Tatman Wooden Boats

Hello from the McKenzie River country! We have a few sawmills here, the world's largest filbert farm, and it has been known to rain here once in a while. Flannel, wool, and rain gear are the clothing of choice and if you're wearing a clean pair of jeans, you're dressed up! People from all over the world visit this area for the very reasons we love to live here. There is still enough big timber to keep us from totally ruling out the possibility of a Big Foot hiding out there somewhere; we have plenty of snowcapped mountains to roam in; and this valley is watered by some of the clearest, prettiest streams on the planet.

The boats we use around here were developed for floating the crystal waters of the McKenzie. This legendary river begins at 3,000', issuing from Clear Lake, where the ancient river was dammed by a lava flow a mere 3,000 years ago. Over the next 60 miles it grows and descends through the valley it has carved through the volcanic rock. Eventually reaching the Willamette River just north of the Eugene/Springfield area, the river changes character multiple times, begining as a series of waterfalls and ending as a low gradient stream as it enters the Willamette Valley. Its high gradient, rocky mid-section, too wide to fish from shore and too swift to wade, gave rise to the driftboat. If you live east of here and have the opportunity to drive over to visit the shop, the incredible scenery along the McKenzie highway will make you want to pull over and check out some of those deep emerald-green pools.

The McKenzie was important to the development of the driftboat because the deep runs and heavy rapids made boat fishing almost a necessity. The quest to build a boat that could be controlled in such turbulent water, while still providing a stable fishing platform, began about 1900. The McKenzie style driftboat went through several design improvements until local boat-building legend Woody Hindman arrived at the current design about 1949. There are several thousand of these boats in western Oregon and thousands more throughout the United States and Canada. We have even shipped boats as far away as Canada, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina.

A kit makes a boat less expensive, more fun,
easier to ship (excuse the pun), and easier to build!

These days, our business is mainly boat kits. We often have a used boat or two on hand and on occasion we have a new boat available, as well. We would be glad to talk to you about any of our boats. Send us an email us or just give us a call at (541) 746-5287. You are also welcome to fax us a note at : (541) 744-2190.

To order call (541)746-5287 or fax at (541) 7442190
or e-mail at mckenzie@gregboats.com