2022 Wooden Boat Festival

Sailing in Southeast Alaska is the dream of nearly every Pacific Northwest sailor. But getting there is the problem. Most people don’t have an entire summer for the trip. A comfortable pace might take two or three weeks each way. And once there it is almost time to turn around. And just turning around will break your heart, Alaska is impressive and you won’t want to leave.

But if your boat is trailerable you can easily be there in less than a week. And just because you can trailer it, it doesn’t mean your boat is too small for Alaska. Todd and Viviann have made five trips to SE with their boat RED, a 27 foot sloop. They trailer to Prince Rupert, put the boat in and are in Alaska in a couple of days. They have traveled throughout Southeast from Ketchikan to Sitka to Juneau, all the small towns between and as far north as Glacier Bay.

Todd will share stories, strategies, safety advice, and favorite spots to visit. It is easier than you think to sail in Alaska.

Jeff and Deb describe their experiences cruising to Southeast Alaska on their vintage, 1971 Grand Banks 32.

"You're going to fit all THAT into THERE?" This is a question often amusedly posed by onlookers when trying to pack a seemingly overwhelming amount of gear into tiny little hatches. Yes, it WILL all fit—and with minimal cuss words—if you know some tips and tricks. Join expedition paddler Susan Marie Conrad for this outdoor demonstration on the ins and outs of packing a sea kayak for overnight trips.

In the years of COVID, Greg has run a number of wild and scenic rivers and most recently took a wooden boat through Hells Canyon on the Snake River - the deepest river canyon in North America. In addition, he just competed in the MR340 - the longest river race in the world rowing one of his hand crafted wooden boats over 340 miles on the Missouri River. Capturing these adventures with photos, video's and writing is a passion as he seeks to connect audiences with some of the most beautiful and treacherous rivers in the country.

The Yenisey River is the fifth longest flow on the planet, running 5500 km through remotest Mongolia and Siberia. Colin Angus and three friends attempted the first descent of this mysterious river using whitewater kayaks, a raft, and a classic lapstrake naval ship's boat that they found on the banks of the river. Colin will share details of this journey, along with screening a 45 minute documentary covering the adventure..

Show and tell about what happens while paddling in the Northwest Passage this summer.

This will be a description of my 14,000 mile singlehanded voyage on the proa Jzerro from NY to SF earlier this year. I encourage a Q&A session after the presentation, because people tend to have a lot of questions about the boat and the route.

Not to miss! A comprehensive panel discussion on the historical as well as technical perspective of multihulls.

Sailing the Inside Passage on an 18-foot open boat is a tremendous adventure. Through a one-man short-story show (with costume changes!) Bruce Bateau will take the audience on a 400-mile journey, regaling listeners with tales of rowing long days, encounters with whales, peaceful anchorages, running rapids, and sailing across the Strait of Georgia.

Put any human in a tiny vessel and send them up a perilous 1,200-mile stretch of the Inside Passage of British Columbia and SE Alaska—and they are bound to have stories! Susan Marie Conrad’s stories are not just filled with intrigue and adventure, but they have heart, inspiration, acceptance and gratitude.

Come and share an hour of adventure with Susan, who has completed two solo sea kayak expeditions up the Inside Passage. Relive the trip with Susan as she shares experiences of paddling marathon distances for days on end, struggling to keep an open mind and interacting with the sea on its terms, forging friendships with amazing people in remote locations, pretending not to be intimidated by 700 pound grizzly bears and 40 ton whales, and living her dream.

The Inside Passage, Seattle to Alaska, is the grail for many Pacific Northwest boaters. Many are daunted by the barriers: their own skills and experience, the nature of their boat, time, or expense. Stuart Weibel has taken his modest gaff cutter to Alaska 4 times. He will talk about his own experiences, the routes, the planning, the gear and how to put them together in a successful and memorable sojourn in one of the greatest cruising areas on earth.

Come hear about the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind and Platte Valley High School's SEVENTY48 journey.

A women centric nonprofit advocating for individuals in the maritime through storytelling, opening doors to water based activities, increasing access and encouraging engagement.
SEASTR offers SUP clinics/camps and surf clinics/camps for youth, adults and couples and has plans for free-diving and sailing collaboarations in the future.
We are here to optimize the human/environment connection for all using water to engage people in their own process of healing and evolution.
Through quarterly speaking engagements such as our 'Why Not?" series - focusing on 1-2 women or individuals who have challenged themselves using water as an interface and our "Becoming" series - young women and empowerment/puberty 'Menarche' where a woman meets her power, menstruation where we practice our power and women re-wilding themselves through menopause when we 'become' our power.
SEASTR would also like to talk about SUP racing, the seventy48, downwind SUP and gear!

The size of the adventure is not dependent on the size of the boat and my presentation will be a demonstration of that. It will feature stories, images and maps from journeys that I describe in a book I published just before the pandemic hit. The book is called “Becoming Coastal”, sub-titled “25 years of exploration and discovery of the British Columbia coast by paddle, oar and sail”. The journeys cover everything from short getaways to multi-week expeditions, all in wooden boats I built. I’ll show how I built 5 different boats over the years, beginning with a solo kayak, and culminating in a sail and oar boat of my own design, which I rowed and sailed the length of the Inside Passage. I’ll speak of the joys and the adversities of self-propelled travel and adventure. I’ll cover wildlife, weather and nature, and some of the interesting people that I’ve met on the coast of British Columbia. I’ll give a personal perspective on acquiring the necessary physical and mental skills for solo traveling. I’ll tell the story of how I discovered for myself the coast's geography, its ecology, its people and my own growing capabilities. Above all, I’ll encourage everyone to get out and experience the coast for themselves.

A photo tour of various shipwright repairs and restorations I took part in while employed at Haven Boatworks. I will be discussing such iconic Pacific Northwest vessels such as SV Adventuress, MV Thea Foss, MV Blue Peter, The Carlisle II and MV Emmeline.