Both of our Woodwind boat’s hulls are planked with Port Orford Cedar. John Scarano, our designer/builder, loves working with this unusual wood because its grain is tight and straight, it is light in weight, it is rot resistant and insects don’t like its aromatic oils. Over the years a fungus has been affecting the roots of these majestic evergreens and they are dying off before scientists can figure out a cure. They only grow in a small area of the world in near coastal northern California and southern Oregon. Port Orford, OR is where they were first identified by a botanist named Lawson visiting from England.

This wood has created a high demand because of its scarcity and because the orient values it so highly for religious uses and its great inherent qualities above. Our boat builder had to actually buy the wood from the Japanese who purchased the wood from the same wood broker. It is quite expensive for a conifer.

Port Orford twig

We both decided that once we knew we would be visiting Oregon, we would have to find Port Orford trees. So, a coastal trip up the coast was planned. Once we arrived, careful research didn’t help much to find where we might see these trees. Ken just wanted to hug one! Folks didn’t really seem to know where they are.

We went to Humbug State Park and a ranger there named Paul showed us a small tree there. He cut off a sprig, which we used as our guide to find more trees, hopefully large ones within a grove or stand, which would be large enough to make boards from. After spending parts of two days searching , we found some small trees lining a roadside.

Front trees are all Port Orford Cedars

Small Port Orford tree and Ken

We put together this as a quick post to be timely. But, wait until you see a later post as to how “gosh darn beautiful” this seaside place is! Here’s a teaser: