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At the heart of the Dolphin Club’s fleet of vessels, is our extensive fleet of traditional lapstrake-construction wooden rowboats. Currently the Club has more than 20 wooden boats of various hull forms in our two Jefferson Street boathouses. Some of these were built many decades ago – the John Wieland, our oldest boat, was built in 1887 – while our newest additions, the Commodore and Semper Fi, were built more recently, in 2016.
The core of the club’s wooden fleet are the nine singles and three doubles whose unique hull forms were developed at the Dolphin Club. These boats are the descendants of the working boats that ferried people and goods from larger ships, but with modified hull forms and the addition of sliding seats for greater rowing efficiency. These boats were developed specifically for Dolphin Club members to row the Bay and Delta water for recreation and as piloting vessels for swimmers. They are unique to the Dolphin Club, and because of this, technical drawings of our boats are housed in the Library of Congress.
More information on the boats in our wooden fleet can be found in the Wooden Boat Catalog.
You can contact woodenboats@dolphinclub.org for questions about the Dolphin Club’s wooden fleet.
Every Tuesday evening, beginning at 6 pm, club members and guests gather in the Dolphin Club’s boat shop to help maintain our fleet of wooden boats under the guidance of professional boatbuilders. In the club’s on-site boat shop, the boatbuilders keep our fleet in top notch condition with the help of many volunteers at Boat Night.
Volunteers work on the boats from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., following a shared meal from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. The evening is fun, social, and educational. No special skills are required, but come prepared to work and wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dusty.
Boat Night is hosted by Jon Bielinski and Julia Hechanova. For questions contact boatnight@dolphinclub.org
All Dolphin Club members may row our wooden boats after they have received training and certification at the club. Monthly volunteer member-run training sessions are open to all members; no past rowing experience is required.
Every year qualified members row our wooden boats on multi-day excursions throughout the Bay and into the Delta, including an annual row to Sacramento.
