In 2014 I was in the area of Port Townsend, WA during their annual Wooden Boat Festival. So I went. Unfortunately there’s not much information on the festival (as evidenced by the lackluster Wikipedia page), despite it being one of the largest of its kind in the world. There were hundreds of wooden boats of all sizes. Visitors can walk out onto any of the boats, converse with their owners, inspect their rigging and construction, get all passionate about lives they never lived or whatever else it is that boat enthusiasts do.

Don’t mind my tone. If you’ve read some of my travel stories, you’ll know that I spent 8 months on and around boats trying to hitchhike across the Pacific Ocean. It left me with a sour taste in my mouth and a poor outlook on the idea of cruising–despite the experience being itself timeless.

So I was surprised by the patience of the captain on whose boat we sailed out into the harbor. Here are some photos of the festival.