Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival and Maritime Model Expo

The Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival takes place every year at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St Michaels, Maryland. It happens next weekend Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October. This is the 33rd running of the very popular event and this year it has been joined by the Maritime Model Expo.

Hundreds of amateur and professional boatbuilders bring their boats to this event, to participate in on-the-water events and to show their boats. This festival has a full program of boatbuilding demonstrations and other educational opportunities, in addition to the many permanent and temporary displays of the Museum. The model displays and exhibitions will take place on and around the model pond. There are also opportunities for scenic boat rides all weekend and a race to watch on Saturday afternoon, as well as live music and plenty of food to keep you going.

The floating fleet of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. CBMM photo

I will be there for the weekend, with my Paper Jet skiff. When not on the water sailing, my boat will be somewhere on the waterfront and I will be somewhere nearby. If you want to chat about our designs or my books, ask questions about boatbuilding, sailing or ocean-crossings, or just to talk boats, come looking for me, I wont be far away.

I will also be at the Festival Dinner on Saturday evening and will be the speaker for the evening. My subject will be my boat designs, concentrating mostly on those under 20ft long. This will include the open boat circumnavigation of Anthony Steward on one of my 19ft designs.

Anthony Steward leaving Cape Town at the start of his circumnavigation.

If you are looking for something to do next weekend and are within driving distance of St Michaels MD, come to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for a memorable boating experience. I look forward to meeting you there.

To see our boat designs, small or large, go to http://dixdesign.com or http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

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Wooden Boat Festival Port Townsend

I will be at the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend, in Washington State, next weekend. This is the 39th edition of this annual Festival, which is claimed to be the biggest of the type in the world. With hundreds of boats on view on land and in the water, many suppliers exhibiting their wares, boatbuilding demonstrations, a very full schedule of seminars and live shows in the evenings, there is plenty to keep lovers of boats and the water occupied for a day or more. Add in the wide array of food and beverages served by vendors at the Festival and nearby restaurants and you have the ingredients for a wonderful weekend to help wind down the summer.

Didi Cruise-Mini "Seque" on the 2014 Wooden Boat Festival.

The Festival runs from Friday 11th through to Sunday 13th September. I will be participating in one shared seminar session and be hosting two of my own. For those who would like to catch one or more of them, here are the times and locations.

1) Yacht Designer Panel Q&A. Moderated by Jay Benford, we designers will give our opinions in response to whatever boat-related questions you throw at us. This type of seminar shows that we dont always agree on the best way to do something. Just as well, or all boats would look alike. Friday 11th 2:45 to 4:30 in Maritime East "Cascade" room.

2) Plywood Boat Construction. In this PowerPoint-illustrated seminar, I discuss the various plywood boat construction methods for which I design and have designed in the past, showing the details used and covering the advantages or disadvantages of the type. Saturday 12th 2:30 to 3:30pm in the Explorer Room.

3) Plywood Kits for Larger Boats. Most people think of kit boats as applicable to dinghies and other small open boats, not for much bigger ocean cruisers and racers. In this PowerPoint-illustrated seminar I show a wide range of plywood kit boat options, from trailer-sailers to cruiser/racers, traditional to modern craft and both mono- and multihulls. Sunday 13th 1:15 to 2:15pm in Maritime West "Olympic" room.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest or will be visiting next weekend, spend some quality time with boats and boating people at the Wooden Boat Festival

Our main website - http://dixdesign.com/
Our mobile website - http://dixdesign.com/mobile

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Wooden Boat Festival 2015

The 2015 edition of the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, happens 11-13 September. Organised by the Northwest Maritime Center, it is their premier event of the year, attracting hundreds of wooden boats of all description, a wide array of exhibits and with 120 speaker sessions on boating subjects.

Some of the boats at the 2014 Festival, Didi Cruise-Mini in right foreground.

I will be taking part in three sessions, one on each day of the Festival.

Friday 11th - 2:45pm - Yacht Designers Panel Q&A - six designers to field your questions about boats and designing them. A session like this highlights the variety of opinions held by different designers on boating issues.

Saturday 12th - 2:30pm - Plywood Boatbuilding Methods - PowerPoint presentation showing information and details of the methods for which I design, illustrated with drawings and photos of my own projects and those of amateurs who have built these designs.

Sunday 13th - 1:15pm - Plywood Kits for Larger Boats - PowerPoint presentation about constructing kit boats that are larger than open dinghies and kayaks. This will cover boats from a 21ft lapstrake plywood trailer-sailer through to a 55ft radius chine plywood cruising catamaran.

Paper Jet "Water Rocket" at the 2014 Festival

The Didi Cruise-Mini "Segue" of David Blessing will be there among the on-the-water boats but I dont know yet what other of my boats will be there.

When not involved with other things, I am happy to meet with builders or anyone interested in my designs. If you cant find me then visit the Didi Cruise-Mini. Whoever is in attandance at the boat should know where I am and how to contact me.

If you are in the Pacific Northwest, or able to get there, this is an event worthwhile visiting.

To see our designs, visit our main website or our mobile website.

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