About Us
Duckworks Boat Builders Supply has just about everything a boat builder needs.
Whether you're starting from scratch or simply need new hardware, line, or other gear for an existing boat—we can help. We have boat plans from over 50 designers (and counting), from the smallest dinghy to ocean-going vessels. We can also help you with epoxy, fiberglass, paint, marine hardware, rope, tools and loads of other gear.
We take pride in offering low prices and exceptional customer service.
This is an enthusiast-run company—we’re out there messing about in boats just like you! So we stock all the popular items that boat builders need most, plus we offer proprietary designs like the Portage Pram, exclusive top-quality products like our 2-piece carbon XPL Oars, and hard-to-find replacement parts like those for the West Wight Potter. If there’s an item you need that you can’t find, let us know and we’ll see if we can add it to the store. Or if you’re starting from scratch and want help making sure you’ve got everything you need for your boat build, contact us and see if we can put together a package deal for you on all the goodies you need.
Duckworks is an online store, but we’re all real (boat building) people.
We ship out orders to people all around the globe from our World Headquarters in Port Townsend, WA USA. We’re no Amazon, so we can’t offer free shipping (yet), but we make up for it with deep knowledge and crazy-fast shipping that gets your supplies in your hands as soon as possible – orders placed in the morning will often ship out the same day (assuming we have your items in stock). If you are local and plan to come by our warehouse to pick up an order, we request you place your order online and choose the "IN-STORE PICKUP" option from the shipping information dropdown. This way, we have your order ready for you to pick up when you arrive. We are open for customer order pick ups at 826 East Park Ave in Port Townsend Monday-Friday from 10am - 5pm.
Our History:
Duckworks Boat Builders Supply originated as a small family business in Texas, founded by Chuck Leinweber in the year 2000 as a companion business to Duckworks Magazine. Chuck is also the founder of the Texas 200 “moving messabout,” and Duckworks grew along with the popularity of the annual event. Ultimately, Duckworks grew a life of its own and the boat builders supply side of the business eclipsed that of the magazine.
Eventually Chuck and his wife Sandra began looking to retire from the now busy enterprise, and in 2016 Josh Colvin of Small Craft Advisor magazine acquired the business. Josh and crew moved every scrap of inventory cross country to relocate Duckworks to its current home in Port Townsend – a world-renowned boatbuilding community. Port Townsend is the seat of big annual events like the R2AK, Salish100 and Wooden Boat Festival, with the nearby Northwest Maritime Center and Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding doing good work teaching people to build and appreciate wooden boats.
Duckworks continued to grow and expand its offerings, but after also acquiring Glen-L Marine in 2020, Josh and his wife Anika realized running three companies didn’t leave them much time for raising a family with three kids! It was important to them to sell Duckworks to a company that would carry-on the tradition of knowledgeable customer service and a sincere interest in the small-boat world. At the beginning of 2022, Duckworks was acquired by Gig Harbor Boat Works as a sister company – since GHBW was already well-known to the Duckworks community as the builders of the fiberglass SCAMP, they were a perfect fit.
Today, we’re running Duckworks in the same tradition of family-run roots and customer-focus that has made it successful until now, while also enabling the business to continue to grow and flourish as more and more people around the world discover the joy of building your own boat.
Who’s Who at Duckworks:
Scott Jones is the Operations Manager for Duckworks, and resident guru of all things boatbuilding. Tammy handles the bookkeeping, and Beth does the bulk of the day-to-day shipping. Katie Malik (General Manager of Gig Harbor Boat Works) helps the Duckworks crew out with the high-level financial stuff as well as overseeing the website and marketing side of things. And though he’s now retired, Chuck is still around helping out remotely as a subcontractor from time to time!
P.S. If we have any job openings, they’ll show up right here: