STURGEON BAY (NBC26) — Each year, Door County’s annual Wooden Boat Festival attracts boat enthusiasts from across the state. The festival is a part of Maritime Week, which honors the U.S Coastguard in Sturgeon Bay.
Sturgeon Bay is one of only 29 communities nationwide to be designated as a coast guard city and is the only one in Wisconsin. Maritime Week honors current and former coast guard personnel and celebrates Door County’s maritime heritage.
At the Wooden Boat festival, boaters get to display their vessels to the public, each one with a personal story behind it.
Some of the boats have a rich history, like Green Bay resident John Seaman's guide boat, which has been in his family since the 1960s. The boat was built in 1895 making it 125 years old.
"There were no roads, no automobiles so the boats would be able to go from lake to lake, town to town,” Seaman said. "People would hire the guides to take them out to their camps hunting and fishing."
Other boats on display at the festival are homemade by talented amateurs. Pewaukee resident Andrew Green built his boat from scratch. The project took him roughly seven months from start to finish.
"It’s a sailing skiff," Green said. "It's called a balanced-lug sail so it's a relatively simple four cornered sail. It's relatively easy to rig using simple materials and relatively easy to use. But there’s never anything easy when you’re working with the wind."
Since sailing has been a large part of his life, he named the boat 'Joanie' after his mother.
“I sailed all my life basically on and off and I wanted to build a boat so I could get my grandchildren to experience sailing," Green said. "You never forget how to sail and it's always fun."
