But they both came before I’d actually done any sailing. So the boatbuilding idea came to you even before sailing? And so I grew up just outside Bristol, really.īut the idea of traveling by boat, and being able to work and build them, and being able to maintain your own boat-and specifically a wooden boat-it just seemed such a romantic and beautiful way of life, and that was cool. Although I was born in Bristol, there isn’t much sailing there these days, except for dinghies on the docks, and it’s a hugely important historical maritime port. I figured I’d like to do something like that. And I did a few things while I was traveling like basic construction jobs. I had a bit of carpentry experience just from growing up at home, and just hanging out with my dad. I knew I wanted to do something with wood, or with my hands. I don’t even really know where it came from, but I had this idea about building wooden boats. It was really probably the best thing I ever did, because it led me on to sort of follow my own path since then. Leo: So, I traveled through Asia, India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and spent a bit of time in Australia and New Zealand as well. I took a few sort of ferry rides, and just kind of really enjoyed that way of traveling, actually, and I got really sick of buses and hitchhiking, and airplanes. I put off a place at university to keep traveling, and I had sort of figured out that I didn’t want to do that. I was traveling for a couple of years, between the ages of 18 and 20, and it was while I was on that trip that I was kind of trying to figure out just what I wanted to do with my life, or what I wanted to do when I got home. I didn’t really have any experience until I was about 20, although I’d always been very adventurous, I guess, and sort of liked the idea of the sea and being on it. Leo: Well, it was kind of late, by some people’s standards. Here is Jackson’s interview with Goolden, edited for length and clarity:įirst of all, how did you start in boats, when and where, and how did that come to you? In that same issue, Jackson also wrote about Goolden and three other boatbuilders in their 20s and early 30s who have taken on significant boatbuilding challenges. 267 about the daunting task of replacing the 48′ LOA yacht’s timber keel. Goolden, a native of England who learned boatbuilding in yards in Bristol and Cornwall, wrote in WB No. In November 2018, WoodenBoat Senior Editor Tom Jackson visited Leo Goolden at the workshop in Sequim, Washington, where he is reconstructing the 1910 Albert Strange yacht TALLY HO. He works with friends and volunteers, and his videos have become an integral part of the process. Volunteering If you are interested in lending a hand, find out more about that HERE.ĭisclaimer Considering recent events regarding the County, no guarantees can be made about how contributions through PayPal will be spent.In Sequim, Washington, Leo Goolden is charging ahead with the restoration of TALLY HO, a 47′6″ Albert Strange yacht from 1910 that had been facing destruction in Brookings, Oregon. The wider an audience I can reach, the larger the chance that I can get funding and sponsorship, which will help me do a better job of rebuilding Tally Ho.īy purchasing or providing tools or materials from TALLY HO’S REBUILD “WISH LIST”.īy Donating Alternatively, you can donate directly to me via Paypal or Credit/Debit Card by using the secure button below. Please include your contact details if you donate, so I can send my thanks! Share It would really help if you could share and subscribe to my videos on Facebook and YouTube, and tell your friends and colleagues about the project. If you would like to support my journey, there are several ways you can do so.īecome a Patron I have now set up a Patron account, where people can sign up to become one of my Patrons and to donate a set amount to me, large or small, every time I release a video. Eventually I hope to sail her back to the UK. I bought her and moved her to the Olympic Peninsular earlier this year, and am now starting to rebuild her from the keel up. Designed by Albert Strange in 1909 (and launched in 1910), she is a well-known and important historic vessel – but after many adventures she was left in a remote port in Oregon to rot for decades, despite some valiant attempts to rescue her. I’m currently on a mission to rebuild a 109-year old English sailing yacht called Tally Ho.