The Sunshine Coast Wooden Boat Festival is entering its second year this Canada Day weekend, after a successful event last year drew a crowd of 2,000 people.
"The biggest difference this year is the ocean parade through Skookumchuck," said Scott Baker, acting chair of the festival.The boats will start their journey from overnight moorage in Pender Harbour June 30. The fleet will travel through Skookumchuck Narrows, where onlookers can watch from the provincial park at 11 a.m. The ocean parade will go down Sechelt Inlet and end at the government dock in Porpoise Bay. The next day, the festival begins. Gates open for viewing the boats at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday will feature live music from Lynne and Reg Dickson and Joe Stanton. Kids will build toy boats and there will be blindfolded rowboat races. Other activities include a buoy maze, a heaving line toss and 50/50 draws.
People will get a chance to vote for the best wooden boat. The festival will close at 5 p.m. Saturday with a ceremony and results of the vote.
Admission is $2, or $5 for a family. Proceeds go to the Coast Guard Auxiliary based in Halfmoon Bay for a new rescue boat.The Sunshine Coast Old Woodies Society (SCOWS), a group formed for their love of wooden boats, started the event last year. Most of the SCOWS members are part of the Coast Guard. SCOWS is now a sub-committee of the Sunshine Coast Marine Rescue Society. The festival displayed over 19 wooden boats in 2004. This year, 19 boats are registered already, and Baker expects many last-minute entrants. Most of the boats come from the Coast, and there will also be boats from Squamish, Delta and Nanaimo.
Volunteers plan and run the event. The committee has about eight members organizing the event, and 15 to 20 volunteers will be helping out during the event days. For more information, visit www.scwoodenboat.ca.
