Restoration of first SeaSport boat brings back fond memories for Bellingham family

It took a bit of research, but last fall Wright found a 12-foot Sportsman boat that his father, David Wright, and grandfather, Frank Wright, built in 1955. David Wright had just graduated from Bellingham High School and wanted to help his dad establish a boat-building company.

Only 10 of this particular model were built, but this was the boat that led to other models and the eventual establishment of SeaSport Boats, a company that would employ about 75 people locally at its peak before the Wright family sold the company in 2000 to the Lindhout family.

Being 56 years old, the 12-foot boat was showing its age when Dave Wright found it in Whatcom County. He started restoration work last fall, finishing earlier this week. After testing it out on Lake Whatcom with his dad and mom, Sharon, on Wednesday, May 25, Dave Wright said the boat will be at the Boulevard Park Car Show on Sunday, May 29. The plan is to eventually have it reside in the showroom at Clearwater Marine, where the public can look at it, he said.

The sight of the boat brought back a flood of memories from his dad, and Dave Wright learned quite a bit about the company's history.

"Every time he (David) would come out to see how I was doing with the boat, I would hear stories I had never heard before," Dave Wright said.

Some of the stories were about getting the business started; Frank Wright had moved his family into the area in the mid-1940s to do foundry work but found it hard to make a living in that industry. Frank became interested in building fiberglass boats that people could put on top of their cars.

Through the years the Wright family closely watched the industry trends and saw a demand for enclosed boats in Alaska during the early 1980s. That led to SeaSport boats, which became commonly used in these waters as well as Alaska's.

Unfortunately the company did not survive the financial meltdown that ravaged the boat-building industry in 2008. SeaSport became cash-strapped and couldn't get financing extended from its lender, Horizon Bank, a Bellingham-based bank that would be shut down by government regulators in January 2010 and then taken over by Washington Federal. SeaSport went out of business, and the mold designs are still owned by the bank.

"It was a very difficult time watching that happen to the company," said Dave Wright. He's currently a service manager for American Bow Thruster, a manufacturer of boat and yacht thrusters.

Restoration of first SeaSport boat brings back fond memories for ...

Bellingham has a long, storied history when it comes to boat-building, and Dave Wright has restored one small piece of that legacy.

It took a bit of research, but last fall Wright found a 12-foot Sportsman boat that his father, David Wright, and grandfather, Frank Wright, built in 1955. David Wright had just graduated from Bellingham High School and wanted to help his dad establish a boat-building company.

Only 10 of this particular model were built, but this was the boat that led to other models and the eventual establishment of SeaSport Boats, a company that would employ about 75 people locally at its peak before the Wright family sold the company in 2000 to the Lindhout family.

Being 56 years old, the 12-foot boat was showing its age when Dave Wright found it in Whatcom County. He started restoration work last fall, finishing earlier this week. After testing it out on Lake Whatcom with his dad and mom, Sharon, on Wednesday, May 25, Dave Wright said the boat will be at the Boulevard Park Car Show on Sunday, May 29. The plan is to eventually have it reside in the showroom at Clearwater Marine, where the public can look at it, he said.

The sight of the boat brought back a flood of memories from his dad, and Dave Wright learned quite a bit about the company's history.

"Every time he (David) would come out to see how I was doing with the boat, I would hear stories I had never heard before," Dave Wright said.

Some of the stories were about getting the business started; Frank Wright had moved his family into the area in the mid-1940s to do foundry work but found it hard to make a living in that industry. Frank became interested in building fiberglass boats that people could put on top of their cars.

Through the years the Wright family closely watched the industry trends and saw a demand for enclosed boats in Alaska during the early 1980s. That led to SeaSport boats, which became commonly used in these waters as well as Alaska's.

Unfortunately the company did not survive the financial meltdown that ravaged the boat-building industry in 2008. SeaSport became cash-strapped and couldn't get financing extended from its lender, Horizon Bank, a Bellingham-based bank that would be shut down by government regulators in January 2010 and then taken over by Washington Federal. SeaSport went out of business, and the mold designs are still owned by the bank.

"It was a very difficult time watching that happen to the company," said Dave Wright. He's currently a service manager for American Bow Thruster, a manufacturer of boat and yacht thrusters.

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