The fifty boats that will sail and motor into Deer Harbor next week aren’t arriving for a huge festival. Their owners are coming for relaxation, tasty food, and nautical companionship at the Ninth Annual Deer Harbor Wooden Boat Rendezvous.
“There’s no pressure, it’s just a relaxed atmosphere,” organizer Michael Durland said. “It’s a get-together rather than a public festival.”
The two-day annual rendezvous, this year scheduled for Sept. 7 and 8, typically hosts such Northwest celebrity vessels as “The Adventuress” and “The Martha,” in addition to dozens of local and out-of-town boats. The public is invited to all events, including races, BBQs, breakfast buffets, and live music.
“We get a lot of Canadian boats and some from Port Townsend,” Durland said. “But it’s pretty low-key and laid-back compared to the other boat shows. It’s also an end of the season party.”
The rendezvous kicks off Tuesday at 4 p.m. with a rowboat race around Fawn Island. At 4:30 p.m., Nick and Sarah Jones of Jones Family Farm on Lopez will serve up salmon, potatoes, sweet corn, salad, dessert, and beverages during the “Backyard BBQ” in the gardens of the Deer Harbor Boatworks. Lopez musician Mark Minkler will play the guitar, piano, and accordian with a guest fiddler from Seattle. The meal is $22 per plate. Carpooling is advised because of limited parking at the Boatworks.
On Sept. 8, boaters will begin the day with a Skipper’s Breakfast at the Deer Harbor Inn at 8 a.m., followed by an open-class sailboat race at 10 a.m. The day will finish with an awards ceremony and potluck dinner on the dock of the Deer Harbor Marina.
Durland and his wife Kat Fennell, owners of Deer Harbor Boatworks, launched the first rendezvous in 2002.
“We had grand designs about a wooden boat school and wooden boat activities, but those haven’t panned out,” Durland said. “So we put all of our efforts into this festival.”
They formed a non-profit, The Deer Harbor Wooden Boat Society, which is “dedicated to doing cool stuff on, in and around wooden boats in the San Juan Islands of Washington state.”
For now, Fennell says they are content with just the rendezvous.
“We’ve timed it so that it’s between the Classic Wooden Boat Festival in Victoria and the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend,” she said. “Ours is a rendezvous, not so much a festival. What attracts other boaters is that it’s a local, funky, relaxed event compared to the ones in Victoria and Port Townsend. So they get to come here and have a good time, versus having lots of spectators. They come back year after year because they enjoy the location and the people here.”
Fennell says the event has “grown on its own,” requiring very little advertising in the boating trades. One of the best-loved aspects of the rendezvous is the Backyard BBQ, which originated in a spontaneous potluck during the first year of the get-together. Most recently, the Jones family has catered the meal.
“The first year they catered, it was 2 p.m. and then 3 p.m., and no Nick Jones,” Fennell said. “I was starting to get panicked. And then all of a sudden, on the horizon, I see this little boat headed right for Deer Harbor. He went flying through the marina, pulled up the dock, unloaded fish, began cooking, and dinner was ready at 4 p.m. That’s a memory that will stay with me.”
The details
To reserve a slip for the Wooden Boat Rendezvous, call the Deer Harbor Marina at 376-3037. The marina gives a discount on moorage during the event. Volunteers are always needed during the rendezvous for a variety to tasks. For more information or to volunteer, contact the Deer Harbor Boatworks at 376-4056. Visit www.deerharborwoodenboats.org for additional information.
