small craft Archives - Small Boats Magazine

Tag: small craft

Small Boat Festival – pacific northwest

This event will showcase 75 outstanding small boats in the water and an additional 25-30 on dry land. The dates are July 26-27 at Port Ludlow Marina on beautiful Port Ludlow Bay just 13 nautical miles south of Port Townsend. With terrific views of the Olympic Mountain range, and protected waters, the bay is perfect for a small-boat gathering—and as a bonus, we have secured virtually all guest-moorage slips in the marina, assuring that we’ll be able to display a wide range of small-boat designs along one contiguous dock, and in one upland area close to the boats that are in the water.

During the SBF, participants with in-the-water boats will be free to row, sail, paddle, pedal or motor their boats around the bay…offering rides if they wish, or having their boats photographed for a video documentary by Off Center Harbor, the Maine-based production company.

We’re already planning for a few areas of special focus: Electric small craft and human-powered small boats, so there will be areas set aside for those boats and some presentations made on subjects like the increasing practicality of electric power; comparisons between rowing, paddling and pedal-powered small craft; and tips on how to get beyond day use and start camp-cruising your smaller boat.

Show off your boat

Even though nearby Port Townsend hosts its big annual Wooden Boat Festival, the SMALL BOAT FESTIVAL will absolutely not be limited to wooden boats. (Focus of the event will be on attractive and functional designs, so we expect a lot of older fiberglass production sailboats, along with homebuilt wooden watercraft. Everything from SCAMPs to slippery full-keel classics; and from rowing, paddling, pedaling and engine-powered boats to SUP’s, canoes, custom kayaks and other small watercraft.)

Boats will arrive at Port Ludlow on Friday, July 26, and the SBF will take place all day on Saturday the 27th, with the public invited to attend between the hours of 10 and 6. Registered skippers and their crews will enjoy dinner in the marina’s huge Pavilion tent Saturday evening, along with terrific raffle prizes and visits from some luminaries in the world of small boats.

Ready to register?

Registration fee for the two-day festival will be $75 which includes

  • in-the-water moorage or dry-land display
  • the Saturday evening dinner

If you have a small boat we’d love to have you show it at the festival. Fill out the registration form and the organizing committee will get in touch with you to work out final details.

Please note that you’ll need to be signed into a Google account (gmail, youtube, etc) in order to fill out the form – that helps us keep down the internet riffraff. If this poses a problem for you, send us an email at [email protected].

Further details

Trailer launching options

Launching trailer boats isn’t possible inside Port Ludlow Bay, but there are a number of ramps in the area—the best being the paved all-tides ramp at Port Townsend’s Boat Haven Marina.

Boats can also be launched at:

Overnight parking of tow rigs is very limited at Port Hadlock and Mats Mats Bay, and no empty boat trailers can be parked at Port Ludlow Marina, so the best bet might be launching in Port Townsend and cruising south to Port Ludlow on Friday…or even turning the transit into a slightly longer mini-cruise by—(just for instance)—launching in Port Townsend on July 24, overnighting in Mystery Bay on nearby Marrowstone Island that night, then Mats Mats Bay the second night (Thursday the 25th), before arriving at the SMALL BOAT FESTIVAL venue by Friday afternoon, July 26.

Check out time from Port Ludlow

Check-out from SBF moorage slips will be noon on Sunday, unless individual boat owners wish to stay longer, paying regular guest-slip rates to extend their stay. If skippers wish to display an additional boat, either in the water or on land, a reduced $50 fee will apply for the second small boat registered.

Dutch Wooden Boat Festival

In 2024 we will do it again and again at the same time as the Jutterhaven Days. Those who ‘didn’t know anything’ about the previous festival and were a bit surprised: put on your brave shoes and COME! Above all, feel welcome!

Our new Festival will also take place at Willemsoord in Den Helder.

 

What is the Dutch WoodenBoat Festival?

The Dutch WoodenBoat Festival was first held in July 2019 as a Dutch festival for wooden boats.

This festival is not only an ode to the centuries-long wooden boat building tradition that boosted our economic development, but also to the warm feelings that many enthusiasts get when they see…

What is there to do?

Seeing and ‘experiencing’ wooden boats and everything related to them; meeting like-minded builders and paddlers, admiring all the beauty on and out of the water; exhibitors with various products related to wooden ships; presentations, speakers while enjoying food and music.
There is an ABBA, the Amateur Boat Construction Award. A boat is even being worked on. The boat building schools do demonstrations.
We want a second hand market on Saturday, model builders at the weekend, youth activities?

In addition to this festival, there are also the Jutterhaven Days on Saturday and Sunday: a nice market with old crafts, street theater, music, catering, a nice initiative by Willemsoord BV.

Friday starts with the annual Botterrace, for the 15th time in 2024. Check out the Heldersebotters.nl website

How can I register?

It is a low budget event, but participants with a boat or companies that want a stand must register by sending an email to [email protected].

Visitors have free access everywhere, along the quays in the halls, the workshops and they can possibly visit the ships after approval by the owner.

John Gardner Small Craft Workshop

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.

45th Annual Wooden Canoe Assembly 2024

Join us for the premier event celebrating wooden canoe enthusiasts from around the globe, showcasing hundreds of stunningly beautiful yet highly functional canoes, from historic to modern, alongside related small boats such as Adirondack guideboats and sailboats. Located on the picturesque Lower St. Regis Lake in the heart of the Adirondacks, it’s a fun-filled experience for the whole family. Enjoy engaging lectures and demonstrations, thrilling excursions, on-water events, peruse vendors, explore canoes for sale, find tools and supplies, participate in auctions and raffles, and don’t miss out on the exciting kids’ programs.

Registration Fee (17 and under, free registration)

$20/day or $80 for the whole event

39th Annual Cedar Key Small Boat Meet

The Cedar Key Small Boat Meet is the premiere event on the West Coast of Florida celebrating small craft.

The meet is still informal. No signups. No fees. No planned events. The tides and weather remain the controlling organization. Check the tide tables for details.

After the hurricane the community center is being used as the City Hall and will not be available for our annual gathering. Alternative plans have not been made.

All shallow draft craft are welcome: dories & dinghies, catboats, beach cats & trimarans, sharpies & sampans, cuddy day-sailors, any or all driven by pedals, engines or motors, paddles, and sails.

The Cedar Keys & the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge are as enchanting as ever. Come enjoy the Nature Coast, meet old friends, and make new ones.

May 1st, 2024 UPDATE: Weather forecasts show little need for foul weather gear, but packing your favorite sunscreen is recommended.

High tides are late morning to mid-day for the weekend which should make for comfortable morning launchings.
We are packing up and will arrive mid-afternoon on Thursday.

Dinner will be at 6:00 on Friday at the Episcopal Church, we still have opening for anyone that wishes to attend. $20 a plate at the Christ Episcopal Church 4052 D St, Cedar Key, FL 32625  If you plan to attend the dinner please email Michael Jones at: [email protected]

For information:

Cedar Key Information – Florida Gulf Coast TSCA (weebly.com)

Michael Jones 727.560.5782    [email protected]

Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, 352 543 5600

2019 Small Reach Regatta

The idea of the SRR is to gather together small sail-and-oars boats for sailing, with the same kind of camaraderie and appreciation that the ERR has established. We will sail on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This year, we plan a one-way sail from Herrick Bay to the waters off the campground, where we’ll anchor, so secure anchoring ability is especially important. The next day will be a return to Herrick Bay. Final haulouts, trailering, and departure will take place on Sunday, July 28, vacating the campground before noon and the boatyard as soon as possible.

Click here for full details about the event and how to sign up.

Boating safety is always a priority at the SRR, and the fleet is accompanied at all times by a chase fleet, usually six fast powerboats. Participating boats are required to meet a checklist of safety equipment. Our safety demonstrations in years past have included a firing of emergency flares and a deliberate capsize and self-recovery. We take safe seamanship seriously.

E-mail is our preferred method of communication. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We hope to see you this summer on the coast of Maine!

For more information, contact

Tom Jackson <[email protected]>; or
David Wyman, <[email protected]>.

Sights from the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival XXXIV

Posted on by Anne Bryant

by Anne Bryant

After a full, nutty day at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, I headed over to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael’s, Maryland, for the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival. I pulled into the entrance, lined with a tent city full of small boat enthusiasts; I felt right away that compared with the bustle of Annapolis, the change of energy suited my needs.

Here are some photos from my visit there. It was Sunday, the day after the big race and regatta, and so things were packing up, slowing down, and moving on due to a lightly threatening forecast.

Our Fearless Editor, Chris Cunningham, has traveled to this gathering in the past, and we plan to re-establish our connection with this fantastic gathering in 2018. A workshop? A beer social? We’re not sure yet, but get excited.

 

 

I also happened by the relaunching and re-christening of BELLE, a Herreshoff 12 1/2-inspired small sailing boat designed and built by Daniel Gonneau. With her more open layout inboard and with no internal ballast, she’s quite different from the design of her keelboat cousin, but no less gorgeous. Her new owner first saw her in the Calendar of Wooden Boats and thought she’d be just the boat for him. When she came up for sale, it was a dream come true for him.