PORT TOWNSEND — The 38th annual Wooden Boat Festival is swinging into its last day today with expectations for great weather and large crowds.
“It’s been a great festival,” said Jake Beattie, Northwest Maritime Center executive director.
“We’ve had perfect weather. It’s been cloudless, and everybody seems happy.”
The festival focusing on some 250 boats continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Point Hudson, the northern tip of Port Townsend, with action centered at the Wooden Boat Foundation at the maritime center, 431 Water St.
Tickets are $15 per day or $10 per day for students, seniors and the military.
Festival organizers expect about 35,000 visitors throughout the weekend, as in years past. No attendance numbers were available Saturday.
The festival is a giant playground for wooden boat enthusiasts of all ages.
“This is the local event that everyone needs to be part of,” said Mitch Brennan, Chimacum Middle School teacher.
“There should be a law that every kid should see this and be a part of what’s happening because it connects us with where we live more than anything I can think of.”
Presentations will continue from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the first being a talk by Beattie previewing June’s Race to Alaska.
Any motorless boat can qualify. A $10,000 prize will awarded to the first team that makes it from Port Townsend to Ketchikan.
Access to presentations is included in the admission price.
Among the many and varied presentations will be “Adrift” by Steven Callahan, scheduled at 1:15 p.m.
Callahan, who was the technical director for the film “The Life of Pi,” was adrift in a lifeboat for 76 days.
Also today will be the results of the second annual Edensaw Boat Building contest, where seven teams are competing for prizes in the form of materials and services from Edensaw Woods Ltd. of Port Townsend.
The teams began their construction at 9 a.m. Friday. At 11 a.m. today, they must stop work and put their boats in the water.
If they pass a float test, they will then be judged, with prizes of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 in “Edensaw Bucks” — gift certificates — to be awarded.
At 10:30 a.m., the model boat races will begin in the main marina, and at noon, the Captain Pirate’s Treasure Hunt will begin at the Cupola House.
The crowning event is at 3 p.m. for the “Sail By,” where 300 boats are expected to fill Port Townsend Bay on their way home.
Beattie said the festival’s positive impact has trickled over to downtown merchants, although the most successful were those who put merchandise on outside tables.
“There is an intangible spirit in this festival that is a combination of family reunion and community celebration,” Beattie said.
“People come from all over to be a part of it, and there is a real special feel.”
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-Boatfest.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
