We are excited to bring back Wooden Boat Festival in 2022 after a 2-year hiatus! We are committed to hosting activities and events that are fun, educational, and follow all federal, state, and local safety recommendations.

Outdoor activities present a low risk of COVID - we do not anticipate requiring proof of vaccination or masking this year. Depending on case loads at the time, masking may be recommended for indoor or crowded areas. Please respect your neighbor's choices to keep themselves safe - WBF is a mask-friendly environment!

As with any of our activities: please stay home if you are sick, wash your hands frequently, and be considerate of those around you!

Wooden Boat Festival Volunteer
Shifts Are Live!

Volunteer shifts for the 2024 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival are now open for sign-up through our new registration system! Click the button below to view available shifts and sign up today.

Browse Shifts & Sign Up

Join the fun!

Volunteer for a Unique Festival Experience

We have an incredible community of over 500 volunteers who come together each year to make this Festival happen. Volunteering for the Festival is a great way to meet new friends, experience the Festival from the inside, and simply have some fun! We offer a variety of roles, each with many shifts to fit your schedule. If you volunteer for 3 shifts, you'll also receive a volunteer t-shirt and a 3-day Festival pass! Not ready to commit to 3 shifts? No problem! We can still use your help, and you'll get into the Festival for free on the day(s) you work.

Step 1

If you are new to volunteering with Northwest Maritime Center, please begin by filling out our general volunteer application. If you have filled out the general volunteer application, thank you! Please just renew our waiver form for this year.

If you're a returning volunteer, you will need to sign the 2024 release waiver. On to step 2.

Step 2

About 6 weeks prior to Festival, it will be time to sign up for shifts! From this webpage you will be able to read about all the fun roles. Each role will have many shifts to choose from. Visit early to nab your preferred roles and shift times! Visit this page frequently because cancellations often re-open roles and shifts.

Step 3

Now that you have your Festival schedule all squared away, a final task is to learn about or brush up on being a Festival Volunteer. Our “toolkit” has some quick helpful basics. Click below to set yourself up for a dynamite experience.

Wooden Boat Festival Volunteer Handbook

Have Fun Making Your Festival Volunteer Schedule

We have an incredible community of over 500 volunteers who come together each year to make this Festival happen. Volunteering for the Festival is a great way to meet new friends, experience the Festival from the inside, and simply have some fun! We offer a variety of roles, each with many shifts to fit your schedule. If you volunteer for 3 shifts, you'll also receive a volunteer t-shirt and a 3-day Festival pass! Not ready to commit to 3 shifts? No problem! We can still use your help, and you'll get into the Festival for free on the day(s) you work.

Helpful Tips

If you've already filled out the General Volunteer Application it's time to read about the different volunteer roles, then select your shifts. Please use the same name and email address for each shift you select. Make sure your shifts don’t conflict with each other. Be sure to follow all the system prompts. Check your inbox! You should receive a confirmation email for each shift you sign up for—retain these for future reference.
On the registration website, you can click on the role titles to read their descriptions. Sometimes, individual shifts will also have descriptions to read as well.
Visit the volunteer registration website page frequently because cancellations often re-open roles and shifts.
Some Area Captains send their volunteers important information prior to Festival from their personal e-addresses and phone numbers. Just during Festival time, please open emails and answer calls from unrecognized contacts. It’s not spam, it’s your Captain! Plan on attending the in-person Volunteer Orientation in August.
Check out our Volunteer Toolkit for some quick helpful basics.
Oh no, unable to volunteer this year? We will miss you! You can still support our volunteers by baking/preparing/purchasing a treat or dish to drop by the Volunteer Lounge in Festival Village. No need to find parking - do this with a drive by. Just contact the Volunteer Coordinator and we’ll come grab your donation!

Click on role titles to view descriptions

Browse Shifts & Sign Up

Select Your Shifts

If you've already filled out the volunteer application (or, for returning volunteers, if you've filled out this year's release waiver) it's time to read about the different volunteer crews, then select your shifts. Please use the same name and email address for each shift you select. Be sure to hit "sign up" before moving on!

Harbormasters oversee all things on the water and help get all boats in and out of the harbor safely. Harbormasters are a specific skill set that includes line handlers, boat crew, and boat drivers and can't be fudged-- the Harbormaster crew are a pre-vetted team. We're sure you have what it takes, but we need to be certain. We're looking for great attitudes, the ability to work well under pressure, and for some, great boat handling skills. **NOTE: This is an application process - signing up here does not automatically make you a Harbormaster. The Harbormaster Lead will contact you to arrange the approval process. Click the link below to apply through our online form today!

APPLY NOW

On-call Crew volunteers have a "go-with-the-flow attitude" and feel comfortable helping with almost any task at WBF in a pinch. If you will be in town and can be ready to come down to WBF on short notice to cover volunteer no-shows and cancellations, please click the button below to be taken to our simple online form into which you can add your name and best contact details. You'll become an instant WBF short-lister! (Any shifts you work as part of this crew count towards your total when seeking the FREE Volunteer t-shirt and entry to the Festival. HOWEVER, it is not certain that we will need to call upon your service as it depends on unforeseen needs.)

APPLY NOW

Helpful Tips: If you've already filled out the General Volunteer Application (or, for returning volunteers, if you've filled out this year's release waiver) it's time to read about the different volunteer roles, then select your shifts. Please use the same name and email address for each shift you select. Make sure your shifts don’t conflict with each other. Be sure to follow all the system prompts. Check your inbox! You should receive a confirmation email for each shift you sign up for—retain these for future reference.

Some Area Captains send their volunteers important information prior to Festival from their personal e-addresses and phone numbers. Just during Festival time, please open emails and answer calls from unrecognized contacts. It’s not spam, it’s your Captain! Plan on attending the in-person Volunteer Orientation in August.

Oh no, unable to volunteer this year? We will miss you! You can still support our volunteers by baking/preparing/purchasing a treat or dish to drop by the Volunteer Lounge in Festival Village.

It’s hard work in a fast-paced environment, but really fun to be part of this team. Specific duties include pouring beverages, serving and clearing tables, washing dishes, moving ice, kegs and supplies, taking out the trash, and checking IDs. In addition, this crew stocks and maintains beer/wine supplies for other Festival bars. NOTE: Last shifts of each day, closing shifts, all include tear-down duties. All members of this crew must be 21+ years of age. If you're a person who loves to work hard, see what needs to be done and get it done, and wants to have a lot of fast-paced fun, this is the job for you! We encourage you to sign up for 3 Bar Harbor shifts so we can keep things efficient. Please only sign up for the "super fast-paced" shifts if you are comfortable really working hard! While Bar Harbor is always busy, these shifts are even busier!

Join the Dock Safety Patrol and ensure the safety of the festival goers in the heart of action—right on the docks. Keep strollers and large backpacks off the docks to limit accidental plunges into the water (this rarely happens thanks to our awesome crew!). This job involves a lot of standing in the elements. Rain or shine this crew is out in the weather helping people be safe. This is the perfect job for those who consider themselves a people-person and love people watching! Volunteers must be able to stay focused and act quickly under pressure.

Donor Events: Work with our Development and Philanthropy team on one or a series of donor events: a special event aboard a Newcomers VIP Reception (Wed 9/6), Dockside Party (Sat 9/9), Bell Toll Ceremony (Sun 9/10), and the Leadership Giving Program Sail-by (Sun 9/10). Tasks are wide ranging—there's organizing registration lists and name tags, putting together swag bags, bartending (on a boat!), food prep, cleanup, and more. Meet new people, eat great food, have a great time on the water and/or on land!

Help the Finance G-Team (formerly known as Green Team)! G-Team keeps a low profile & does a lot of walking around the whole Festival. Duties include picking up and reconciling sales receipts. Green Team experience is an asset but not required. All G-Team members (new & experienced) must attend a 45-minute special training session on August 29 at 5:30 pm. A background check is required. Bring your walking shoes and head for numbers and we’ll provide the snacks!

This is a crew for friendly people that act as the face of the Festival! First and foremost, you will be staged at an entry gate to verbally greet Festival attendees. Responsibilities include general greeting, guest information, wristband checking, and more. These volunteers must be comfortable enforcing rules while maintaining a friendly attitude. If you're excited to be at the Festival (we sure are!), and you enjoy greeting people, join this crew!

ESPECIALLY NEEDED: Join the Grounds/Recycling Captain and help keep the Festival site clean during the weekend. Includes but is not limited to general deliveries, minor maintenance, trash collection, “butts and cans,” and more! This crew is also responsible for making sure everything that should be recycled IS recycled, and that recycling bins are well-marked and emptied throughout the day. This is a great job for those who like moving about and getting those steps in!

Harbormasters oversee all things on the water and help get all boats in and out of the harbor safely. Harbormasters are a specific skill set that includes line handlers, boat crew, and boat drivers and can't be fudged-- the Harbormaster crew are a pre-vetted team. We're sure you have what it takes, but we need to be certain. We're looking for great attitudes, the ability to work well under pressure, and for some, great boat handling skills. **NOTE: This is an application process - signing up here does not automatically make you a Harbormaster. The Harbormaster Lead will contact you to arrange the approval process.

Assist kiddos in creating their own wooden boats! Requires patience, calm direction, and the ability to withstand the noise of hammers pounding wood for the entire shift 🙂 A fun place to volunteer. A simple background check will be run on all volunteers that work with kids at no cost to you. We will handle the process. You don't need woodworking experience, but you should be good at working with kids, encouraging and guiding them.

ESPECIALLY NEEDED: A friendly face, attention to detail, and confidence handling money is all you need to sell tickets at the Main Gate! Volunteers must be able to use iPads and work quickly to keep lines down. Because this is a fast-paced job, please do not sign up for back-to-back Main Gate shifts. Please take a break (or work a shift of another job if you prefer) between Main Gate shifts! This is a great job for those who like action. Your shift will fly by!

Use your special people skills to help patrons join the Northwest Maritime Center forces. Give Festival passes to current members, renew memberships, sign up new members, and collect payment. These volunteers must be friendly, organized, able to sit or stand at a table for the duration of the shift, comfortable operating basic iPad payment tools (we'll train you!), comfortable handling money, and comfortable referencing long alphabetized lists.

On-call Crew volunteers have a "go-with-the-flow attitude" and feel comfortable helping with almost any task at WBF in a pinch. If you will be in town and can be ready to come down to WBF on short notice to cover volunteer no-shows and cancellations, please click the button below to be taken to our simple online form into which you can add your name and best contact details. You'll become an instant WBF short-lister! (Any shifts you work as part of this crew count towards your total when seeking the FREE Volunteer t-shirt and entry to the Festival. HOWEVER, it is not certain that we will need to call upon your service as it depends on unforeseen needs.)

ESPECIALLY NEEDED! This crew is the first face of the NWMC and the Wooden Boat Festival. Great for those who are friendly, helpful, and comfortable giving directions. This crew directs traffic (humans, bicycles, vehicles of patrons and presenters) and enforces parking restrictions in and around the festival site. If you like being on your feet and being part of a job we couldn't do without, this is for you! We love our Parking & Traffic Crew! You keep the Wooden Boat Festival flowing smoothly.

It's a wooden boat festival, which means, there will be a whole lot of wooden boats coming into the marinas of Port Townsend for the weekend of Wooden Boat Festival. It also means there is potential for oil spills. Help our WBF team prevent this type of accidental pollution by checking-in with every attending boat owner to inspect their bilges. Also, you will be providing safety briefs about bilges and automatic bilge pumps. Strong knowledge of boats required. Training provided.

The sleepless nights of tracking Race to Alaska is in the rear view mirror. Only faint murmurs of the next incarnation can be heard. But lo! A bright spot in this dim landscape: The R2AK Blazer Party. A time to stoke the fire by which High Command pens the next best bad ideas. Come and lend a hand creating an unholy space wherein many tall tales will be told, dares presented, and many a finger food consumed.

Calling all Race to Alaska & Seventy48 past-racers and enthusiasts. This tent is where it's at to talk races for days, well for the three days of Festival at least. Chat fest with Festival goers = the full spectrum of conversation, from introducing them to what races are to deep diving with fellow hardcore fans. You will be on Cloud 9 with this role if you can cheerfully talk for hours at a time. A firm knowledge of both races is key.

This crew works at the Chandlery. You would be selling Festival merchandise, assisting festival patrons, and stocking and organizing product. If you love folding t-shirts, helping people find things to bring home as memories, and working with money… this is your crew! Volunteers must be comfortable working with cash, using an iPad, and should enjoy helping others. We'll train you on the ipad! This is such a fun crew—they're always smiling!

This crew works at the Merch Tent. You would be selling Festival merchandise, assisting festival patrons, and stocking and organizing product. If you love folding t-shirts, helping people find things to bring home as memories, and working with money… this is your crew! Volunteers must be comfortable working with cash, using an iPad, and should enjoy helping others. We'll train you on the iPad! This is such a fun crew—they're always smiling!

Runners are an unbelievable help to the Volunteer Coordinator and everyone involved in the Festival. You turn potential problems (like too few volunteers) into smooth-sailing operations! Volunteers are the versatile volunteers who can fill in as needed and be shifted around. This position requires someone who enjoys spontaneity, can learn on the spot, is okay with down time, and has a go-with-the-flow-attitude. Runners are often the volunteers who "save the day" by filling in when others are unable to make it to their shifts - our S/heroes of the day!

This is the workhorse crew of the Festival responsible for the setup and teardown of Festival grounds. Join this crew to get your volunteer hours in while keeping your schedule open during the Festival so you won't have to worry about missing that cool presentation or demonstration. We love to see returning faces, so if you've helped with setup or breakdown in years past, we'd love to see you on this crew again! All members of this crew must be reliable, over 18 years of age, physically fit, able to lift 30+ lbs, and comfortable going with the flow and jumping in where needed. Setup: Setup volunteers are in charge of setting up fences, tables, and the North Star Stage, trash can delivery, banner hanging, sign posting… to name a few. Join the pre-Festival buzz. It's a fun couple of days! Teardown: We have a very special place in our hearts for those who join the teardown crew and stick it out til the end with us. We rely on these volunteers each year to tear down and clean up the Festival after most people have gone home. If you're reliable, can do some heavy lifting, and don't mind missing the volunteer party Sunday evening, please join this crew! The 3-6 PM shift will even give you the option to attend the volunteer party (plus, it's a short shift... who doesn't want that?)!

Assist Ship Simulator Docents by managing participants before and after their tour up in the NWMC Pilothouse. Greet and escort Festival goers up to the Ship’s Simulator so they can take the helm themselves and take this adult-sized video game for a spin! The idea? Practice driving any vessel, anywhere around the world, in any kind of weather condition. You'll report to the Pilothouse after checking in at the Volunteer Check-in tent.

Do you like being on your feet and roaming the grounds? Our IT manager could use your help distributing fresh IT hardware to their prospective stations. This position requires someone who enjoys spontaneity, teaching others how to use a a basic computer or point-of-sale device, is okay with sporadic down time, and has a go-with-the-flow-attitude. Training happily provided and no PhD in computer science required.

Venue Hosts assist indoor stages for presentations! We need help with crowd control, helping people find the right room (sometimes the bathroom!), and keeping people quiet when they enter late. Venue hosts also ensure presenters, exhibitors, and sponsors have a place to go for a quiet moment to make a copy, send an email, etc. Make sure the hospitality suite is stocked with snacks and beverages, and that it is a friendly, warm place to go. This is a special job for a special team. If you like to care for people and make sure they know they are taken care of, join this team!

It's all happening at the Volunteer Check-in Tent. If you like being the first friendly face freshly arriving volunteers see, we want you here. Help get your fellow volunteers checked-in, their quick questions answered, and off to make magic happen in their areas. You'll even get to help pass out volunteer t-shirts to volunteers that still need theirs. Working alongside the Volunteer Coordinator, you should be friendly, outgoing, well-organized, reliable, and comfortable working quickly from a list.

If you love volunteers, especially those who love working at the Wooden Boat Festival, read on. Share your WBF passion with others by helping our Volunteer Coordinator recruit volunteers PRIOR to Festival by making phone calls/ sending emails to past years' volunteers and hosting outreach booths at the PT Farmers' Market/Food Co-op. No firm shifts, totally flexible. Contact Roberta at volunteer@nwmaritime.org or 360-385-3628 ext. 115 right now to get rolling.

Bring your friendly attitude, patience, and attention to detail! You’ll be responsible for will-call ticket pickups, providing information & assistance to festival patrons, and returning lost children. Must have willing and comfortable using tech, specifically iPad. This is a good job to do if you need to be able to sit down during your shift. Note: the last shift on Sunday requires volunteers willing and able to help with tear-down, including the tent.

Come work our favorite by the water bar at the edge of the Point! Specific duties include pouring beverages, serving and clearing tables, washing dishes, moving ice, kegs and supplies, taking out the trash, and checking IDs. In addition, this crew stocks and maintains beer/wine supplies for other Festival bars. All members of this crew must be 21+ years of age. If you're a person who loves to work hard, see what needs to be done and get it done, and wants to have a lot of fast-paced fun, this is the job for you! We encourage you to sign up for 3 Wee Nip shifts so we can keep things efficient.

If you have experience with and fondness for using woodworking hand tools, boy have we got a Festival role for you. Work under Portland-based Master Woodcraftsman, Jamie Zartler! You'll help participants experience the joys and wonders of woodworking. Different projects will be offered - this is a pretty sweet gig! Skills required: proactive & safety minded; significant experience with hand tools & chisels.

Have questions?

We're excited to welcome you to our Wooden Boat Festival Volunteer Community and we want to make it easy for you to get involved.

If you want or need help, don’t hesitate to contact the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@woodenboat.org or 360-385-3628, ext. 115 | 360-316-1570 (text OK)

Sign up for the latest news & updates

We love our volunteers!

Have questions?

Call the Volunteer Coordinator at 360.385.3628 x115 or email at volunteer@woodenboat.org

Keep Our Sea Plastic Free! We’re stepping up our environmental sustainability efforts for the future of our oceans and the wildlife that depends on them. Click here to learn how you can help.

Wooden Boat Festival Volunteer Shifts Are Live!

Join the fun!

Volunteer for a Unique Festival Experience

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Have Fun Making Your Festival Volunteer Schedule

Select Your Shifts

Have questions?

Sign up for the latest news & updates

We love our volunteers!

Have questions?

Wooden Boat Festival Volunteer
Shifts Are Live!