We love customers that are knowledgeable and have a good idea of what they are looking for in terms of a boat for their specific needs. Later we find out exactly how well we are able to match those needs and that we didn’t promise a performance characteristic that the boat did not or could not deliver. So it was indeed a pleasure to receive this letter (via e-mail) from Robert Dunshee and Marcia Mullens

I just re-read the criteria that we listed when we were shopping, months ago, for our 'ideal boat'. The Whitehall 17 satisfies them all. Here they are (not necessarily in order of importance): The boat must be pretty. It must row well. It should be heavy enough to provide inertia but light enough to be trailerable with our Subaru Forester. It should have sufficient freeboard to handle fairly open waters. It must be a sea kindly, displacement boat. It should be suitable for 'tripping': capable of being hauled up on a beach for camping. It must be fiberglass for ease of care. Possibly it will be sailable, but with a very simple sailing rig. It should be suitable for fishing in the Puget Sound or on large lakes.

Our boat satisfies all these criteria!

As you know, we have the sailing version which we chose because, although rowing is our main interest, we wanted the occasional opportunity to move under sail and we wanted the weight of the sailing version (with teak floorboards, etc.) for the inertia that it provides. The sailing rig (unstayed mast) is refreshingly simple. We think we made a good decision.

Some other things we like about the boat:
We find it 'sea kindly': in windy, wavy weather, it is a comfortable, safe feeling boat to be in. We have been in some reasonably rough weather (short steep waves of one to two feet) and have never taken any water. Short, steep, breaking boat wakes of three feet haven't touched us. Importantly, we have taken waves on a broad reach without the usual unpleasant and dangerous-feeling yawing. We could not say this for the Cosign Wherry, which we once owned.

The boat rows like a dream. My wife and I row tandem, but the boat rows equally well (not as fast, of course) solo.

The boat is stable. We can stand on ends of thwarts!

The boat is extremely sturdily and artfully made.

Photo By Bob Dunshee of his wife Marcia

The boat is easy to trailer - very important to us because we want to use it frequently and do; at least once or twice a week.

Deciding to renew our love/hate relationship with outboard motors, we bought a 4hp 2-stroke Johnson for those times when we think we might have to move against hard winds or currents. The motor is relatively quiet, particularly since very little throttle is needed to move the boat faster than we can row it. One-quarter throttle will do it.

Finally, we think that one gets what one pays for and, although the Whitehall 17 isn't inexpensive, it’s worth every penny.

Thanks so much also for your patient correspondence and knowledgeable advice.

Bob Dunshee and Marcia Mullins

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