2015 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival - Part 2

I had to divide this post into two parts to get all the pics in. I prefer to post full size pics but when I want to include so many I use the Picframe App to consolidate pics and avoid tossing out so many pics that I do not want to trash. So the first part of this post is the last part of Day 1 at the Festival.

Lots of Boat builders bring their prized builds here to sell and this one really caught my eye since it has similiar lines to the 20' Blanchards we sail on Lake Union. 

This is a 2013 version of a Herreshoff Design

Has to be fun to sail!

Libra

Home Built in 2014

Check in here to find the on sight woodworking schedule.

Plenty to see

Wonder if this guy will enter next years R2AK?

See https://youtu.be/_l_lWsNsL3U

see: https://youtu.be/Qb0Jh_ruJAE

Just enjoying another fine IPA talking with two fine sailing couples about all things wooden boats and enjoying the incredible scene of lots of Vessels sailing in the Straight of Juan De Fuca and Admiralty Inlet

Wait, I have seen this one before on Lake Union

Certainly did! And I could not believe it is built of wood!

Day 2 Starts here, you will notice that the skies are Gray and it is a bit windy but fortunately no rain.

Found her the next day at the dock.

Amazing flush mount for the roller furling drum. 

Those boys are just admiring the Tiller Handle! Amazing how different the lines look when there are no life lines.

Martha, a Port Townsend Schooner.

She placed in the recent Transpac race to Hawaii

Looking Over Port Townsend Boat Haven Marina, this is where we brought Wand'rin Star to have her decommissioned for the ride back to Texas via truck. It has an incredible boat yard that is a treat to just walk through and see all the work and unique boats up on the hard. The have absolutely everything you could ever need to fix any kind of vessel in stock in the yard and the craftsman, mechanics, riggers, to do any type of job.Sorry we did not have time on this trip to do a walk through.

We had to park up on this hill just to find a space and walk down several blocks, A bit of the local architecture.

And some boat Art. Better than what they did back in the day with old boats, they would just take them out and sink them.

This inlaid wooden kyak was a three year project for the builder.

ak was a

Look at all those screws!

Music happening throughout the marina

A little boat building competition going on

Later we talked to a woman who was so Proud that her son was on the winning team. I wondered if this might have been them since she mentioned they were the ones Not using any power tools. 

I attended only 1 seminar. The topic was fiberglassing over wood. John said he could not understand why they kept inviting him back to a wooden boat show but this was his tenth year. I think I have enough now to get me started on building a Kit boat. I have always wanted to build a small wooden dingy sail boat. Also I learned that you should never glass over old wood. So when you see those Wooden vessels who later in their lives had their hulls glassed over to get a few more miles out of them are just a disaster in waiting. 

John builds boats for these guys and you can see his videos on fiberglassing on their website

ing

Point Hudson

The Admiral was taking in some local theater while I was learning how to fiberglass wood.

A violin, snare drum and a squeeze box accompanied the actors.

See https://youtu.be/ukhgZUzeE7E

On the way out of Port Townsend I noticed this lot with 6 Morris Minors for sale?

2015 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival - Part 2

Sunday was a gray day but luckily no rain. That's OK I had more than my share of sun for the weekend already. I have already decided that I will return again but I will make all three days and plan out a schedule for attending more of the workshops and seminars. I missed a couple that would have been pretty informative but our schedule was what it was. Yes, this is not your average "Boat Show". We had already been to the Mother of all Boat Shows in Miami. This is a Pacific Northwest Cultural Event featuring the entire world of wooden boats, the sailors, and the builders of the Northwest. Heckfire, who knows, if the sailing Gods line up in my favor we will sail our own vessel here.

The 39th Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2015

The new Water Taxis from downtown Seattle to West Seattle. Need to take a ride and get a Taco in West Seattle. 

The Cruise ship season is almost over, all three are here which could be loading the last passengers for the year to Alaska. Two on the far left and the closer one on the right. 

Wow, they had a wedding on the Ferry to Bainbridge Island. 

Its fun spontaneously sitting in on a wedding.

Port Townsend is on the Northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula  at the intersection of the Straight of Juan De Fuca and Admiralty Inlet We stayed at a Inn just to the left of that 101 marker and Sequim Bay.

The Admiral dropped me off at the Wooden Boat festival and then drove over to our hotel in Sequim near Sequim Bay.

After walking through the line to buy tickets you walk out into a group of small wooden day sailors for sale.

Each one custom hand built and full of craftsmanship.

Mount Baker across the Straight to the Northeast

There were lots of tall ships and schooners out sailing when we got there around 2pm. Later I found out it was a Schooner Race!

Full Sun Day, not a cloud in the sky.

Lots of visitors arrived by their own vessel, there were three huge anchorages full of boats.

Entrance to Port Hudson Marina 

Walking on over to to Port Hudson Marina I spot a familiar vessel there, it looks like one I see often on Lake Union

I was right, The Classic Motor Yacht Olympus
http://www.yachtolympus.com/yacht-olympus-history.html

Dining Room 

The Galley

The Saloon

The Sun Deck

A sailor friend of mine in Corpus, Tom Arnold, told my about Kettenburgs. This is the first I have ever seen one. She must have been one incredible sailboat in 1964! The current owners are selling her and it appears they have kept her in Bristol condition.

Just asking $84,000!

"Thane" built on a Spray Hull like Joshua Slocum's. There were at least three Spray's at this Festival.

I talked with the owner of this vessel and he is just back from a 5 year voyage around the Pacific. This is a heavy built Scandinavian design and built boat.

Every direction you look there is a different solution.

Allegra

Plenty of space for 20,000 people to wonder around.

Check out that Hydrolic drive unit on the rudder. A lot of these old vessels have been upgraded with modern electronics, engines (many were built without engines) and even roller furling.

The First Race to Alaska R2AK was wildly popular up here and contestants are already signing up for next years event.
http://r2ak.com/

All of these vessels participated in this years event, The top one is a modified production hull to accept long rowing paddles. The Cat on the bottom left is a modified production model and the one on the bottom right was built just for the race. 

Sailing fun ocmes in all sizes and colors.

classic hardware for classic boats.

All this bronze hardware made in Port Townsend.

They were moored three deep so it was not easy to see them all.

An example of a tug work boat converted to a pleasure cruiser.

The Crew in the pilot house explained that the diesel engine only turned 135 RPM but it has a 5' diameter 6 bladed prop.
It appeared to have Hydraulic Steering but it was Pneumatic Driven and so it had a huge air compressor on board.

The Chain locker is in the bow which is open to the stateroom in the bottom left pic. The upper right is just below the wheel house and the engine room I did not go down because I did not want to get oily.

The small pirate ship on the upper left had a pirate who recruited kids walking by and gave them all swords and taught them all Pirate language. I think if the parents were not there they would all soon be drinking rum.

The almost real thing, named after Joshua Himself, this Spray Owner told me that this is the one Spray that is an exact replica of the original Joshua Slocum's Spray (except for the onboard diesal engine)

He said he spends 4 months sailing to all the Summer boat festivals up and down the West Coast and then hangs out around Olympia for the Winter.

I made a mistake. I should have asked the guy in the upper left to crank up his 1 cylinder diesel engine (upper right), if you have ever heard one run they sound really cool Phooh---Phooh---Pooh---Poooh. I I ever buy a trawler I want a fiberglass version of the one in the lower left.

Pirate, the Flagship of the Center for wooden Boats made it. I asked them about there sail up from Seattle. They said they made it in seven hours! It is only about 32 Nm. but you have to tack a lot and then there are the currents. If I am up here next time this year I am going to make myself available as crew for sure. This is one sail that I would love to do especially aboard Pirate!

Puffin also made it up from the Center For Wooden Boats.

Bolero an old Chris Craft Woody. 

Vixon, Just back from an 11 year around the world voyage. If you look close you can see the route on the chart. Not sure why all those around the world voyagers come home in hats like that?

Wow! just had to stop and rest at Bar Harbour with a Mighty Fine Port Townsend Brewery IPA and Music to match.
See https://youtu.be/uBm74MFNjoY

The 39th Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2015

I have been trying my best to get to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival for the last three Septembers. September 2013 Big D was born so we were all tied up in anticipation of his birthday. Then last year my Daughter all of a sudden decided to go to Texas the first weeks of September so no go then. But this year I announced early, I do not care what else is happening in the world I am going to the Port Townsend Festival.
I have no idea if it is fact but I read it is the largest of all the Wooden Boat Festivals in the World. After attending this one I have no reason to doubt that it has to be the best but you know how they say everything is bigger in Texas, well they have a lot of really tall people in the PNW, sad to say a lot more than live in Texas.
We attended Big D's second birthday and cut out and made the 12:30 pm ferry to Bainbridge Island, just a short 45 minute drive North and the Admiral dropped me off in Port Townsend. She preferred to go check in at our hotel in Sequim (pronounced like Squid but with a m) the only hotel with a room left. It was about 72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.Not many clear blue sky days in this part of the world. The natives thought it was very HOT! As soon as I walked in I knew I had arrived, It was exactly what I had expected. I spent the next three hours climbing around on all sorts of wooden vessels and talking to the owners, crew, and anyone else that looked like they could enjoy a question or two. I had the Admirals camera so after culling several hundred pics down to around 150 or so I thought I could start my blog post and somehow convey some part of this incredibly salty culture that are the PNW wooden boaters. The only way to understand the boats is to know the people who build and or sail them. This of course can not be done in in just a short few days at a festival but spending a lot of volunteer time at The Center for Wooden Boats and a couple of years sailing in the PNW had me primed for this experience.
I had to stop and rest so I got a real beer and sat down and talked to two couples who sailed up to Port Townsend for the weekend so we had a great time talking boats sailing and festival events.
A little later the Admiral texted and let me know she was at the entrance so I met her and I escorted her around to the best of the Festival.We found our way back to Bar Harbour and got some food and drink to go with the music.