Members of the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters club enjoy using small rowing, sailing and paddling boats--primarily traditional designs that are trailerable, affordable, functional and just plain fun.

We’re centered in Jefferson County, Washington--proud home of the Northwest Maritime Center, Wooden Boat Foundation, Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding and

a rich maritime history.

We’re a loose-knit group--no bylaws, commodores, prizes or dues--just folks who love getting out on the water together in smaller boats.

How do you join the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters?

All you have to do--for free--is register on our Pocket Yachters forum on Yahoo, where members and guests share information. Here’s a link to the forum:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/porttownsendsmallboats/

Please see our Calender of Events, below, and e-mail Marty Loken at norseboater22@gmail.com

if you have questions about upcoming meetings or events. Alternatively, you can call (360) 301-6737.

Port Townsend

Pocket Yachters

2013

Calendar of Events

Friday through Sunday, June 7-9 - Classic Mariners Regatta, Port Townsend.

June 10-15 - Boatbuilding class at the Northwest Maritime Center. Instructor Scott Jones guides participants through construction of their own dinghies--either a Passagemaker Dinghy or Eastport Pram (stitch-and-glue kits from Chesapeake Light Craft). Details and registration: www.clcboats.com

Thursday, July 4 through Sunday, July 7  - Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival, Seattle.

Friday through Monday, July 12-15 - Sucia Island Small Craft Rendezvous, San Juan Islands. (A number of participants in the Sucia event will row and/or sail south during the week following to participate in the second annual Pocket Yacht Palooza, described next):

Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21 - Second Annual Pocket Yacht Palooza, at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend. (See Pocket Yacht Palooza section--click on link at top of this page--for more photos and details.)

    The public display of small rowing and sailing craft will be on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday participants will sail, row and paddle across Port Townsend Bay together...with exact destination dependant on wind conditions.

    The Pocket Yacht Palooza is a celebration of interesting small-craft designs, whether wood, fiberglass or some other building material, with emphasis on creativity in design, functionality and fun. (This is not a contest to see who has the most coats of varnish!)

    The event is organized by the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters group and is co-sponsored by Small Craft Advisor magazine; the Northwest Maritime Center; the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, Sage Marine (builder of the Sage 17, which they’ll have at the show); the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association, and the Puget Sound Chapter of TSCA--the Traditional Small Craft Association. Additional co-sponsors include Dan Mattson’s excellent podcast, Hooked on Wooden Boats.

    The first-ever Pocket Yacht Palooza drew more than 50 small boats, and was held in May, 2012. While we had great weather for the event, it was decided that for 2013 we’d pick a safer date in mid-July for the event.

    Quite a few participants in the 2013 Pocket Yacht Palooza will build their small-craft cruises around the event, by participating in the 11th annual Sucia Island Small Craft Rendezvous the previous weekend (July 13-14), then rowing or sailing south to Port Townsend for the July 20-21 Palooza.

    For details on the 2013 Pocket Yacht Palooza, or to register your boat, please e-mail norseboater22@gmail.com

    Finally, if you might like to order a Pocket Yacht Palooza shirt, or other PT Pocket Yachters item, please see our Zazzle store:

http://www.zazzle.com/pocketyachters

Saturday, August 3  - Boat School Rendezvous, at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, Port Hadlock, including small craft from the Puget Sound chapter of TSCA--the Traditional Small Craft Association--along with the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters.

August 4-16 - SCAMP Camp construction workshop, featuring Howard Rice and John Welsford. To be held at the Northwest Maritime Center, Port Townsend. SCAMP Camp is organized by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding--for details, see the Boat School’s website: http://nwboatschool.org/programs/Course_Detail.aspx?processID=129 

Saturday, August 17 - Gig Harbor Messabout, organized by the Puget Sound Chapter of TSCA, the Traditional Small Craft Association. Meet at Gig Harbor BoatShop at 1 p.m. for tour and lunch, then messabout in harbor.

August 24, 25 - Small Boat Construction Seminar, with Howard Rice and John Welsford, in Port Townsend. For details, see website: www.smallcraftacademy.com

August 25-28 - Performance Pocket Yacht Sailing Seminar, with Howard Rice and John Welsford, in Port Townsend. For details, see website: www.smallcraftacademy.com

Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 30-September 1 - Victoria Classic Boat Festival, British Columbia.

Tuesday and Wednesday, September 3-4 - Wooden Boat Rendezvous, Deer Harbor, Orcas, Island.

Friday through Sunday, September 6-8 - Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

Saturday, September 28 - Fort Worden Messabout, Port Townsend, organized by the Puget Sound TSCA and Port Townsend Pocket Yachters.

OPTIONAL 2013 CRUISE EVENTS & ONE-DAY MESSABOUTS - Port Townsend Pocket Yachters

NOTE: The following cruise and messabout ideas were discussed during our recent planning party. Not all of the cruise ideas will happen in 2013, but the idea is to toss out a list of potential events, hope that some individual members adopt certain events (in terms of organizing basic cruise details)...and that we pick 2013 dates for some of the events based on favorable tidal currents, weather or other factors. During our planning meeting, some of the events that attracted greater interest included ‘Round Protection Island; Lake Crescent; Lake Ozette; Blake Island and all of the one-day messabout ideas. If anyone would like to adopt one of the events, suggest dates for 2013 and look into logistical details on behalf of the club, please e-mail Marty Loken at norseboater22@gmail.com

EVENT IDEAS:

'Round Protection Island - One day. Date to be decided.

Rat Island Picnic Cruise - Across Port Townsend Bay from PT; one day. Date to be decided.

Lake Crescent Weekend - Two days, perhaps staying at Log Cabin Resort on the north shore, where there's a launch ramp, tent-camping, RV spaces and cabins. (This could also be a single-day event.) Date to be decided.

Semi-Spontaneous Day Sails - Mostly in Port Townsend Bay and vicinity. Dates to be decided based on weather and who wants to go. (Please announce that you’re going out on such-and-such date, using the Port Townsend Small Boats Yahoo Forum--see link near top of this page.)

Lake Ozette Weekend - Camp cruising for 2-3 days. Date to be decided.

Blake Island Weekend - Beach camping at Blake Island State Park; several launch-ramp options including Bainbridge Island, Manchester and
Brownsville. Dates to be decided.

'Round Marrowstone Island - Weekend cruise, overnighting either at Oak Bay County Park, Fort Flagler State Park, or...?Date to be decided.

Lower Columbia River Exploration - This could easily be a three- to five-day
trip, perhaps launching at the marina in Cathlamet, exploring back channels of adjoining Puget Island, poking into Skamokawa and other destinations in the
area. Date to be decided.

Dungeness Spit Cruise - A one-day row/sail, mostly inside Dungeness Spit but
including a hike to the lighthouse; launch at ramp just inside the eastern end
of the spit. Date to be decided.

Hood Canal Day Cruise - Launch at the ramp inside Pleasant Harbor and row/sail Hood Canal, perhaps exploring Fisherman Harbor, a quiet back-bay at the south end of the Toandos Peninsula. Date to be decided.

Mats Mats Day Cruise - Launch at the ramp inside Mats Mats Bay and row/sail the Oak Bay area, perhaps including Colvos Rocks and Port Ludlow. Tentative date: Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. picnic cruise.

' Round Bainbridge Cruise - This would likely take three days, launching at one of two Bainbridge ramps and circumnavigating the island, with overnight stops at Blake Island and a friend's beach property near the entrance to Miller Bay (near Agate Pass). Date to be decided.

'Round Whidbey Cruise - Maybe five days, starting in Port Townsend with overnight stops at such places as Cornet Bay, Hope Island, Coupeville, Cama Beach State Park, Langley Marina, Mats Mats Bay, Oak Bay County Park or Fort
Flagler State Park. Date to be decided.


OTHER OPTIONS

for 2013

Shop Tours – We’ve discussed visits to Haven Boatworks, PT Foundry and the Boat School, among others. Dates and details to be decided.

Movie Night, at the Northwest Maritime Center, using overhead projectors. Some
ideas included one of the "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Wayne Chimenti present to talk about his role in skippering the Bounty replica during filming; "Captains Courageous," "Knife in the Water" (a black-and-white Polanski film), and "Riddle
of the Sands." The thought is to offer Movie Nights during the dead of winter…so stayed tuned. Dates to be decided.

Workshops and/or Work Parties – Peter Guerrero has recommended that we consider getting together to build something, learn a skill together, and/or help an individual member get through some particular stage of work on his/her boat. As an example, Peter talked about his need for a canvas cover for the Oughtred Whilly Boat, wondering if someone with sewing skills and equipment could perhaps do a demo. Dates and details to be decided.

Musical Boats – Marty has suggested that during one of our single-day messabouts
(like Rat Island), that we focus on swapping boats as the main activity, so that members get a better sense of how different designs compare under sail, and/or being rowed. (Perhaps this could be the theme of our one-day messabout on July 21, following the July 20 Pocket Yacht Palooza?)

- Marty