On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Mike in Oly
Before the current circumstances, my little city of Olympia hosted a wooden boat fair every summer, and folks from all over the region would sail in, dock downtown and show off the beautiful styling and construction of their watercraft. It is always a treat to see them. Larger vessels often allow you to tour them too. In 2018 we had family visiting and decided to head down to check the boats out. Here’s what I saw.
Looking north toward the Olympic mountains.
A close-up of some nice wood, painted and natural grain. The variety of style and quality of craftsmanship on these bots was always impressive. You can tell they are well loved.
State Capitol building in the background.
Boats big and small, and from many eras, celebrating Olympia’s maritime past.
You never know what kind of vessels you will see on any given year.
Vendors set up along the landing above, with food and music in abundance.
So interesting to get a little peek into the sailing life.
The flags and pennants are so festive. And there’s our State capitol building in the background again. I love getting shots of it from different places about town. I am grateful to live in a city that hosts so many wonderful little fairs and festivals. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse of one of them.
Raven
Wow! I once saw the Tall Ships in Michigan but this is a treat I’d like to see.
Phylllis
Thanks for sharing, I love wooden boats. There is an annual wooden boat show in Georgetown SC that I attended once; it was fabulous. Also got to see the tall ships in Savannah in 2012, including touring the HMS Bounty, which sunk not long after that near NC due to Hurricane Sandy.
Mary G
We get the tall ships into Dana Point Harbor and they pretend to shoot cannons at each other. Love the boats you got close-up photos of, so lovingly cared for.
Laura Too
Beautiful pictures! I will have to watch for that. My sister lives near the Q crazy land of Yelm and I I can always use an excuse for a trip to Washington.
Dan B
My partner will have fun looking at these. His family has had wooden schooners for decades, and other boats donated to the foundation that gives kids trips on them. They run the Schooner Zodiac out of Bellingham these days. She’s a big ship – licensed for 75 people for day trips. Not many trips these days.
Raven
cope
What a fun lot of pictures. There is something so inherently romantic about sailing (as long as there is a breeze). Thank you.
Bobby Thomson
I know exactly where these pictures were taken. Beautiful city. My sister lives in Olympia and I had to cancel a visit last July.
MelissaM
That would be fun to see. I love the Winifred and the Fred dinghy!
JanieM
Just the sight of blue sky and open water is a balm, and the boats are beautiful too.
Ronno2018
@Dan B: Zodiac was tied up at the Museum pier on south Lake Union in Seattle last Thursday and I took a photo on my bike commute. https://imgur.com/JX0bI3T
Ronno2018
Port Townsend wooden boat festival is huge and awesome too. https://woodenboat.org/
Ronno2018
@Phylllis: The Bounty replica sinking was a sad story — https://www.outsideonline.com/1913636/sunk-incredible-truth-about-ship-never-should-have-sailed
Ruckus
Mike, this is a wonderful display of wooden boats of all types and sizes. Beautiful. Thanks!
The work and effort for a wooden boat are amazing to see. There are a few Y tube channels where people are building traditional wooden boats and you can see the effort that it takes to build and maintain them.
I got a chance once to tour the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor. I highly recommend a tour if you are in the area. It is a grand thing to see and realize that it is a commissioned ship of the US Navy, manned by US Navy personal that is over 220 yrs old.
wenchacha
@Raven: My daughter works in a boatyard in Port Townsend. Not sure what she is doing at the moment, but she has been scraping and painting for a couple of years, and she worked on the Ziska, which competed in the Race to Alaska.
She has always been an artist, went to school for photography, and appreciates being able to worth with her hands. I have bragged on her once or twice, but I am glad to see her be so independent, and able to learn a trade in the job.
We haven’t visited the southern half of the Peninsula, and there are plenty of places I still want to visit, when that blessed day finally arrives. Thanks so much for the pictures!
Chacal Charles Calthrop
Thanks for the photos!
this summer I quarantined on an Airbnb houseboat in Seattle for 10 days before visiting family, sleeping in a houseboat & spending my quarantine days kayaking around Lake Union. The little boat I was sleeping in had three tiny plaques secured to a windowsill noting that it had appeared in the Olympia wooden boat fair in 1984, 1985 & 1986. Now I feel like I know what that was.
dilbert dogbert
@Raven: My brother in law restored a 50 foot version built by his grand father, dad and uncles during ww2 in Santa Barbara. Built as a commercial fishboat and converted to a pleasure boat. Too bad I can’t attach photos.