PORT TOWNSEND — Participating in the 26th annual West Coast Kayak Symposium at Fort Worden State Park and seeing the premier of their kayaking movie, “Paddle to Seattle,” at the 10th annual Port Townsend Film Festival is “the perfect storm of awesome events,” J.J. Kelley and Josh Thomas said.
“It’s just crazy how well this all worked out,” said Kelley, 28, of Washington, D.C.
“Here we are at the festival to premier the movie, and we get to take part in all of this.”
Both the film festival and the kayak gathering continue today.
The kayak symposium, which is billed as the largest and oldest event of its kind in the world, will offer clinics and vendors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.
Visitors can register for the day’s events in Building 204 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Films be shown throughout the day during the final day of the film festival in Port Townsend, with tickets available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Eisenbeis Condos Hospitality Center, 830 Water St.
Kelley and Thomas’ movie, “Paddle to Seattle,” will play today at 9:05 a.m. in the Rosebud Cinema at the Rose Theatre.
Like a homecoming
Thomas, 28, of Seward, Alaska, likened the event to a homecoming.
“We were on this beach literally one year ago,” he said. “It was out of our way, but we knew we had to come here. We had to visit Pygmy Boats.”
Pygmy Boats, the Port Townsend based wooden boat company, plays a major role in the paddling duo’s movie about a 1,200 miles kayak trip from Skagway, Alaska to Seattle.
The kayaks that Kelley and Thomas chose were the “Coho” model from Pygmy Boats.
Kayaks movie stars
“In a lot of ways, the kayaks are characters in the movie too,” Kelley said.
“They are so important to the film, they are all wood so they are beautiful, but also they are functional and over three months of traveling in them, it kind of becomes an extension of yourself.
“And, in the movie, they have a beginning and an end. It starts with us making them from the kit that Pygmy Boats sent us.
“And in the end, well, they have an end that you need to see in the movie.”
The two filmmakers, stars and avid adventurers describe the film as a very different documentary.
Male bonding
“In a way it is about two friends who met each other years ago hiking the Appalachian Trail and are just looking for adventure,” Thomas said. “It’s a male bonding film, kind of like a ‘bromance’.”
Kelley said the film does run deeper, however.
“We make stops along the way and explore the stories of the communities and the people we meet.
“We take a look at the history and we go from the wilderness of Alaska to Seattle, which is quite a transformation.”
Thomas said it was like going from the American west to a Starbucks all of a sudden.
“And hopefully the film shows that changes,” Thomas said.
Met kayak firm founder
The other part of the story for Thomas and Kelley is getting to meet John Lockwood, the founder and owner of Pygmy Boats.
Lockwood was in South America, kayaking of course, when he heard of the journey the two were undertaking in one of his boats.
“I thought it was wonderful,” Lockwood said.
“When I was their age, I did the same exact thing, I travelled 900 miles down the Yukon River just for the journey, so I understand.
“But when they came here the first time, I didn’t get to meet them, so this is great that they get to show the film for the first time here.”
Lockwood told the story of how he founded Pygmy Boats to Thomas and Kelley.
When he was 29, Lockwood injured his leg badly during a wilderness hike. He couldn’t get withstand long excursions on foot, so he began building kayaks as a way to escape back into the wild.
Kelley thanked Lockwood for undergoing the transformation.
“You did this so you could follow your passion,” he said.
“But years later, it also allowed us to follow ours.”
For more information on the kayak symposium, see www.wcsks.org.
For more information on the film festival, see www.ptfilmfest.com.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.