What started as a wild idea—a vision of community and a lifestyle of “salt water hippies” centered on boats and the sea—sparked a national conversation among those involved in the then nascent wooden boat revival. In 1978, more than 2,000 people from all corners of the US and several Canadian provinces traveled, some with their boats and tools, to the first nationally recognized Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. 

Today, the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival is the most education-packed and inspiring wooden boat event in the world. Featuring hundreds of wooden vessels, dozens of indoor and outdoor presentations and demonstrations, a who’s who of wooden boat experts, and thousands of wooden boat enthusiasts—there’s something to do, someone to meet, or a boat to board at every turn. Expanded a little each year, the Festival honors its traditions while inviting energetic debate and demonstration about the latest innovations in boatbuilding, equipment, skills, and adventure.