Classic boat enthusiasts and aficionados of traditional maritime skills will want to schedule their annual pilgrimage to Port Townsend, Wash., September 7 through 9, for the 31st annual Wooden Boat Festival.

Port Townsend’s Wooden Boat Festival is recognized worldwide for its beautiful location and highly talented community of shipwrights and sailors, boat builders and skilled artisans.  This year’s festival will raise a toast to the people who keep this culture alive.  Shipwrights who build the boats.  Sailors who give them life - be it by power or sail, inland or bluewater. The festival shines the spotlight on the people who turn dreams into reality on the water.

Nicknamed, the “Woodstock of Wooden Boats,” the Port Townsend festival is clearly more than a boat show. It’s a cultural festival, where people from around the world mix with boats of all shapes and sizes, sharing their love and appreciation for wood and the skill, history, adventure and art it inspires in boats.
The festival features live music, an extensive educational forum, and the opportunity to meet some of the leading practitioners of the traditional maritime crafts. There will be seminars on boat building and use of traditional tools, and demonstrations of skills from the 1700s to cutting-edge modern techniques.
All boats in the harbor are available for boarding. Owners, builders and crew are there to tell you about each boat and her adventures. With nearly 200 boats rendezvousing in Port Townsend, a few of the highlights include the 136-foot schooner Adventuress and the tall ship Lady Washington, the two largest boats at the event. One-hundred-year-old boats such as the beautiful schooner Martha and the surf boat Dorjun will also be on hand.

There’s something for everyone - for youth of all ages - with a love of the maritime culture.  For all the information, go to www.woodenboat.org or call 360.385.3628. 

The Wooden Boat Festival is sponsored by and raises funds for The Wooden Boat Foundation, and it supports sailing, rowing and maritime education programs at the Northwest Maritime Center year-round.