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Rob Rohde-Szudy is compiling the 2005 calendar of homebuilt boat messabouts. We encourage you to contact him if you are organizing or know of an event. This includes: messabouts; raids; classic or traditional boat shows or festivals, or get-togethers of small boat enthusiasts no matter what they are called. Even if the event is one you think everyone knows about, please tell Rob.

Rob is also keeper of past events. If you need a listing for something that has already occured, contact Rob. Thanks.

**This list does NOT include commercially sponsored events like manufacturers' boat shows, as these are already listed in WoodenBoat and Messing About in Boats.

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2005 MESSABOUT CALENDAR

Traditional Small Craft Association - Puget Sound Chapter
NOTE: These folks have a LOT going on for folks living in the Northwest. It's way too far away for the rest of us to make it, but the $15 dues would certainly be worth it for anyone living up there. So you northwesterners should visit their Club Chapter Page and see the events on their Club Minutes Page
St. Augustine Messabout
December 10-11, 2005
Nearest town: St. Augustine, FL
Mike Smith, organizer
[email protected]
Mike's Notes: Plans are for one of the main rallying points to be on the sandy beach or anchored off it at Anastasia Island St Pk just south of the St Augustine Inlet. I 'm happy to share my local knowledge of my home sailing waters with those want it. Currents, tides and shoals bear attention here. Since there are widely varying accomodations and boat launching facilities in the area anyone needing more detailed info can e-mail me.
California Delta "Bolger/Michalak/Homebuilt" Messabout
*Dates to be held
Brannon Island State Park
More area sailing info
Across Sacramento River from Rio Vista
Rio Vista, CA
John O'Neill wrote about it
[email protected]
Rick Bedard, host
[email protected]
Camping fees: $9-15 primitive, $11-25 developed, premium sites $10 extra, showers $0.25-0.50
Camping reservations
Park phone: 916-777-6671 or 1-800-444-PARK (7275)
Park features: The park sports three large boat ramps, a clean, secluded, tree-shaded and nearly deserted boat docking area, plentiful campsites and an enormous trailer parking area (which was good, as there was a bass-fishing tournament going on that day, which actually didn't much impact the Messabout at all).
*Permits required & associated fees, e.g. launch ramp, parks, etc.
*Events planned during messabout

Website
Previous years
Guests from previous years, if recorded, and boats they brought
Notes: The waterway the boats launch into is Three Mile Slough, which, as we brave Mess-Abouters learned, should be called Three Knot Slough, because that's about how strong the current was at full flood. The wind mimicked the current, straight up the slough but strong enough to allow the sailboaters to beat against it - as long as they were paying close attention. There is a plan afoot to hold another Delta Messabout, and soon, this time in a place you actually have to take a boat to get to! Cool. I'm assured it's a quick row/sail/motor from a nearby ramp, and for those who show up without boats fear not, a way will be found to get you to the party.
Elk City Messabout
*Dates to be held
*Park Name

Yaquina River and Elk Creek
Elk City, OR
Pat Patteson wrote up
[email protected]
*Host Name
*Host Email
*Camping fees
*Camping reservations link
*Park features
*Permits required & associated fees, e.g. launch ramp, parks, etc.
*Events planned during messabout
Website

Previous years
Notes: Elk City is kind of a ghost town that was once the head of navigation for Yaquina Bay, and Newport. The railroad kind of put an end to the need for that head of navigation, and the Elk City. But, they have a nice, County Campground and it is still a very nice place to take little boats. It is the Confluence of the Yaquina River and Elk Creek. Most folks use trolling motors.
Lake Jordan Alabama Messabout 2005
*Dates to be held
*Park Name

Lake Jordan
*Nearest City, State
Wayne Farris wrote about it
[email protected]
Mike Saunders, host
*Host Email
*Camping fees
*Camping reservations link
*Park features
*Permits required & associated fees, e.g. launch ramp, parks, etc.
*Events planned during messabout
*Website devoted to messabout, if applicable

Previous years
Further descriptive notes
Winter Library Messabout - Western Oregon
*Dates to be held
Lon Wells of the Western Oregon Messabout Group had a great idea in this. Here's what he writes:
The water is iced over. Everything in the shop is frozen, The boat is in the driveway covered with snow. Your football team is out of the playoffs and you have wintertime cabin fever. So if you are thinking about designs for that next boat and wondering what your boat buddies are doing, it might be time for a Winter Library Messabout.
News Flash! Library Messabout Great Success!
The Western Oregon Messabout Group enjoyed their first Winter Library Messabout on January 22, 2005 at the Multnomah County Library in downtown Portland, Oregon, it was a great success Our library has a complete collection of Rudder Magazine going back to 1903, A complete set of Motor Boating Ideal Series and a very extensive boat reference collection.
The idea of a Winter Messabout started when Brian Gage told me about the library collection and I wanted to see more of the work of the early boat designers. I thought it would be good to share the experience with my boat buddies in the Messabout Group. I reserved a meeting room at the library well in advance of the messabout and arranged with the librarians to have reserve materials at the meeting room.
I posted the library catalog on our web site so the members could request books and magazines. I also posted the Mystic Seaport Index to Rudder Magazine. Rudder generally had one boat plan per issue. and John Kohnen’s index to “Motor Boating Ideal Series” This series of books has over 1,000 boat plans.
The members sent me their request and I submitted that list to the librarian well in advance of the messabout. I asked the members to bring books, plans and photos to the messabout.
Everything went well. The library had all of the books and magazines in the room at the start of the messabout. Members brought things from their collection and we had a refreshment table.
It was a winter day spent looking at old boat plans, pictures and talking about boats with friends.
Contact your library and see what boat reference items are in their collection of books and periodicals many of the older city libraries have great boat reference resources. Most large libraries have their library catalog on line or speak to the person in charge of the periodicals and reference shelves. Maybe you too can fight that cabin fever with a Winter Library Messabout.
Outboard Motor Swap Meets
Antique Outbaord Motor Club, Inc. (AOMCI) Swap Meet Page
While these are not strictly messabouts, they provide access to cheap outbaord power for the cheapskates among the messabout community. I think that might be most of us. For details on why these are useful, see Maz Wawrzniak's column, Obsolete Outboards.
* asterisks mark information that is outdated, unconfirmed or incomplete

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