BLBF2023

2023 Big Little Boat Festival Recap - Part 1

2023 Big Little Boat Festival Recap: Part 1

Skip to Part 2 and Boatbuilding Awards

Big Little Boat Festival 2023

The Big Little Boat Festival was held on the Chester River near Centreville, Maryland, on May 13, 2023.

Here's a quick video recap!

It wasn't the first time it rained, and as in the past, a bit of warm rain did not keep lovers of small wooden boats from our annual bacchanal.

In the past three years we've changed the name of the event once (from "OkoumeFest" to "Big Little Boat Festival") and the venue twice (from Kent Island to the West River, and from the West River to the Chester River). The first CLC event like this was held in 1999, and we haven't missed a year since, even during the socially-distanced plague years.

The new site, at Conquest Beach on the Chester River, has absolutely everything we could want: a stretch of the Chester River protected from extremes of wind and wave; plenty of room for parking; excellent camping facilities; and of course a broad beach suited perfectly for playing in small boats.

Festival location

The Big Little Boat Festival site on the Chester River is about an hour northeast of CLC's Annapolis headquarters. Yes, the same Chester River after which the Chester Yawl is named.

Festival Sign
Conquest Beach

Conquest Beach, situated within a 748-acre wildlife reserve, on the broad, smooth middle reaches of the Chester River near Centreville, Maryland.

Chesapeake Bay Beach

 A typical Chesapeake Bay beach: saltgrasses and lovely small boats.

Saturday morning

Here's the scene Saturday morning at the Big Little Boat Festival. Light winds, and the rain was still hours away.

Demo boats

As always, CLC mustered a half-dozen trailer loads of demo boats, about 60 in all! They were available for any participant to slide into the water.

Conquest Beach

Another view of Conquest Beach, looking northeast up the Chester River.

PocketShip

PocketShip, one of only a handful of CLC boats that can't be hand-launched from a beach (not easily, anyway) arrived on her own bottom from the nearby launch ramp.

Southwester Dory

There was less sailing than usual, thanks to light winds. CLC's Southwester Dory is being rigged up here.

Lighthouse Tender Peapod

The Lighthouse Tender Peapod glided around all day. A modern underbody and plenty of sail area makes these double-enders fast and fun in all condition.

Launch

The rain held off until midafternoon, and we were delighted with the space on the beach at our new Festival site, and with the ease of launch and retrieval. The prevailing winds here are usually blowing away from the beach.

Launching
Seminar

Seminars were held in the spacious pavilion at Conquest Beach. Here, CLC's Jay Hockenberry walks us through epoxy and fiberglass.

Seminar

John C. Harris, here wielding a hot knife, gave a talk about small boat rigging in general and the esoterica of lug rigs in particular.

Cardboard boat

A cardboard boatbuilding race has been a feature of the last few Big Little Boat Festivals, and we had a vigorous and creative crew this year.

Spiffy
Kids launching

Young people poised to launch their boats!

It floats!

All cardboard vessels proved seaworthy, even as the rain began to fall.

Onwards to Part 2 and Boatbuilding Awards

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