The antique and classic boats are coming...

I love this event. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) this is the eleventh year the Antique & Classic Boat Festival is being held in Salem. It happened for a few years prior to discovering Hawthorne Cove Marina, and it has enjoyed great success and visitation since coming to Salem.


The festival is this weekend - August 28 and 29 - at Hawthorne Cove Marina on White Street. The marina is one block from the Salem Ferry landing at Blaney Street, and one block from the House of the Seven Gables on Turner Street.

And have you seen the weather forecast? Sunny splendor! The rains are gone!


So, check out the Antique & Classic Boat Festival web site at boatfestival.org, and their Facebook page. They are expecting some great boats this year, including a vessel belonging to Billy Joel. In addition to the visiting vessels, there will be a craft fair, activities for children, and music.

The more than 40 participating boats are expected to include 1920s-50s motor yachts, mahogany speedboats, sloops, yawls, schooners and a 19th century gold-leaf canoe. A bit of something for everyone!

Admission is a $5.00 donation (children under 12 are free).

Looking ahead to the Antique & Classic Boat Show in August

AHOY! This is a perennial favorite. If you're thinking about a weekend to visit Salem this summer, this is a good one.

28TH ANNUAL ANTIQUE & CLASSIC BOAT FESTIVAL

August 28-29, 2010 (Sat. 11 am - 5 pm; Sun. 11 am - 3 pm)
Hawthorne Cove Marina, 10 White St., Salem, Massachusetts
Admission: $5. Children under 12 free
Info & Boat Entry: 617-666-8530, 617-868-7587, BoatFestival.org

The 28th Annual Antique & Classic Boat Festival is happening in Salem, Massachusetts August 28-29. Expected craft as of early May include:

• JUNIATA, a 1927 New York Consolidated commuter;
• CATHERINE ANN, a 1938 Richardson cabin cruiser;
• BREEZE, a 1946 Hinkley sloop; a 26¹ steamboat;
• a 1940 Lyman runabout towed by a 1948 Pontiac woody,
• TABBY, a 1946 Fenwick Williams catboat.

The Festival includes boats built prior to 1976. They can be power, sail or hand-powered, and do not need to be in show condition. "The spirit of the Festival is to gather together the grand old craft and all who love them," says festival organizer Pat Wells.

The Festival is about people as well as boats. "Over and over again, the public tells us that what they like best is seeing the beautiful old boats and talking to their owners," says Wells. "Boat owners sometimes meet old-timers who have known their boat in the past and can recount stories and history.

Here are a few great nautical connections made during past boat shows:

MATCHLESS, a 100 year old catboat owned by Peter Haney of Bourne (MA), was visited by a former owner who had her in the 1950s.

TEASER, a 1935 sailboat owned by Dana Marcorelle of South Hamilton (MA), was visited by Alice Bonney who saw her launched in Salem in 1935 and spent her honeymoon aboard her!

The Antique & Classic Boat show was held in downtown Boston, Charlestown and Quincy, Massachusetts, before it made Salem its home base in 1999. According to organizers, festival-goers love Salem, its historic district, attractions, and restaurants. The Hawthorne Cove Marina is lovely and compact, so visitors do not have to walk far to see the boats.

In addition to the boats, the Festival includes a crafts market, old-time band music, children¹s activities, the Blessing of the Fleet and the grand finale ­ the Parade of Boats.

Antique & Classic Boat Show This Weekend

The Antique & Classic Boat Show at Hawthorne Cove Marina has become a perennial favorite of summer in Salem. This year, organizers expect forty classic yachts to be on display, and some will be open for public tours.

Primarily dating from 1860-1910, the festival will feature both motor and sailing vessels. Most owners will be on hand to enthusiastically answer questions and show off their boats.

Salem is a fitting site for the annual Antique & Classic Boat show, as the first pleasure yacht was launched by Salemite George Crowninshield in 1916. Cleopatra's Barge was a lavish, gilded vessel that, according to boat show organizers, was visited by "1800 ladies and 700 gentlemen" on the day of her launch! A replica of the Cleopatra's Barge interior is on display at the Peabody Essex Museum, where it forms a lovely bridge between the American Decorative Arts and Maritime Arts galleries.

In addition to the boats on display this weekend, there will be exhibitors, a crafts market, and music on Saturday and Sunday.

Musicians scheduled to perform on the marina deck include The New New Orleans Jazz Band, New Liberty Jazz Band, Stellwagon, Fo’c’s’le Trio and Three Sheets to the Wind.

Here are the hard facts:
When: August 22-23, 2009 (Saturday, 11-5 PM; Sunday, 11AM - 3 PM)
Where: Hawthorne Cove Marina, 10 White St., Salem, Massachusetts
Admission: $5 donation; children under 12 free (And bring the kids - most of the boats are very family-friendly.)

Another tall ship to visit Salem this summer

We really miss our tall ship Friendship, but I appreciate the National Park Service's efforts to bring visiting vessels to port. The Kalmar Nyckel's visit from Delaware during the Salem Maritime Festival was terrific. As a vessel, she provided us all with a comparason to the Friendshp - in size, mission, and history.

(I, for one, had no idea there was a 17th Century Sweedish settlement in Delaware that revolved around beaver pelts. I'm the first to admit, however, that I'm pretty Salem / Essex County centric in my historical knowledge.)

Last week, National Park Service announced the ship Peacemaker will be visiting during the Antique & Classic Boat Show at the end of August.

The 130', 400-ton Barquentine will be berthed on the historic Central Wharf (off Derby Street) from august 19 to 25. She will be open to the public for free tours August 20 to 24, 10 am to 7 pm on weekdays, and 10 am to 9 pm on the weekend during the Antique and Classic Boat Festival.

Peacemaker was originally built in 1989 in Brazil and intended as a charter vessel by a Brazilian industrialist. She was never completed, however, and in 2000 she was purchased by a community known as the Twelve Tribes. The Twelve Tribes community finished construction on the vessel, rigged her as a Barquentine, and in 2007 began sailing her as an experiment in communal living at sea.

For more information, call 978-740-1660 or visit nps.gov/sama.

Antique & Classic Boat Festival

The Antique & Classic Boat Festival returns to the Hawthorne Cove Marina in Salem this weekend!

Although the boats are the main attraction, the Festival features the New New Orleans Jazz Band, New Liberty Jazz Band and Three Sheets to the Wind, among other performers. A crafts market includes artists, print makers, ship modelers, woodcarvers, booksellers and purveyors of other interesting wares. The Blessing of the Fleet and Parade of Boats round out this festive weekend.

Visitors can expect to see old favorites at the show, as well as many new old boats. The APHRODITE, a celebrated torpedo-stern commuter owned by Charles Royce of Greenwich CT, and Billy Joel's tradition-inspired commuter VENDETTA have both been invited this year. These supremely elegant, swift vessels represent the epitome of luxury yacht building in America in the early 20th century.

The Antique & Classic Boat Festival is about people as well as boats. Visitors will have the opportunity to interact with boat owners and captains. Featured vessels may include antique and classic sailboats, powerboats, runabouts and hand-powered craft.

Festival organizer Pat Wells has said, "...we simply want to gather together the grand old craft and all those who love them."

Date: August 23-24, 2008 (Sat., 11 am-5 pm; Sun., 11 am-3 pm)

Place: Hawthorne Cove Marina, 10 White St., Salem, Massachusetts

Admission: $5.00, children under 12 free

Information: 617-422-1703, 617-666-8530, www.boatfestival.org

Go car-free from Boston!

Combine a wonderful ocean ferry ride with a visit to the Boat Festival next door to Salem's Blaney Street dock. The 45-minute high-speed catamaran connects Salem with Central Wharf, alongside the New England Aquarium, in Boston. Or take the train and a Salem pedicab or trolley.

Salem Ferry Information: 978-741-0220; www.salemferry.com

MBTA Information: www.mbta.com