The art of wooden boat building will feature prominently at Richmond’s 14th annual Maritime Festival this weekend at Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site.
Dubbed by the City of Richmond as a “festival within a festival,” wooden boat enthusiasts and visitors alike will be privy to a number of free wooden boat displays and related activities organized by the city and Britannia Heritage Shipyard Society.
“Historically, boats were built out of wood all over the world and certainly on the West Coast. Very few wooden boats are built today unless they are heritage projects. So it’s preserving maritime history,” said Simon Fawkes, vice-chair of the society.
A number of ships will be tethered to a 600-foot dock, including the steam-powered sister ships, SS Master and Merrie Ellen, both built in 1922 in False Creek, and Ella McKenzie, a 38-foot wooden tug boat built in 1951.
Also on display will be Providence, an 80-foot wooden sailboat owned and operated by Fawkes, a sea captain by trade. Providence was built in 1903 in Denmark to act as a seiner. Fawkes bought the ship earlier this year to use as a cargo and charter vessel.
Off of the dock, there will be “Wooden Boat Lane,” featuring more than a dozen exhibitors displaying the likes of wooden boats, kayaks and canoes.
Another wooden boat element of the festival will be the Kids Cove area, which features activities for youth, such as the chance for them to assemble their own wooden boats and float them in a big tub.
Wooden boat experts from around the region will be on hand to offer informative stories. Meanwhile, woodworker Tony Grove will provide live demonstrations of wooden boat building as he crafts a 12-foot Davidson Canoe. A 40-foot cedar strip traditional dugout canoe will also be under construction.
