PORT TOWNSEND — Some 300 boats that gathered in Port Townsend for the 40th annual Wooden Boat Festival will make their way around Port Townsend Bay during the sail-by this afternoon.
The culminating parade of boats will begin at 3 p.m.. It can be viewed from any vantage point on the Port Townsend waterfront.
Another highlight on today’s finale of the three-day festival will be the launch of the boats created during the weekend’s Edensaw Boatbuilding Challenge in which three teams compete to build a seaworthy boat in just three days.
All tools will be dropped at noon today, and at 12:30 p.m., the teams will find out if their creations sink or float as they are launched from the beach to northeast of the marina.
Awards will be presented at the haulout dock.
Activities ranging from presentations to hands-on activities for children to a variety of ways to get out on the water are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. They are centered around the Northwest Maritime Center at 431 Water St.
Parking is limited, so people are encouraged to walk, ride their bikes or take shuttles from the Haines Place Park &Ride or Port Ludlow Marina or walk two blocks from Memorial Field.
Tickets will be sold at the main gate. Northwest Martime Center members get free entry; children 12 and younger also will be admitted free. Adult tickets are $17 for the day, and senior, active military and teens are all priced at $12 for one day.
Among the presentations will be the”Seawomen of Iceland” at 9:30 a.m., “What to Do When the Captain is Incapacitated” at 10:45 a.m., “A Dozen National Parks in a Wooden Boat” at noon and “Human Powered Submarine” at 1:30 p.m.
Kids’ Cove activities are planned throughout the day. They include boatbuilding, crafts and free rides on a “carousel of the sea.”
Dockside tours and sails will be offered on the tall ships Adventuress and the Martha J.
An award-winning documentary, “Vanishing Sail” by Alexis Andrews, is scheduled for noon and a play, “Captain Cloud’s Latest Adventure” directed by Joey Pipia of Port Townsend, will be presented at 1 p.m.
A full schedule is available online at https://2016wbf.sched.org.
Dan Parnel of Auburn swabs the deck of his boat the Susan Joanne in preparation for the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. (Cydney McFarland/Peninsula Daily News)
