Gatherings
December

Regatta for Homebuilt Boats
Messabouts are pretty popular in the States, but are still catching on in Great Britain. Chris Partridge sends us this report from a recent gathering there.

November

Duck Heroes
Paul Haynie drove 1200 miles to watch the World Championship Puddle Duck Race. Some of the partcipants drove even farther than that.

2006 Minnesota Messabout at Lake Pepin
Bill Paxton hosts a great messabout, but if you live in the midwest and didn't make it, all you can do now is read Bill's story and check out the great pictures.

October

St Auggies Spring Messabout
What if you held a messabout and no one came? That is exactly what Michael Smith did - and in lovely St. Augustine Florida. At least it was relaxing.

September

Beale Park Thames Boat Show
Lucky for us, Chris Partridge lives near this great event. That means he can send reports like this which are almost as good as being there.

No Nursing Home for Me
Louis Cisnero and a few other guys did not know what they were getting into when they decided to cruise from Rockport, TX to the Duckworks messabout.

August

The Inaugural SBC
"Woody" Norwood has seen his idea for a classic small boat rally become a major event, with sailing magazine coverage and the whole nine yards.

The Depoe Bay Annual...
... Crab Feed and Wooden Boat Show is held every spring on the coast of Oregon. We could not be there so thankfully Dirtsailor sent this report.

July

Everglades Challenge - Part 2
The first part of this report covers the pre-race activities - this part covers the race itself.

EC Report
Gary Blankenship and I had a great time in the Everglades Challenge. In this report he talks about what did and didn't work on the boat and with us.

Everglades Challenge - Part 1
Here is a pictorial essay of my recent EC experience. I wrote a rather longish article for Small Craft Advisor and this is meant to illustrate that story.

June

What a Beautiful Day - Hey, Where's my Boat?
Bruce Anderson has been reluctant to tell the real story of his PDRacer, missing last fall at Lake Powell, but now the whole sordid tale can be told.

Tampa Bay Boat Expo - Part 2
Here is the long awaited (Ok, not too long) second part of Bruce Hectors irreverant take on a major US boat show.

May

Tampa Bay Boat Expo - Part 1
Bruce Hector is the kind of guy who makes lemonade when given lemons. See what he does when presented with a fiberglass boat show.

April

St Auggies Messabout
Michael Smith has begun what will, no doubt, become a regular messabout in St Augustine, Florida. Here is his report. The next one is April 1-2

March

The 2005 Lake Powell Messabout
Sandra and I have been fortunate enough to make this event two years in a row. Kellan Hatch, the primary organizer, tells the story.

Scuzbums Giant 5-Day Messabout
Nobody does messabouts like the Scuzbums. Member Joe Tribulato even originated the term Messabout. Here is Kim Apel's report on the most recent one.

February

23rd Annual Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival
A popular event, the MASCF is well attended as well. Michael the traveling nurse went this past fall and filed this report

Chicagoland Messabout 2005
Our friends up north found a great venue and a good turnout in spite of a short notice. Rob Rohde-Szudy reports on this first anual event.

Shootout at Reynolds Creek Park
PDRacers duke it out for the Trophy. Paul Haynie drove all the way from Chicago to Texas to bring you all the gorey details.

Kokopeli 2005
Kim Apel is one of the lucky few who made it to Jim Thayer's anual Kokopeli cruise. This year it was held at Lake Mohave due to low water at Lake Powell.

Raid Finland
There is a new type of boating activity growing in popularity around the world. It is called a Raid and this story is about one of the earliest ones.

January

Kingston Messabout 2005
Every Two years, Bruce Hector puts on a fabulous messabout up near Kingston, Ontario. Steve Bosquette made the last one and filed this report.

Phil's Arkansas Messabout
Sandra and I were able to make it to Phil Lea's messabout last September - it was a hoot. Here is Max Wawrzyniak's account.

Minnesota Gaffer Gathering
I guess nobody loves a messabout more than Rob Rohde-Szudy. It makes sense since he edits our messabout calendar. Here is his take on this one.

SUCIA - Part 3
in which Greg Stoll concludes his account of the Sucia Island Small Boat Rendezvous last July 8th, 9th & 10th in the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound.