The Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre’s 32nd Annual Wooden Boat Festival on June 17-18 celebrates B.C.’s maritime heritage.
Arrive early to enjoy the pancake breakfast on Saturday morning or stay late for the salmon BBQ dinner and silent auction Saturday evening.
In between, there’s so much to see and do: you can take in the live entertainment, watch the steam bending of wood, and steam engine demonstrations, and try to follow knot tying demonstrations as well.
Check out the classic wooden boats; vote for your favourites among the classic wooden boats on display and in the much-loved “Best of the Bay” Chowder Contest.
If you’ve got kids to bring, this is a great day. There’s boat building, a fishing derby and face-painting, along with watching and cheering along the competitors in the seagull engine and brown bag dinghy races.
This year the festival is proud to feature Grail Dancer, an extraordinary 61-foot traditional schooner. Taking almost 20 years to construct, she was built on Thetis Island out of local Douglas fir and yellow-cedar.
And you can get up close and personal with this modern classic.
On Saturday, June 17, festival goers will have the opportunity to step aboard and see the fine workmanship for themselves.
The festival is open to all wooden power, sailing, and pulling vessels up to 40 feet in length. There will be wooden boats on display from near and far.
Complete festival details, including a schedule of events and boater registration forms, are available at www.classicboats.org