Southport Magazine

and all things seaworthy…
They never fail to draw crowds to the coast for festivals and celebrations, and the 6^th Annual Southport Wooden Boat Show will be no exception.

Brought to Southport by the SWBS Committee, a 501(c)3 organization, the Wooden Boat Show will be on Saturday, September 26, 2015 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Boats will be on display on land and in the water in and around the historic Old Yacht Basin in Southport. Festival-goers will be able to meet and talk with wooden boat makers and owners, and to vote for their favorite boat for the People’s Choice Award. A team of judges will also award three other prizes: Best Powered Boat, Best Non-Powered Boat – Row/Paddle, Best Non-Powered Boat – Sail, according to the event website, http://southportwoodenboatshow.com/index.html. Last year’s winners included Best Sail to Lookout, Vic Fasolino of Beaufort, NC; Best Power to Anali, John Redington of Southport; Best Row/Paddle to Cosine Wherry, Robert Erickson of Wilmington; and the People’s Choice Award went to Jill, L. A. Overcash of Landis, NC.

The Nauti-kids events will return to this year’s show, in which young would-be sailors will be able to build (with or without help) their own boats and test their sea-worthiness. All the supplies they’ll need to build and decorate their boats will be provided. Exhibits from the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher and the Fort Fisher Underwater Archeology Branch will also be part of the day’s activities.

More boats, both in and out of the water, and more nautical/ maritime Arts and Crafts vendors are expected at this year’s show, which has been growing every year, according to the website. Nautical and maritime demonstrations are planned along the waterfront, and the model boat exhibit will return to the old Visitor Center in Southport.

The boat owners love talking about their vessels, and welcome the opportunity to give visitors tours. Boats on display lead visitors on winding trail along the Yacht Basin, making a leisurely stroll along the water even more special.

A new collectors’ quality poster has been designed for the show, which will be available for sale prior to the show at the Southport Visitors Center, at the Ricky Evans Gallery, and at the NC Maritime Museum at Southport, as will the special edition T-shirt for this year’s show. Both will be available at the show from the Ship’s Store tent. A signed and framed original poster will be up for raffle, with tickets available from any SWBS staff member, and at the Ship’s Store tent.

There will also be other raffles; tickets will sold at the Wednesday Farmers Market in Southport and at information booths at the show. The Georgetown SC 25th Annual Wooden Boat Show, held in October 2014, featured a special Sunday event termed the Master Boat builders Challenge. Several teams of past Wooden Boat builders Challenge winners were given the same materials as those provided the Saturday contestants. However, they were allowed to build any boat they chose and the boats were judged on the quality of workmanship.

Mark Bayne of Charleston, South Carolina and Rob Dwelley of Hope, Maine chose to build the TEAL double-ender design by Phil Bolger of Gloucester, Massachusetts. They had both been early competitors in the Georgetown challenge but had never teamed up together. They won the competition, according to information on the Wooden Boat Show website. Wooden boat lovers will want to know that this was the first design used in the National Boatbuilding Challenge when it was started in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Bayne and Dwelley generously donated the boat to the Southport Wooden Boat Show for the raffle. Ted Dingley of Boiling Spring Lakes installed three seats, applied epoxy and painted the boat.

Other raffle prizes from event sponsors will also be available.

Registration for displaying a boat is only $25. Boat exhibits are limited to boats whose main structural strength is made from wood, according to the registration information. External applications of fiberglass, plastic, canvas, etc. are acceptable. Commercial and non-commercial exhibits are restricted to maritime/nautical themed subjects and require the submission of photos (non-returnable) and pre-approval of the Committee.

The Southport Wooden Boat Show’s purpose is to promote interest in and disseminate knowledge of the craft and art of wooden boat construction, to support efforts to preserve wooden boat construction and skills and to celebrate the region’s maritime and boatbuilding history.

PHOTOS BY : JEFFREY STITES