The First-Ever SMALL BOAT FESTIVAL

Photos From Our Fun, Promising Event in Port Ludlow

This past weekend our Port Townsend-based Pocket Yachters group hosted the first-ever Pacific Northwest SMALL BOAT FESTIVAL at beautifully-located Port Ludlow Marina…and what a blast it was!

We welcomed 70+ small craft to the SBF–some in the water, some on dry land—and we couldn’t have asked for a greater variety of boats…from a gorgeous 18-pound Stickleback canoe to a stunning 26-foot Bartender cruiser.

In between there were ever-present SCAMPs, Whitehalls and boats by countless designers including John Welsford (we were thankful John attended, especially since he had the greatest number of designs represented), Iain Oughtred, John Harris, Jerry Montgomery, Karl Stambaugh, George Calkins, Dudley Dix, Phil Bolger, John Gardner, Weston Farmer, Ray Richards, Ronald Young, Chuck Payne, Sam Devlin, Janusz Konkol (who came all the way from Poland to attend!), William Crealock, Shad Turner, Renn Tolman, Tim Nolan, Colin Angus, William Garden, L. Francis Herreshoff, Brandon Davis, Arch Davis and several others.

With good weather and nice sailing winds, the event became a non-stop marathon of enthusiastic boat talk—about designs, camp-cruising tips, sailing rigs, and notably the rich variety of electric-propulsion choices on display at the SMALL BOAT FESTIVAL.

We offered an informal, tag-team presentation on the subject of marine electric systems, improving battery technologies and the special suitability of electric power for smaller boats, since most of us are comfortable at slower speeds—meaning it’s easier for our boats to achieve greater range, at modest speeds, vs. larger vessels.

Included in the electric-boating talk were Tom Hruby, author of the book “Plug-In Boats”; Kevin Ritz, head of the Systems Program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding; Joe Grez, developer of the EP Carry electric outboard motor; Dennis Banta, creative builder of a gas-electric hybrid mini-tug; and Howard Rice, who described conversion of his 16-foot pilothouse sloop from diesel inboard to ePropulsion pod drive.