Wooden classics, vintage racers, and other antique and Chesapeake Bay-related boats are coming to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum June 16-18 for the 30th annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival and the Arts at Navy Point in St. Michaels, Md. Hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society, this Father’s Day weekend event brings a sense of nostalgia to the Miles River and CBMM’s docks and campus, drawing some of the area’s finest classic boats, nautical and maritime treasures, entertainment, food, and libations to this waterfront festival.
“With a juried competition among entrants for best restored and preserved boats, this festival attracts the best of the best when it comes to classic and antique boats,” commented ACBS-Chesapeake Bay Chapter Festival Chairman Bob Hamilton. “And with this year celebrating our 30th year with the festival, guests will have a great opportunity to see some incredible boats this Father’s Day weekend.”
The show attracts the finest runabouts to yachts, including race boats, work boats, launches, hydroplanes, and utilities. Chris-Craft, Trumpy, Gar Wood, Donzi, and Lyman are among some of the boats represented.
This year’s festival will feature a selection of sailing log canoes on land and in the water. A regional adaptation of the traditional Indian dugout canoes, log canoes were used from the 18th through the 20th century as all-purpose Chesapeake craft, to harvest oysters, transport goods, and to get people from place to place. A small fleet continues—including CBMM’s Flying Cloud, Edmee S., Marianne, and Bufflehead—with many seen today along the Chesapeake’s Chester, Miles, and Tred Avon Rivers during highly competitive sailing races each summer and fall. With long masts and large sails, these boats keep upright as they accelerate to speeds of 10 knots or more, with crew members climbing to the ends of 15-foot boards placed perpendicular to the boat itself.
Along with the East Coast’s largest gathering of antique and classic boats, the festival’s signature Arts at Navy Point pavilion brings more than 70 juried fine artists, craftspeople, and vendors offering nautical and maritime-themed items for boat and home.
Workshops and seminars, building demonstrations, family activities, and a nautical flea market will be available throughout the weekend, along with a selection of regional and grilled foods, music, and a waterside bar and deck for libations and other drinks. Saturday’s seminars will feature informative presentations on marine topics, headlined by the Honorable John C. North II’s presentation on log canoes. Times and information on all seminars will be announced at a later date and will be in the Festival program given out at the event.
Children’s activities include boatbuilding craft projects, and the Hagerty Insurance Marine Youth Judging program, where youth learn about the award-winning qualities of preserved and restored classic boats. Along the Fogg’s Landing side of CBMM’s campus, the festival’s Field of Dreams features an array of restorable classic boats and motors, along with other items in a nautical flea market sale.
The wake of the 1920s-era gentleman’s racer Kidd, as she takes off on the Miles River.
While at the Antique & Classic Boat Festival, guests can also watch the log-hull restoration of the 1889 bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, now underway in CBMM’s boatyard through 2018. Special exhibitions include Potomac Waterfowling: Gunning the Nation’s Rivers, and Robert de Gast’s Chesapeake, featuring 80 photographs curated from the more than 10,000 by de Gast in CBMM’s collection. Potomac Waterfowling opens April 8, 2017 and continues through March, 2018, with Robert de Gast’s Chesapeake opening May 12, 2017, through April, 2018.
Festival hours are Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Father’s Day, Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The festival includes two-day admission to all of CBMM’s special and permanent exhibitions, including the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, where guests can climb to the top for views of the Miles River and St. Michaels harbor. The event is $5 for CBMM adult members, or $18 for adults; $15 for seniors and students with ID; and $6 for children 6-17.
This year’s festival features a selection of sailing log canoes on land and in the water.
Scenic river cruises aboard CBMM’s 1920 buyboat Winnie Estelle will be offered throughout the festival, with boat rides and food an additional cost. For safety reasons, non-service dogs are prohibited at CBMM festivals. Festival parking for all three days and a Saturday shuttle service are free, with CBMM a short walk to specialty shops, restaurants, inns, bed & breakfasts, and other attractions in St. Michaels’ historic district. For more information, visit bit.ly/boatfestival17 or call 410-745-2916.
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