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wrote:
RG wrote:
Chuck, I'd appreciate it you'd do me a favor. Could you navigate over to
alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean for me? A few of us have been posting
digital photos over there to share with the folks here. I posted a shot on
12/30/05 with the subject Wooden Boats at Pier 66 in Seattle, or something
very close to that.

The shot was taken on June 18, 2005. We were boarding a cruise ship for our
trip up the Inside Passage. Shortly after boarding I went out to the
fantail of the ship and noticed below on the docks, the most wonderful
collection of beautifully restored wooden cruising boots, all moored
together at Pier 66. Once I saw them, I really wanted to disembark and go
walk the docks among the wooden boats, but with long boarding lines,
security issues, etc. I thought better of it, and just shot the boats from
the fantail of the ship.

Can you shed any insight as to what I saw? Was it a temporary showing event
or a small marina that is exclusive to restored wooden cruisers? From what
I could tell from my vantage point, the quality of the boats was simply
amazing. Any knowledge you could fill in would be appreciated. I wondered
what I saw for the rest of the trip and since.

By the way, I have a very nice skyline shot of Seattle taken from Puget
Sound on a strikingly clear day during our departure. Postcard quality,
I've been told. I'd be happy to email it to you or post it to the other
group if you have an interest.

There's a classic yacht show each year at Pier 66.
It begins with the fleet parading in from Elliott Bay, and that's quite
a sight in and of itself.

Our local classic yacht association is pretty dedicated. For instance,
the boats are members of the association- not the boat owners. The boat
owners are considered "caretakers" or stewards by the association.

To belong to the association, a boat has to be of a certain age. As I
remember, I think it's 40 years but I could be mistaken. I do know that
owners of some of the later wooden production boats have complained
their boats are too "new" to be accepted.

Admission to the show is free, and while boarding privileges are not
automatically extended to everybody and various "stewards" are free to
decide whether the public will be allowed to tour their boats, most of
the boats are freely available for public inspection.

Other exceptional wooden boat festivals in the region include an annual
event in LaConner,
one in Victoria, BC, and an event every September that *should* be
bringing in astonished tourists and wood boat lovers from across the
country; the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend.

Port Townsend might be my favorite place in Washington. It's where I'd
live if I didn't want to work for a living. There was a big building
boom in the 1890's, and then fortunes were reversed when the railroad
never arrived as expected. Most of Water Street, the main downtown
thoroughfare, could pass for the 1890's if you moved all the cars to
another block. There is a super-active artist community, hundreds of
old hippies everywhere, some excellent restaurants, and fabulous
scenery. Each September they close the Point Hudson Marina and bring in
one of the largest groups of wooden power and sailboats to assemble
anywhere. Most open for inspection. Any wooden boat fans considering a
visit to Washington State and wondering what time of year would be best
should come to Port Townsend in September....(one of our few relatively
dry months, with shirt-sleeve weather almost every day).

Heck, as long as I'm pimping for Port Townsend:
http://www.ptguide.com/