The folkboat Chloe styling it, starting backwards with the tide!

 

See Morgan Conrad’s photos from the event.

See Elizabeth Becker’s photos.

Wooden boats are dominant in Port Townsend. There’s the Wooden Boat School, the Wooden Boat Festival, and now a wooden boat buoy run. The inaugural Wooden Boat Buoy Run occurred on Sunday, October 16, 2022, on Port Townsend Bay. Jen Bates, of Varya, supported by the Port Townsend Sailing Association, spearheaded the event. All wooden sailboats were welcome, with twelve vessels and their crews showing up. The event was conceived as a run rather than a race to ensure a relaxed, low-pressure atmosphere with just enough organization to get everyone on the same tack.

The course began off the City dock in downtown Port Townsend. It proceeded north to round the Point Hudson Bell Bouy #2, ran back along the waterfront to Boat Haven utilizing the PTSA race buoys, and then back up to the City dock. The summer of 2022 continued to make-believe it was never ending, which is to say the day was beautiful.

The winds took the “low pressure atmosphere” a little too much to heart. Boats drifted north with the outgoing ebb and maneuverability was challenging. The Folkboat Chloe won the start cleanly, drifting backwards with the current!  While precarious, the situation was not so dangerous, adding a light-hearted circus nature to the event, fitting under the circumstances. Some had to start their engines or man the oars as currents, and lack of wind, conspired to float the fleet into the piers and barges off Point Hudson Marina. Showing good seamanship, everyone managed without drama or incident.

The air pressure picked up a bit as the lead boats approached the Bell Buoy, but alas that wind was not to hold. As the fleet returned to the waterfront, one by one each boat lost its power; they came to a stop, then to a backward drift. Auxiliary propulsion helped some to cross the tide line while others drifted back with the ebb.  Pacifica and Sir Isaac looked like they were readying for a do-si-do. Let’s hope everyone had some delicious snacks, refreshments, and banter to keep them amused. In the end, only one vessel completed the entire circuit, the 13’ 8” Melonseed, La Vita e’ Bella. It required a considerable amount of push-pull on the oars to do so. Others peeled off to enjoy a building breeze up at Point Wilson in the afternoon sun. Doug Jones reported that the rail of Pacifica was in the water with the main eased heading up to the lighthouse.

The sailing day was capped off with a get-together at four o’clock next to the Black Bird Associates storage unit, with participating sailors bringing snacks and refreshments to share. While the wind was lackluster, the sailors were not. Community, camaraderie, and solidarity prevailed. People were smiling, exchanging adventure stories, maintenance suggestions, and wondering, “when will the next Wooden Boat Buoy Run be?”

Participating Wooden Boats (in no particular order): Leaf, La Vita e’ Bella,Sir Isaac, Varya, Pacifica, Nellie Juan, Saga, Chloe, Erin, Sea Wulff, Houat, and Ginta

So when indeed? Stay tuned. But don’t forget the Annual Shipwrights Regatta, scheduled for February 25, 2023! And be sure to join for the PTSA gala pot-luck awards dinner at the Cotton Building on November 10, 2022 (6:00 p.m.)

                                                                                      –Josh Wheeler