Guestbook

GUESTBOOK at the WORLDWIDE CLASSIC BOAT SHOW


We’d love to hear what you think of the Show, please let us know in the comments below…

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94 thoughts on “Guestbook

  • Dean Mendenhall 9 months ago

    For those outside the wooden boat culture, this certainly puts things in perspective worldwide. A great variety of options to see what is still a strong ,vibrant and ongoing collection of artwork afloat. Looking forward to next years show.
    Dean Mendenhall. S/v Briar Patch

  • Patrick McCorkle 9 months ago

    Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to make this worldwide classic boat show a reality. You provided an opportunity to travel the world and learn about beautiful boats and the people who design, build and maintain them. A special thanks to those who share their stories, knowledge and skills. Great show!

  • John Lane 9 months ago

    I enjoyed the show very much but have not seen all of the videos I would like to. Could you leave them available for a few more days please? I very much hope so.

  • Bruce Milan 9 months ago

    Thank you OCH crew! Steve, Nate and Eric you were great fun and educators again this year. Maynard and Bill, thanks for the generous sharing of your knowledge and well respected opinions. All the presentations we watched were just grand. The show has been a fine winter brightener here snowy Ontario. And so many beautiful boats!! Please, keep up the good work. Bruce and Diane Milan

  • Thorsten Bruske 9 months ago

    Thanks a lot for the great show. I really enjoyed it.
    Watching the videos motivates me to start the annual work on our wooden folkboat.
    I hope to see you next year again.
    Regards, Thorsten

  • John Stevenson 9 months ago

    Wow!

    What a great show, Nate, Steve and the rest of the crew. I’ve been to all 3 years, and this was the best by far. I’m already excited about next year’s show — after all, it’s only 50 weeks away!

    I loved the various slide shows — that was so helpful to have categories curated and available.

    The presentations were excellent, many of which I watched live. It was great fun to know that hundreds (thousands?) of fellow wood boat enthusiasts from around the world were all tuned in together enjoying things in real time.

    I also made some nice connections with fellow Penobscot builders — which is always a treat.

    I’m a big fan of screenshots, and I’m sure I took north of 200 screenshots of things that stood out that I want to study further, or ideas to implement on my boat, or simply to stare at in wonder over the coming months.

    Even though I saw hundreds of boats, I did not make it through all 1,152 boats this year, Nate. But you’ve set the bar high for next year and I for one am in. I’d love to see every boat in the show.

    Thank you folks for extending the show. Ten or eleven days is simply not enough time to take it all in. PLEASE continue to make the boats available for additional days in future years.

    I did miss the free tickets for friends and family this year, but I think it’s good that those of us with boats in the show had to pay $10 to get in. I wonder if with every ticket purchased an exhibitor could get one or two free passes to share is something that you would consider in the future?

    The Classic Boat Show takes the promise of OCH to the next level. Thank you all for an excellent show that surpassed my expectations.

    It’s gonna be blowing 10 – 15 on Monday, and in the low 60s here in the NC mountains. I’m gonna take Sweet Dreams — a wooden boat I built myself — out for the first sail of the season. I’ll be taking all of you with me in spirit, for having contributed so much to me, and to everyone else over these past couple of weeks.

    Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit boats and comments and be a part of this unique and wonderful community. I look forward to meeting many of you in Port Townsend this September.

    In the meantime, I hope you get out on the water soon, and enjoy fair winds!

  • kevin cooke 9 months ago

    HIdden Stories of Herreshoff and What makes a boat so damn beautiful were well done and I want to thank you for them. Happy to see the slide show as well. In my opinion OCH continues to foster the love of boats. Ill send a few new picks in next year of my much loved Kirby Designed 36. Hope to see you down east this summer. Until then I will continue to admire your movies and work on line. Cheers. And thanks for the hat too 😉

  • David Miller 9 months ago

    Thanks for another great show!

  • Simon Jones 9 months ago

    Disappointed, for the second year I posted my boat for inclusion in the show only to see it miss out.

  • Peter Gossell 9 months ago

    Great show. Well done to all. I very much enjoyed the hours that I spent. One suggestion for next year, could you include a category for “Projects”? (Think Tally Ho, Acorn To Arabella, Sail Cargo). My boat was in the first show but not accepted this year as it is a “Project Boat”. It will probably be a Project Boat for the rest of my life, and what timber boat isn’t?

  • John Supan 9 months ago

    Excellent show! Eye candy galore. Inspired my sailing last weekend. My compliments.

  • Lyle Russell 9 months ago

    I grew up wandering boatyards with my Dad 65 years ago. We would pick our favorites. It’s a real pleasure looking through your classics the modern way online. Thanx for a thing we’ll done!!

  • Ted Walsh 9 months ago

    Congratulation to all of you for putting together this excellent venue. Nate said you were looking for suggestions for speakers next year and I wondered about having someone from the Traditional Small Craft Association do a presentation on the various chapters and events that are the heart of that organization.
    Thanks again, this is something to look forward to each February.

  • John Swansey 9 months ago

    This is the first online Boat show that I really had time to engage in. What I really like is the sense of community of the live sessions – the sense that I am not alone in my love of classic boats, and the lifestyle of “messing about.” The boats are beautiful and stories about them and the people who love and care for them are interesting and inspiring. The discussion of aesthetics is spot on for me. Appreciating the sights, sounds and smells of wooden boats has been a vital part of my 60+ years from my earliest memories.

  • Anton McGready 9 months ago

    Thank you from a somewhat land locked, ex SF Bay boating enthusiast, and OCH member. Super informative live presentations, to be enjoyed again this coming week, along with the many great classic boats to enjoy through the slideshows. Thanks again.

  • Dave and Margaret Tew 9 months ago

    At the end of Eric, Maynard and Bill’s talk tonight (2/25) about ‘boat beauty’ Eric mentioned something about tips for putting together an effective photo slideshow. Where online is that? Is it on OCH somewhere? Thanks!

  • Elizabeth Kille 9 months ago

    First time at the boat show but immediately thought of Lakeside Wooden Boat Society at Lakeside Ohio.
    My son and I learned to sail on sunfish at the Lakeside Sailing Club on Lake Erie.
    https://lakesideohio.com/about-lakeside/community-organizations/lakeside-wooden-boat-society/

  • Arnt Arntzen 9 months ago

    BEST sailing movie ever. Race2Alaska. We do have to watch again as we were laughing so much. And at times terrified for the sailors. Our waters are unpredictable for sure. But man are sailors tough!! The director and editor deserve so much credit. Thanks so much. Valerie and Arnt

  • John Stevenson 9 months ago

    Thank you both, Steve and Nate!

    I have seen the slideshows (well, not all of them, but having a great time working my way through them). Those are a great addition — thank you for including them!

    And thanks for extending the show — ten days is simply not enough time to absorb all the wonderful boats!

    • John Stevenson 9 months ago

      Hi again Nate and Steve,

      Really appreciate you including more variety in the home page slide show. I’ve been making good use of the pre-curated slide shows, but I especially love seeing what boats show up every time I open a new browser window. It’s like Christmas morning: ‘Wonder what incredible boats we get to see today?!’

      Thanks again.

      • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

        You’re welcome! It’s on the list to make sure we switch them earlier and more often next year. Glad you’re enjoying them!

  • Boat Show Crew Post author 9 months ago

    Hi Ronald,

    Your ticket purchase did not go through. We’ve sent you instructions to your email on how to purchase the ticket again. If you have any other issues please contact us at crew@classicboatshow.com.

  • Mogens CHRISTENSN 9 months ago

    Same here.

  • Mogens CHRISTENSN 9 months ago

    Me too.

  • Boat Show Crew Post author 9 months ago

    Hi Scott,

    Your ticket purchase did not go through and have responded to your email with further instructions.

  • John Stevenson 9 months ago

    Hello Crew,

    Love the show — this is my 3rd year and already looking forward to NEXT year.

    I’ve got one major request: Please put a much wider variety of boats on the main page slide show rotator. I love opening a new browser window during the show to see what you’re displaying for all the world to see.

    As much as I love the boats that you’ve chosen to display, frankly I’m growing tired of seeing the same boats for days and days.

    Seems like in years past you changed the main page rotator several times over the course of the show?

    You’ve got over a thousand boats, right? Please show us some new boats (fingers and toes crossed)…

    Thanks again for a great show — keep up the good work!

  • Boat Show Crew Post author 9 months ago

    Hi Robert,

    We’ve sent you instructions to your email to claim your gift ticket. Please check your email for something from crew@offcenterharbor.com.

  • Gail Boettiger 9 months ago

    So many beautiful boats but I would like to see more boats from Europe and around the Mediterranean and Adriatic. Also, it would be nice to have separate lists for boat building schools and sailing instruction schools.

    • Sandy Lam 9 months ago

      We agree! We would love to have more European boats. If you have any connections over there let us know at crew@classicboatshow.com. Your suggestion for separation within the organization list is noted. It would be great to be able to filter the organizations like we do with boats. We’ll see if we can work that in for next year’s show!

  • Mogens CHRISTENSN 9 months ago

    Same as me

  • Kaci Cronkhite 9 months ago

    Want to send a shout to Ian Weedman & Jen Bates to let ya know how excited I am to see their presentation! Will watch the taped edition. Hoping to learn about tuning! I just returned from a sail on HOLGER DANSK where Joy Phillips has just completed a rerig with synthetic. It was fabulous in the Bass Strait and Tasmania. Just curious to know more about the tuning over time. Good luck with the show!

    • Sandy Lam 9 months ago

      So happy to have you here and all your support over the years. We hope you enjoy the rigging presentation!

  • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

    Hi Dave – Haven’t seen this myself or heard of any reports of it. Is it still happening for you?

  • Maarten COEMAN 9 months ago

    I am by no means a Facebook, instagram, or any social media guy. But it was wel worth my time and effort to put my boats up for the show. What a Joy to revisit the adventures and projects had with these boats. I must say that with the live events, the show is becoming more of a festival…
    Thx. for putting it all together

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      Maarten – While there’s no replacement for live festivals, and we preach how valuable the live shows and festival are, we do consider this an online festival of sorts.

      It pleases us greatly to hear that you’re enjoying the Show! Thanks for including your boats.

  • DAVID BORTON 9 months ago

    In 2021 there was no R2AK because of Covid. Alex and I went anyway, !st solar electric boat, 27 foot Wayward Sun, up the inside passage, 100% solar electric, 20 days, never put foot on BC. Best way to travel!

  • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

    Hi Mogens,

    Please check your email, we’ve reached out to discuss this.

  • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

    Hi Mogens – Thanks for writing. You are logged in to your account but we do not see any record of a purchased Full Access Pass for you this year.

    You can click here to get your Full Access Pass.

    Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to see all the pages and presentations.

  • Christoph Kempermann 9 months ago

    Dear WWCBS team, a technical question: is it possible to add a “set search radius” function? That would facilitate searches in the lesser populated regions.
    Greetings Christoph

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      Hi Christoph –

      Thanks for writing. You can use the right “Near:” box in the searches both on the home pages and on category pages. It’s currently for within 100 miles of the location you choose. We will look into a variable radius for the future.

      • Steve Stone 9 months ago

        And you can also just go to the map on the home page and go to the area you want to search. If you have all the check boxes checked on the legend for all the various types of boats, museums, etc…. then you’ll get everything we have in that area.

        • Christoph Kempermann 9 months ago

          Dear Steve, yes, the map works great as an overview tool. The nice thing about the category search is that it directly throws out a visual listing of the search items (plus more detailed filtering if you want). A variable search radius would add further finesse 🙂
          Cheers, Christoph

  • Christoph Kempermann 9 months ago

    Another great and inspiring show!
    What are your thoughts on expanding and collecting further participants outside of the US? Looking for cooperations?
    Greetings from Germany

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      Thanks, Christoph! Yes, we are definitely looking to expand participants – boats, organizations, and Showgoers – outside of the US. We’re glad to say we’ve had a lot of international engagement this year, but we certainly hope for more as the Show grows.

  • Doug Bullock 9 months ago

    Love the show and thanks for all hard work pulling it together each year.

    It would be great to watch a panel discussion of You Tube Channel boat builders.
    Just like the schools and photographers you have done in the past.

  • Ron Hoddinott 9 months ago

    Exactly the same problem for me, Harvey. No “Login” anywhere on the screen.

  • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

    Hi Harvey – You must be logged in if you’re able to post comments like this one. Please check to see if you can view boat pages – if not, email us at crew@classicboatshow.com and we’ll get you sorted!

  • Boat Show Crew Post author 9 months ago

    Hi Cornelia,

    We’ve sent you an email regarding your payment for your ticket.

  • John Lehmann 9 months ago

    I can log in and see boats however once I clic on a boat it takes me back to the login page with directions to login in the upper right hand corner. There is no login there. I have missed the live opening and I fear I will be unable to see the next presentations.
    Please help. P.S. have changed both my OCH and WWCBS passwords to match…

  • R Gordon Talley 9 months ago

    Good to see you all again this year. Thanks as always for putting it together. (Sandy was a great help to me setting up.)
    Love the slideshows. One issue, I couldn’t click on a boat and get transferred to its home page. Turned out to be because I have popups blocked. Took a while to remember how to allow them for WCBS. Maybe a reminder about them on the page and add to the FAQs?
    Also it would be great to have cut and paste or at least the ability to start a message and come back to it with the text still there.
    All nits. Don’t pick ’em unless you want to. Looking forward to spending quality time drooling over boats.

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      Gordon –

      Thanks for the heads up on the pop-up blocker – we’ll add in some reminders!

      It’s for the good of the boat owners that copy and paste are disabled, but we realize it has other consequences.

      Thanks for the feedback!

  • Christopher Mann 9 months ago

    Finally got logged in and missed the opening. Seems the website did not like the password I originally had when I purchased my ticket. Site kept booting me out. Not a good start for me. Hope it holds together for the rest of the show. Frustrating!

  • eric pomber 9 months ago

    Frustrated, I keep getting directed to where I can buy a ticket which I have already done. you have a message to go to the upper right corner to log in. Their is no login button on the upper right. How do I fix this just missed the first day.

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      Eric –

      You’ll be able to see the replay of the opening night! If you’re writing this you’re logged in, but it looks like you’ve made a few accounts. Please email us at crew@offcenterharbor.com and we’ll get you sorted.

  • Andreas Reuner 9 months ago

    Dear Crew,
    thank you for the warm welcome tonight (now it’s 2.42 in the early morning)
    and thank you for your work on behalf of the boats to be preserved.
    Greetings from Hamburg, Germany
    Andreas
    stoertebeker3.de

  • Peggy Huckel 9 months ago

    Again this year I can’t seem to get the live programming. Please help, because I enjoyed all the talks last year so much- I can’t remember how I finally got access!

  • Glenn Osoling 10 months ago

    Fantastic! Thank you for all your time and effort, you have once again out done yourselves, this continually gets better, I’m overwhelmed!
    Thanks again,
    Glenn Osoling

  • Robbie Kimmons 10 months ago

    Great event! I just happened across this event and am enjoying it! Listed my 1957 Chris Craft, Mis Pris, because wife says 3 boats are to many. This time she might be right. lol I’ll be online watching thru the weekend. Very cool!

    • Nate Rooks 9 months ago

      It’s all relative. Miss Priss is a sweet boat that’ll fit nicely in someone’s fleet. Enjoy the Show!

  • George McNeir 10 months ago

    As an over 30 year old totally electric powered solar boat, I think I entered last year in 2022 but was not sure because my entry information may not have been in a correct accepted classification such as sail boat, inboard engine, etc.

    This years 2023 entry seemed to go through more easily to acceptance but there is still no such thing as ‘solar boat’ or ‘solar electric motors’ classification.

    Of course the MOG Canal Boat named Algemac II is a one of a kind Totally Electric Powered Solar (TEPS)tm boat. There are other electric boat types out there that date back to the late 1890s but there are none that are cruising types upon which 2 people can live full time with absolutely no fossil fuels aboard. There are hybrids and sail-plus-solar but all seem to still have fossil fuels somewhere in the boat.

    So I look forward to seeing if our 1986 concept TEPS boat will appear as it should and if there are others that provide petroleum free electromechanical drive with no range limitation as does mogcanalboat.com

    Keep up the the good work OCH and all those present and future members.

    • Nate Rooks 10 months ago

      Hi George –
      Sorry for the lack of clarity last year – ALGEMAC II did make it into last year’s show, albeit a few days after the Show started.
      We’ve added “Electric” as a propulsion category this year, and I’ve added ALGEMAC II to it. I’ll include a slideshow of all-electric boats once the Show opens.
      There is a great 2-person all-electric boat designed and built with the Devlin Boat Company – ELECTRIC PHILOSOPHY – that isn’t in this show but is worth checking out on Off Center Harbor.
      – Nate, for the WCBS Crew

  • Patrick McCorkle 2 years ago

    I really enjoyed the new Slideshow feature and the guest map that allows me to reach out to folks in my surrounding area. Thank you all for your efforts to bring us this Worldwide Classic Boat Show!!! As great as it is, I can’t wait to go to a boat show in person. I’m crossing my fingers Port Townsend 🙂

  • Björn Thafvelin 2 years ago

    Great show, so much to look at and interesting videos. Makes you dream for new boating season!

  • Peter Wattiker 2 years ago

    Hello, My first time attending the show. Sent free passes to all my contacts (over 100, 4 continents) as many had followed a build I completed last year.
    Comments:
    Pros/ All loved the guest register, All loved the ability to look at boats from around the world, all loved the ability to find shows/ museums/ events/ overall a positive experience.
    Cons/ Search capability, difficulty finding a specific boat, entered boats not in all tabs/ drop downs. Example: boats under 25′ my listing was not in this slide show? Friends had difficulty finding specific entries/ overall not very user friendly/ needs better web master.

  • Louise Drinnan 2 years ago

    Kudos to all of you putting this show together and sharing it in such a way, worldwide too! An opportunity for all of us antiquated boat folk to share worldly. Thank you.

  • Richard Thies 2 years ago

    World of Classic Boats (Overall: It was interesting to play with)

    A bit about me (Richard Thies) so you know where I am coming from
    As a teenager I built a 10 ft sail scooter with a lateen sail and learned how to sail. Then I built a wooden hull sunfish from a kit and raced it and did very well against the plastic hulls. About 1980 I got a Grumman canoe which I rigged with leeboard, rudder and various sails: lateen, sprit, and lug. I got some help from Port Townsend’s, Carol Hasse on sewing the lug sail so had good shape and could be reefed. She also gave me a soldering iron tip for finishing off seams on small sails. In 2004 I went to my first of many Wooden Boat Festivals and trips on Adventuress Schooner and fell in love with all kinds of wooden boats. I took many photos which I put up at https://www.flickr.com/groups/814783@N25/. We also spent lots of time in the Camden/Rockland areea of Maine sailing mostly on Olad.

    Feedback for World of Classic Boats

    What I liked:

    The international focus that mostly was on wooden boats

    The map with the option of seeing trees or cities (but see below)

    The full listing of 919 boats with images, info, and sometimes video (√ boats and scroll down)

    The slide-show samples of some of the boats

    Some videos: Dinghy Cruising (great opening footage), La Recouvrance, Falmouth Classics, Chryssopigi, some Port Townsend ones

    I especially liked the odd international boats : Vietnamese Surf Boat, Traditional Portugese Xavega, Traditional Portugese Moliceiro, Chryssopigi .

    Where I saw room for improvement
    The opening session was too much dull talking heads for me. The definition of a classic boat was interesting. (are big square-rigged tallships excluded?)

    The map default should be showing the cities so you know where you are.

    Repeated clicks are often needed to see the boats. (not sure how to fix that)

    Some boats in the 919 listing do not seem to be on the map (e.g. Victory Chimes in Rockland, Alcyone in Port Townsend)

    Commenting did not work well: if in the 919 file and a comment was made, I then had to go back to Explore the World and start over. Also It refused to take any comment like one I had used before. I just stopped tring to do comments and then I could go smoothly through the full 919 boats.

    I sometimes got ”No listings were found matching your selection” even though the boat was in the 919 list; I also got this at times when I made a random click and it made me go back to Explore the World..

    The 919 listing would be better with side arrows to move to the next one (as opposed to back arrow and the then √ on the next one)

  • Chuck Lage 2 years ago

    Loved it last year and can’t wait to see how it has grown this year. I have shared free passes with all my boating/sailing friends (both full size and model yachting).
    Thank you

  • Aarne Westerberg 2 years ago

    This is great. Been looking for boats all over the globe.The filter works well.

  • Nic Beets 2 years ago

    Loving this, thank you. I have always had a fascination with J Class boats. But none turn up when I search using that name. Is that because there are none registered or just your search engine needing a tweak.

  • John Hutchinson 2 years ago

    Fantastic! Thanks for doing this. Aren’t you glad all 20,000 of us didn’t show up in the harbor at once!

  • George Boggs 2 years ago

    Maybe it is too rarified a subject, but I would be interested in hiw to transport a boat from USA to Europe. How accessible could thise festivals be if someone wanted to stay for a summer? Thanks for putting on this marvelous show.

  • Tobias Dean 2 years ago

    Curious about why so little activity in the Russian Republic?

    • Steve Stone 2 years ago

      Hi Tobias. There may be a lot happening around the world that is not on the map (yet), so we’re hoping people will add things (or let us know about things) that they see are missing.

  • Mike Wright 2 years ago

    So, how do we find a boat? Any boat (s)/

    • Steve Stone 2 years ago

      Hi Mike. You can click “Boats” in the menu. That page has a map that you can explore, plus a search with detailed filters to use.