Chesapeake Light Craft's annual gathering of boat builders is happening again this year. I'll be bringing down some boats and signing books.
Here is what John Harris of CLC has to say about the event:
OkoumeFest is both a "show & tell" and a great excuse to play in small boats. Many CLC builders turn it into a deadline, planning to have their boat ready for launch at OkoumeFest. Others are just excited to share the results of their first (or second? or third?) boatbuilding adventure. Many attendees want to try out CLC’s ever-growing fleet of designs---nearly all of which will be available to try on the water.
As always, we'll be offering prizes for Best Boat ("Concours"), Best Paint Job, Best Outfitted Kayak, Longest Distance Traveled, and more.
If you're new to boats or boatbuilding - maybe you've been toying with the idea of building your own - there is no better opportunity for you to test out the various CLC designs, attend seminars, and have all of your questions answered. In addition to the CLC staff, you'll be able to pick the brains of dozens of amateur builders, all with their own experiences and ideas.
Friday, May 8th: The Open House will be at the CLC shop in Annapolis. We will have an assortment of Shop Demonstrations beginning at 1pm and a casual reception with food and drink at 5pm.
Saturday, May 9th: This year's on-the-water activities are moving to a beautiful facility at Matapeake on Kent Island, just across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge from Annapolis. We'll have the entire fleet on the beach for demos from 9am to 5pm. Lunch is not provided, but there is a cafe on-site in the Matapeake clubhouse and many other restaurants and sandwich shops nearby. Judging of homebuilt boats will begin at 3pm and we'll award the winners at 4pm.
