Fantastic wooden boat Museum that s free to the public. You can rent sailboats and row boats. Sundays there are free rides on Lake Union to the public. Free toy wooden sailboats for children. Beautiful photographs and historical information. A true gift to the public.
If you are looking for a place for casual sailing lessons, learning the basics of racing, or puttering around the lake dodging seaplanes, this is it. Cool educational center too.
This is truly a magical place with so much history. Take sailing lessons or build a kayak or just take a small sailboat out... this place has so much!
Great place for learning to sail, doing a free Sunday sail or just taking in the views of South Lake Union.
This is an icon of the City. Walk around on the docks and see what its all about.
I'm not a boatman but I am a craftsman, and it was really interesting to see how boats are made. Their new building is pretty awesome too.
Nice place for children to ser boats and on the weekends you can sail little model sail boats on the pond.
We loved this place. Beautiful old wooden boats you can take out or they also offer free skippered sails on Sundays. Their workshop is amazing and smells so good. They also offer courses, some for kids, I haven't done them but have been told good things by people who have attended.
Place is interesting. Can learn all about the tools used and methods for building wooden boats. If you have kids its probably 5 stars, the whole second floor is geared toward letting kids make tiny boats. They also do canoe rentals on South Lake Union (I think by the hour)
Not bad for a free attraction. The boats are not museum pieces but rather there to be rented and enjoyed. More signage and description of the boats would be helpful.
Awesome. Free boat rides at 10am Sundays. Got to see the seaplanes take off and land.
This place is amazing. I had so much fun. They rent boats in all shapes and sizes and are really friendly and nice.
The inside is mostly the gift shop and restrooms, but we had a great time in our rented row boat. It was 50 dollars for a 4-person boat for 75 minutes, a very reasonable rate. Kind and helpful staff. Great for families looking for peaceful fun downtown.
Very nice workshop. Helpful people. Real competition for Port Townsend.
Friendly staff, great place to rent a boat and things for kids to do.
One person can ruin your experience. We only had one day in Seattle which happened to be on a Sunday so we decided to go to the CWB. Yes, they give free boat rides. You need to line up early to book your time and type of ride. Everything was fine until we got to the greeter (I'll call him greeter) who tells you what is available and asks which you prefer. He was so sarcastic and such a jerk. Not even a funny sarcastic! He didn't seem to be like that with the people before us even though they took a while to decide what they wanted, so apparently we rubbed him the wrong way. I felt so belittled by the end of the exchange. I wish I would have said something to him or at least asked for his name I know it's free, that's not the point. He is also probably volunteering, so he doesn't need to be there if he doesn't enjoy it. The lady inside was super nice though. Sadly, we left feeling upset about the guy and later found something else to do on the lake so we just skipped the boat ride with CWB.
Worth the visit. For kds and adults, who loves boats and to discover them.
Wonderful place to learn about the boats of Lake Union.
Went on the Sailboat. If you go on Sunday it's Free. Was an amazing little Adventure.
We just checked out the gift shop, but I found a great waterproof guide to knots.
Yet another amazing Wooden Boat Festival this year. These folks are dedicated, knowledgeable, and obviously love their craft.
Such a precious hidden little gem in the harbor. The antique boats were so neat to see. The craftsmanship is a true art form. If we lived local my husband would be signing up for the build a boat class. We look forward to visiting again!
Hands on history of wooden boats, great for the family! There is story time on one of the old tug boats, and you can explore the boat afterwards and see the small engine room, cabins, and bridge!
We ended up here by accident and it happened to be during the Wooden Boat Festival. They had cool boats all over and you could vote for your favorite. They offer free public sailing here, but we were too late to get a trip. You can walk onto some really old boats and check them out. They have the oldest lightship in the US here. It is currently being restored so don't miss that one.
If you enjoy boats and sailing, come here! This is such a fun place. We came for the free Sunday boat ride. It was really cool! We got into a small boat and were each able to take the tiller and steer the boat. Definitely get there early to get in line to sign up for a boat and time. Awesome experience!
Rent a sailboat here or come for the free Sunday tours.
Really well kept up, plus a new museum! The old museum is nice too, and the boats are amazing. Ask any staff and they ll be very helpful and let you check out all their stuff. You can even learn sailing, rent canoes, and volunteer here. I have enjoyed volunteering to cast off and tie off the boats.
This is a very interesting place and a nice respite from the growing South Lake Union area.
There is a workshop where they are restoring and making wooden boats. It's quite a sight to see. You can walk around on a nice day and look at the boats and day dream about being off on the sea instead of in Seattle.
If you are around, I would recommend stopping by to look at it.
A great place to learn about wooden boats, learn how to sail and row, and learn about the history of Lake Union. Great family place!
This is not a museum per se, but a place where wooden boats are actually made. Classes for kids.
Great place to learn about wood boats from sailing, building and maintaining them. They always welcome volunteers and welcome anyone that wants a tour.
Has nice exhibition center that opened in November to display active wood boat building.
Most of the exhibit is outside, on the water which is nice. Everything was clean and you can see a lot from the dock. The inside of the center wasn't that exciting compared to outside. What a nice free place to go.
Loved getting to see inside of the different boats! I especially loved the house boat! :)
A beautiful facility with boats you can rent... I love this place! Full disclosure: I'm a member.
Nancy Engel, thank you for such a great time and experience! Nancy did an excellent job explaining the various terms and concepts of sailing. She was supportive, encouraging, and patient in the learning process and was ready to have a good time with you. Thank you so much! I am looking forward to more sailing at The Wooden Boat Center!
The center is fun to walk around, especially when people are working on boats. It's great to see the different techniques in action. Also, the space can be rented for really reasonable prices for parties. Definitely a good use for a 20-60 person event right on the water (literally, it's on a dock)
Awesome volunteers in this center and very knowledgeable. They are also expanding the center right now...
Interesting. They are currently building a new building to house the center and it will be very nice one it's done.
Great place to learn how to sail and rent sailboats
We just walked through, but the boats were beautiful. If you are in the area, just stop and take a look
Free admission, a good variety of wood boats. Just don't fall into water ;)
cwb.org
