History
Posted February 16, 2001
Cama
Beach Boats
By Dennis Conroy and Marlys Jolley
Cama Beach History Committee
From the beginning, Cama Beach had the largest boat livery of the many auto
resorts on Camano Island. When L. R. Stradley opened the Cama Beach Resort
on May 19, 1934 he had 14- and 16-foot V-type wooden boats with outboard motors,
and 12- and 14-foot wood rowing skiffs for rent. Stradley made them at Cama
Beach in 1933. He probably employed a local shipwright who created simple,
yet functional lines, carvel-built, using cedar with iron fittings.
There were cabins to rent and fish were plentiful in Saratoga Passage, so Cama Beach soon became a popular resort for fishing and recreation. An inboard, named the Cama Queen, was bought from the Reinell Boat Works in Marysville in March, 1940. It is 15.5 feet long and 5.1 feet wide and probably had a Wisconsin engine.
After the war, managers Lee and Muriel Stradley Risk added the Cama King, which was built by the Morris Bros. Boat Co. in Bellingham in 1947. It is 15.75 feet long, with a 5.75' beam and a 3 ½ HP Atlas Marine inboard engine. It featured the graceful lines of the Bryant/Morris boatyard. People who remember renting it, however, say it was very slow but great for trolling.
Four Reinell-built 16 foot outboard "kicker" boats were purchased from Camp Lagoon in 1947. The details of the construction of these carvel-built boats, particularly the front deck and the transom corners, identify them from the V-type boats built on-site in 1933.
In 1951, the Reinell Boat Works in Marysville built Cama Princess I and II for the resort. About the same dimensions as Cama King, they had a 3 ½ HP American engine according to the registration. A wooden tunnel in the bottom of the boat, a Reinell innovation, protected the propeller shaft. Bottom skegs allowed the Princess to be landed on shore without damage.
By 1955 Cama Beach Resort had fourteen rowboats, 24 kicker boats, and four inboards for recreation and fishing. Several of these boats will be restored for use by The Center for Wooden Boats at Cama Beach State Park when it opens.
