If you’ve got a soft spot in your heart for floating hardwood – and even if you don’t – make sure you’re on (or near) the waters of Whitefish Lake this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the Whitefish Woody Weekend, a celebration of classic American boats that will have you longing for a vessel of your own!
Hosted by The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and the Big Sky Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS), the weekend’s events will bring wooden boat enthusiasts from throughout the Pacific Northwest together for three days of on-the-water fun beginning Friday night with an 8 p.m. boat parade and “cruise” around Whitefish Lake.
The event continues on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – when more than two dozen classic wooden boats will be on display at The Lodge’s marina – and concludes with a floating Poker Run on Sunday morning that’ll have the boats (and their captains) buzzing from one end of Whitefish Lake to the other from 9 a.m. to noon.
According to Tim Salt of the local ACBS chapter, Woody Weekend isn’t your typical boat show.
“At most boat shows, you park the boat somewhere for two days, people look at it, and then you go home,” Salt said. “We want to get boat owners out on the lake, having some fun with their woody … and let the general public have some fun, too.”
To that end, the Friday night boat parade should be a sight to see, with close to 30 classic, antique and historic wooden watercraft – some nearly 90 years old – plying the waters of Whitefish Lake in close formation, at least for a while.
“As cool as it is to see a classic wooden boat tied-up at the dock,” Salt said, “it’s 10 times cooler to see them out on the water, under power. To have 25 of them at once, cruising together on Whitefish Lake that will truly be a sight to see!”
The Friday night boat parade begins at the Lodge Marina at 8 p.m. sharp and will travel clockwise along the Whitefish Lake shoreline, giving folks at City Beach and elsewhere along the lakeshore a glimpse of what boating on the lake looked like when wooden craft were in their heyday during the mid-1900s.
“We’ll keep ‘em (the boats) together as long as possible,” Salt laughed, “but it won’t be easy. Once these guys are on the water they like to ‘open it up’ and do a little racing and that’s fun to watch as well.”
Saturday will be more of a “traditional” boat show, with the vessels on display throughout the day at the Lodge marina. Owners will be on-hand throughout the day to show off (and talk about) their boats, and share their love and enthusiasm for classic watercraft.
“Wooden boat owners consider themselves to be ‘curators’ of a piece of fine art,” Salt said, “because that’s what these boats truly are. They consider it their responsibility to preserve their boats, to share them with others, and – ultimately – to pass the boats on to the next generation.”
The woodies you’ll see this weekend range from brand-spankin’-new 2012 models manufactured by the Coeur d’Alene Boat Shop, to a rare 1926 craft manufactured right here in the Flathead Valley. Boats by Chris-Craft, Starcraft and Lee Craft will be a part of the festivities, the latter two being manufacturers once based in Somers.
So make your way out to The Lodge this weekend, and see what the excitement’s all about. For more information, call The Lodge at Whitefish Lake at (406) 863-4000.