SAM JOHNSON has been messing about in boats for most of his life.  While in college he learned how to repair traditional fishing boats in Monterey, California. Later, while teaching biology in Massachusetts, he took courses from John Gardner and Barry Thomas at Mystic Seaport. Back on the West Coast he has built a number of small craft including a Rogue River dory, a crabbing skiff, a sliding-seat rowing dory, a small English lapstrake pram, a 16′ Whitehall, and a Providence River boat.  For the 1992 Columbia River Bicentennial he set up a boat shop at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, and oversaw the construction of three 18th century ship’s boats, all now part of the Columbia River Maritime Museum’s collection. Most recently he has been restoring a number of small boats in Seattle, including a 22′ Peter Culler Chebacco and a 1932 bridge-deck cruiser. Bronze casting came as a result of needing traditional parts for his boat projects.  After taking a foundry course at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle, Sam has learned by doing.  Now more than 12 years later he does one-off castings for traditional boats around the world and teaches casting courses throughout the U.S. and Canada.  In addition to his boatbuilding and foundry work, Sam is also the Executive Director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon.