“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
– Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
About The Pocket Yachters
The Port Townsend Pocket Yachters are a loose-knit group–no bylaws, commodores, membership dues or business meetings–just folks who love getting out on the water together in small boats…also known as pocket yachts. Members have their own personal definitions for what is a “small boat,” but most of the watercraft in our fleet tend to be trailerable, affordable, functional and just plain fun.
We are not a hoity-toity wooden-boat club: our focus is on design more than building material, so we welcome boats built of wood, fiberglass, skin-on-frame, or what-have-you. We’re centered in Jefferson County, Washington, proud home of the Northwest Maritime Center, the Wooden Boat Foundation, the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, and the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding.
Events
We organize the annual Pocket Yacht Palooza—largest boat show celebrating small craft in North America—and the ensuing Palooza Crooza, a three-night cruise for skippers who take part in the Pocket Yacht Palooza.
In 2019, the Pocket Yachters debuted a new and larger event, the annual Salish 100, a week-long small-boat cruise the length of Puget Sound, 100 nautical miles from Olympia to Port Townsend. The event—biggest small-boat cruise in North America—attracted skippers from two dozen U.S. states and two foreign countries. The Salish 100 was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid 19 concerns, but it is scheduled for July 9-15 of this year, now under the banner of Port Townsend’s Northwest Maritime Center, with organizational support from the Pocket Yachters.
In a normal year there are many events and messabouts that you are welcome to join.
How To Join & Keep Up To Date
If you own a small boat and want to join the Port Townsend Pocket Yachters, you can join our Facebook group page.
And, or, join the Pocket Yachter’s Groups.io forum.
If you register for either the FB group or the Groups.io forum, consider yourself a member—simple as that!
Any new events or news are posted on both of those groups. Although there is no guarantee you will see all of our Facebook notifications unless you visit the page directly. You can set your Groups.io account to email you all updates.
Some news will also be posted in the News section of this website.
Boats & Gear For Sale
Our members like our boats, and even better we enjoy finding or building the next boat. So there are always a variety of wonderful boats flowing through our hands. Browse the classified ads for boats and boating accessories at the link below. And if you would like to put up a listing it is free.
Questions & Suggestions
If you have questions about anything on the website, to place a free classified ad, or to suggest Northwest small-boat events, contact pocket yacht club veteran Marty Loken (also use the contact button below).
Our Members & Their Boats
Learn a little about the interesting characters that make up the Pocket Yachters, and their many and varied pocket yachts.