***water! And (sputter, sputter) some stores have the effrontery to import beer from places like Portland Maine!

[Paul Girouard]

You guys forgot to mention the Portland State Viking softball games at Erv Lind Stadium ,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April27200824.jpg

Granddaughters final (Senior) season,

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/April27200831.jpg

See ya at the game :D

[Lew Barrett]

That's a mighty fetching picture, Paul. I assume she's number 13, knocking it out of the park?

[Lew Barrett]

Oh, and sorry about missing the first reference to Powell's David, but as you said, it's a big one and worth frequent mention.

[Paul Girouard]

That's a mighty fetching picture, Paul. I assume she's number 13, knocking it out of the park?



Thanks Lew:)

Yup , but it was just a long out , deep left center about 10 feet short of the fence. Wind was blown in as it generally is at Erv Lind , you can get a little wind help to right field , but center and left , in the spring , the wind is always blown in! And it can blow pretty good :eek:

[Captain Blight]

I LOVE THE GREEN DRAGON!!!! I LOVE POWELL'S!!

Dot's off Holgate is another must-stop for me when I've been in town. And there's a sushi place just down the square from Powell's (or there was 10 years ago) where the food comes around on an old Lionel scale railroad set (too cool, and quite reasonable).

This is looking more and more like a reality. I gave my resume to the good folks at the Harley Marine Group today, hope to hear back from them soon.

[James McMullen]

Yes! Yes! Yes! Sushi Takahashi, where the plates of sushi come by on a little railroad flatcar--you pick off the plates you want as they go by and at the end the waitress counts your plates and gives you the bill. I loved it!

This is great, guys, reminiscing about Portland. I like where I live now better, but Portland will always have a special place in my heart.

Don't forget about the Portland Bridge Pedal event every year when they shut off lanes of traffic over every single one of the downtown bridges for a bicycle ride that winds back and forth over every bridge. A very, very fun event with thousands of cyclists attending.

[BC Bill]

It's a ways down I-5 in Eugene, but decent doug fir and alaska yellow cedar can be had from Easy Creek Lumber in Eugene - hours can be somewhat irregular, best to call Keith on his cell at 541-521-5107.

No relation other than being a satisfied customer.

[Captain Blight]

Excellent first post, Bill. Excellent. Keep up the good work!

[GoldDogs]

http://www.riverswest.org/

Anyone, Did the name change or is there another public boat building centert center in Portland? old age, does funny things to memory.

[GoldDogs]

1 In Portland...........

http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/Default.aspx?locate=state&state=OR

many things you won't find in stores, order online>>> http://woodcraft.com



specific to boat building>>> http://jamestowndistributors.com


good for composites, epoxies, fillers, related tools >>> http://www.aircraftspruce.com/

[Old Sailor]

Thanks to everyone, you've all made me terribly homesick. Lived in Beaverton for 8 years and I really miss it. And so many places I've missed.
Old Sailor