The Antique & Classic Boat Festival returns to Navy Point at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels for the 31st year this weekend, from Friday through Sunday morning.
The festivities kick off at 11 a.m. Friday and continue until 2 p.m. on Sunday, featuring perfectly restored wooden and fiberglass racers, runabouts, cruisers, yachts and sailboats. This year’s highlight will be the history of ski-boats featured in the museum’s At Play on the Bay exhibition building.
The event includes a juried competition to pick the winning restorations in various categories, which attracts the best-of-the-best from around the watershed including classic Chris-Crafts, Garwoods, Donzies, Lymans, a Trumpy or two, and other fine watercraft. This is the largest gathering of antique boats in the mid-Atlantic. There will also be tents full of nautical gear, art, crafts and maritime vendors.
The Antique & Classic Boat Society—Chesapeake Bay Chapter will host workshops, seminars, and demonstrations throughout the event. There will be ample food, drink, a waterside bar, a nautical flea market, live music, and family activities.
There will also be a Field of Dreams, featuring an array of restorable classic boats and motors for sale. Happening on site is the massive log-hull restoration of the 1889 bugeye Edna E. Lockwood, which is in the final stages of work before an early fall return to the Bay.
The museum is offering scenic Miles River tours aboard the 1920 buyboat Winnie Estelle throughout the weekend. The festival admission includes two-day access to all of CBMM’s special and permanent exhibitions, including the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, where guests can climb to the top for views of the Miles River and St. Michaels harbor. The event is $5 for CBMM adult members, or $18 for adults; $15 for seniors and students with ID; and $6 for children 6-17. During CBMM festivals and special events, dogs are not permitted on CBMM grounds, with the exception of certified service dogs.
-Joe Evans
