PORT TOWNSEND — The 33rd Wooden Boat Festival, which begins today, is shaping up to be the biggest in the history of the event.
“We’ve already broken the record for registered boats,” said Kaci Cronkhite, festival director.
“We have 163 coming into the festival this year. That’s two more than the record.
“If you lined them up, we would have more than one nautical mile worth of boats. It’s pretty exciting.”
Three-day event
The three-day festival also will have 40 boats on display on land, 80 trades vendors and 20 food vendors at the event.
The festival runs today through Sunday, opening at 9 a.m. and running until 10 p.m. at Point Hudson Marina.
Tickets go on sale this morning at the marina for $12 for one day or $24 for a three-day pass.
Cronkhite said that up to 200 wooden boats will arrive in Port Townsend when nonregistered boats are included.
She also expects up to 400 boats of all kinds will anchor off the waterfront or moor at the other marina in Port Townsend.
Largest event
Cronkhite said that the event has become known as largest gathering of wooden boat enthusiasts and boats in the U.S. and is becoming one of the top festivals of its kind in the world.
“We have boats from all over this year,” Cronkhite said, “from New York and Chesapeake Bay to Canada, and as far as Brazil.
“It’s exciting to see it become an international event and keep that local and regional feeling that we’ve started.”
The vendors include local woodworkers from Pygmy Boats to the Port Townsend School of Woodworking to national vendors selling wood hula hoops and bicycles.
“We have everything related to wooden boats, and that includes wood products,” Cronkhite said.
“The wooden bikes for example — you can take those on your boats from port to port and not worry about rusting.
“It’s a beautiful product, and it is a product for boaters.”
Boat races will take place throughout the weekend, and all boats are accessible to the public.
On Saturday, schooner vessels will offer sails around the Port Townsend Bay, leaving at 3:30 p.m. from the marina.
The festival also coincides with the opening of the Northwest Maritime Center building.
For more information on the festival, a schedule of events and a list of boats registered and open to the public, see www.woodenboat.org/festival.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsula dailynews.com.