As a fleet of the world’s most prized pleasure boats pull into the Port Orchard marina this week, one of the town’s pubs, Moondogs, Too, will be pulling out its eye patches and peg legs, and bringing in the pirate-like chanteys of Whistling Oysters.
The traditional, Irish old time band featured at last year’s Great Peninsula Future Festival, will play on the outdoor patio at Moondogs Saturday night, following the Pacific Northwest Chris Craft Rendezvous’ awards banquet.
The boats start rolling in Thursday.
More than 100 boats are expected for the 20th annual event — said to be the largest gathering of Chris Craft cruisers in the nation — and what’s more, the boat moorage will be open, free to the public for tours.
Chris Craft is one of the leading, longest standing names in the boating world.
Founded by two brothers in the late 19th century, the company became famous for its iconic mahogany hulled powerboats of the 1920s through the 1950s and later inspiring the longest-standing boat marque club in the country — the Chris Craft Antique Boat Club.
Of the Port Orchard rendezvous, organizers say, “You will see more Chris Crafts from all years, sizes, made from wood and fiberglass at this event than any were else in the world.”
Find more info and photos from last year’s rendezvous at A href=”http://www.chriscraftrendezvous.com.”>www.chriscraftrendezvous.com