Wooden Boat Show ~2011~

On Saturday, July 16, 2011, we once again participated in the Wooden Boat Festival at Huddy Park, Toms River. This event features dozens of antique, classic, and restored wooden boats on display, many open for visitors to board. You just had to watch out for the pirates that eternally seem to be running amok, but at least there was an ice cream festival down the street at the same time.

The event organizers were kind enough to spot our exhibit near one of the festival entrances, so we had a steady stream of visitors all day. The first gentleman we talked to, before we were even set-up, was actually a fall victim with a badly dislocated finger. We can't go ANYWHERE without a first aid call!

Joe had never worked one of these all-day events, but he's a quick study and jumped right in after Sue in manning the touch tank. This is still our biggest hit, both for children ("Animals!") and their parents ("Those live around here?"). We also took turns at our artifact table and with SCUBA man. How many photo ops can one dry suit take? We may never know...

The long day was also made fun by a troup of pirates-for-hire wandering, carousing, and generally riling things up. They were responsible for a couple of shootouts, a sword duel, and random cannon fire. One random passerby, who just really wanted to get some funnel cake, got stuck in the middle of their mayhem and was tossed over a bridge into the creek below. That's pirates for you.

By the end of the day, we'd once again met a lot of pleasant people happy to learn a little bit more about the natural Jersey Shore. We returned our specimens to Gull Island where they'd come from. Good luck to them all trying to explain their out-of-water experience to everyone back home!