Our organization has operated the Farley Boat Works in Port Aransas, Texas since 2011. We help individuals and families build small wooden boats. Each year we have our Wooden Boat Festival inviting any owners of wooden boats to come and display their boats and we sell kits that we manufacture so that 5 families can build their own boat over the 3-day weekend of our event.
This year our Festival will occur from October 25th through October 27th at Robert’s Point Park, located next to the City’s Public Marina. We will have both an area in the park where boats on trailers can be displayed as well as dock space for in the water displays.
In addition to the boats we will have many activities for families, an area for vendors to sell their items, and music both day & night.
The John Gardner Small Craft Workshop will again be held during The WoodenBoat Show at Mystic Seaport Museum, on Friday to Sunday June 28 – 30, 2024 from 9am to 5pm, hosted by the Traditional Small Craft Association’s John Gardner Chapter.
In addition to having a booth to acquaint show attendees with the TSCA, there will also be demonstrations of skills that enhance the traditional small boat experience. Mystic Seaport Boathouse craft will also be available at no charge for participants to use. We are hoping for a continuous back drop to the Show of traditional small craft in action on the river.
All TSCA members are encouraged to attend with or without your own boat! There is plenty to do if you don’t bring your own vessel. Launching and parking details will be posted with registration materials. At 8 am on Saturday and Sunday morning before Museum hours, there will be a cruise in-company open to all workshop attendees. We will gather at the Australia Beach and cruise either up river past the highway bridge to the beautiful salt marshes or down river past the Village and classic yachts on their moorings.
Workshop participants can register to stay onboard the Joseph Conrad Friday and Saturday nights. .
Attendees will be encouraged to help with the workshop, either by manning the booth at Australia Beach for a 2 hour period and/or giving a demonstration of some skill such as sail rigging, sculling, boat building, hardware making etc. If you have a skill that you would like to demonstrate at the show please volunteer. Demonstration should last about 30 minutes and will be held approx. 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm each day.
Registration for the Small Craft Workshop also allows you admission to the WoodenBoat Show for all three days at no additional cost.
Indicate your interest in staffing the booth or demonstrating a skill on the registration form or contact Bill Rutherford at [email protected] or 860-222-5249.
Registration information will be posted on the Mystic Seaport Museum website Calendar under the date June 28, 2024.
Rick Pratt, a friend of Small Boats Monthly, sent us this tip:
“This short 14-minute film made in the swamp country of South Louisiana in 1949 was funded by Standard Oil. It shows Cajun craftsman making a pirogue the ‘old way.’ Hewn of a cyprus log by hand; probably the last pirogue made this way.
Note the serving of Cajun coffee in demitasse cups with tiny spoons. It’s a tradition down here that still endures. If you haven’t ever had it, look out. Made in ole time ‘drip pots,’ it is sweetened in the pot. It’s thick as motor oil and super sweet. The areas along the bayou and the people looked much the same when I started working the oil patch.
A lot of the time, oilfield people (known as ‘Texakins’ by the Cajuns no matter where they were from) had to have an interpreter so they could communicate with the guys I worked with in the oil field. Just about everybody was Cajun French. A lot of the older guys couldn’t (or wouldn’t) speak English. Step back in time and check out the full-length video.”
Here’s the minute-long trailer:
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