From fore to aft: Visitors admire classic crafts during 7th annual Wooden Boat Festival
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The Balboa Yacht Club on Saturday welcomed the public to attend the 7th annual Newport Beach Wooden Boat Festival, where nearly 40 boats were on display both on land and in the water to showcase the preservation of the craftsmanship of boatbuilding from a bygone era.
“It’s inspiring to see the people are so into the project,” said Mike Sullivan, event chairman. “You’ve got nostalgia, history and a skill set that was commonplace of the days gone by.”
Sullivan highlighted some of the carpentry skills involved, including the fact that each piece of wood had to be trimmed with the skill level of planing and joinery not seen anymore.
”We don’t have these trades anymore that highlights all of that showcasing, so many aspects of [the] skill set,” said Sullivan. “It’s so cool to see the amount of effort going into restorations truly looking like a piece of art. To be able to go on and touch it from the turn of the century where a set of plans with a design and creating with hand tools — a lost art today [when] boats are built with computerized molds.
“It’s always more work to redo than the original, always harder to restore something than it is to build the first time — it’s years of effort. Just awesome.”
Mort Kieler, the project manager in rebuilding first-time entry Windborne, a 1956 40-foot sailboat, can attest to the four-year labor-intensive process.
“We were lucky enough to find two Guatemalan woodworkers that did all the work,” Kieler said. “The six pieces of the decks were restored one piece at a time in my backyard in Costa Mesa.“
Newport Beach residents Lee and Tricia Tarnutzer entered Tug-A-Jug, their 24-foot tugboat built in 1982, in the weekend festival.
“We use it constantly, we take clients out and also use it for friends and family,” said Tricia, who explained it was featured on their business website Teknique IT with the slogan “I want to get to know you — Let’s go on a day cruise.”
Attendees made their way up and down the docks oohing and aahing the boats.
“Perfect for a day boat, all open; it’s even got a lounge,” one attendee mused about the 1969, 31-foot Dazzler, ideal for cruising the Newport Harbor.
“Whenever they have [the wooden boat festival] we come,” said Darrin Lee, as he gently ran his hand across the railing in admiration of the 1923 Astor, the popular classic English-built schooner. “I’ve been operating wooden boats for 40 years.”
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