20' Chase Drake Raceboat (2018) - CODOJUAL

It had long been a dream of mine to build my own expedition rowboat. After years in the collegiate and international rowing scene, I pivoted to take on the Race to Alaska with my brother. When building our own boat proved infeasible, we took our 17′ Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2 from Port Townsend up the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, AK.

R2AK led me to a job with Off Center Harbor, which in turn started an incredible education in wooden boats, boatbuilding, an great connections with leaders in the world of boats. At this same time, the concept for R2AK’s little sibling, Seventy48, was being discussed, and we hatched a crazy plan: build Clint Chase’s newest design in 3 months, make videos about it, and race from Tacoma to Port Townsend, Washington in less than 48 hours.

You can watch the videos below for the longer story, but the short version is that it worked out better than I could’ve hoped. I finished the boat 3 weeks before the race, got a few training rows in (including around Bainbridge Island, where I grew up), and headed to Tacoma. The boat rowed like a dream, with the sensitivity of a shell but the seaworthiness of an expedition boat, with enough waterline to eliminate hobby-horsing and glide through the water. The custom carbon outriggers I designed and built, along with extra-long carbon oars, created an immense amount of leverage for low-stroke-rate, long-distance speed.

The boat was named in honor of family for all their support, and as a nod to Betty Lowman Carey’s BIJABOJI, a dugout canoe she rowed from Washington to Alaska, immortalized in the eponymous book. If you haven’t read it, you’re in for a treat.

In 2018, the first Seventy48, I finished 11th overall (out of 101 finishers), 3rd solo, 1st wooden boat, in 14 hours and 39 minutes, far exceeding my own expectations. It was, by far, the single hardest thing I’ve ever done, including Race to Alaska and racing in the U23 Rowing World Championships.

I trained again for the 2019 Seventy48 (this time with the boat already built!) on Indian Arm in British Columbia. The race was even harder. In retrospect, I am grateful that the second effort got me out training on the water in one of the most beautiful waterways, in all seasons. But the race itself was underwhelming and lacked the big feeling of accomplishment – proving to myself I could it at all – that the first one gave me. That year I finished… 11th overall (out of 97 finishers), 5th solo, in 14 hours and 9 minutes. Dang!

That race burnt me out on rowing for a while, and a new liveaboard sailboat (JD Crow in the Show) demanded most of my boating energy. But CODOJUAL is still in good condition, and I’m starting to get the itch to row her around the San Juan Islands… at a very leisurely pace.