Thanks very much to everyone who came out to this year's OkoumeFest, whether it was to the Friday Open House at our shop, or a terrific day at the beach at Matapeake on Saturday (or both). In all, it was a wonderful event and we are really glad so many folks seemed to have such a good time. We'll have a full wrap up and a report on the awards in a day or two.

There was a lot of interest at Friday's Open House when John showed off the 22'6" Coastal Cruiser under construction in our shop. http://www.clcboats.com/life-of-boats-blog/two-faerings-for-sail-and-oar-chesapeake-light-craft-faering.html

Master craftsman and kayak guru Nick Schade was on hand for a quick seminar on Friday on fiberglassing complex shapes, like the underside of the deck of his slick new Petrel Play.

We got to the beach at Matapeake early to set up, and so did some of our friends who brought their own beautifully crafted craft like this Microbootlegger to show and share. We'll have full results of the judging along with the complete OkoumeFest wrapup soon.

The rain held off, temperatures were pleasant, and we were glad we brought so many paddles. The Kaholos were very popular with all ages.

The younger kids had fun with the boat model kits while their parents played with the full-scale versions.

Meanwhile, just down the beach, the adventurers were lining up for the new OkoumeFest Challenge race http://www.clcboats.com/boatbuilding_classes/263.html

Nick must have tried just about every boat we had (and there were 60 of them) on the beach. He brought his own gorgeous strip-built canoe, but he went out in the Sassafras, too.

Thanks again, everyone. Watch for a full wrap up on the website very soon covering all the highlights. We're already planning for next year ...