OKOUMEFEST 2007 Our profuse thanks to the many attendees of OkoumeFest 2007, who came from as far away as California to play in and around boats for a few days.
That was one of the biggest Fridays we can remember for OkoumeFest, the shop thronged with visitors. Big snaps to our colleague John Peck, who served up shish-kebabs on the grill. For once we didn't have a ton of food left over.
On Saturday the weather was kind, in the low 80's with light wind, just enough for the sailors. The kayaks blackened the waters all day---once again, thanks to the Chesapeake Paddlers Association for on-water support.
The builders never fail to amaze us with their creative interpretations of stock CLC kits. John Beck won Best in Show with a Shearwater 17 Hybrid that was as much moveable sculpture as kayak, combining varnished wood, stained wood, and a paint scheme worthy of Lichtenstein. There were many others; photos are below.
We wrapped up OkoumeFest with dinner and a slide show by John Harris entitled "The Evolution of Boat Kit Design: From Chris Craft to Chesapeake Light Craft," after which lots of folks slipped out on the water to enjoy the evening sea breeze.
We were thrilled with the turnout and all the customer-built boats! See you in 2008.  | 
| | Most of the fleet was on the water all day ... | ...leaving little on the beach.
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| Just enough breeze to keep the sailboats under way.
| Bill Cave's Skerry and John Beck's Shearwater 17 Hybrid. |  |  | | The Eastport Pram, always fun for the kids. | Paul Genoa with some vintage CLC designs: the Cape Charles 17 and the SailRig Mark 1. (Also, Lazslo and his pirogue). |
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| | John Pollard took a runner-up prize for Best Small Craft with his Passagemaker Dinghy. His family gave the boat a workout when they sailed it home on Sunday. | Mark Cline won Best Small Craft with his beautifully finished Eastport Pram, "Cosmo." Note the Windex aloft! |
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| Tiffany Runge's Chesapeake 16LT was a runner-up for Best Kayak - (translation: "Armored Bear").
| Robert Rushia's Shearwater 17 Hybrid was another runner-up for Best Kayak. Having been teased with a few photos earlier in the year, it was great to finally see the boats in person. Robert's deck design is exquisite.
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| Fred Steele took Best Kayak for his flawlessly executed Shearwater 17. It was simply a perfect example of stitch-and-glue boatbuilding. The seams, filleting and clean-up, fiberglass work, outfitting, and finishing (8 coats of varnish, thank you) - Fred did everything right.
| Oh, did we mention the staining? |  |  | | Finally, ths year's Best in Show: the Shearwater 17 Hybrid by John Beck. |
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