10/12/2023
Three ale-swilling shark hunters lounge in a wooden boat cabin under a single swaying night lamp and tell stories of who has the best scars. The sea is calm. Thereโs a loud knock on the wooden door. The door swings open. Itโs a representative from the Maritime Museum Louisiana of Madisonville:
โYou boys seem to be looking for a competition. How about coming into shore, building a wooden boat inside 14 hours, then racing it up to the Tchefuncte River Bridge without sinking?โ
The shark hunt is abandoned. Itโs time to build a boat.
With a front-row view and a direct eyeline across the river from the Wooden Boat Festival, is the longtime homestead for Tchefuncte River and Lake Pontchartrain boaters: Marina del Ray.
Now in its fourth decade, the Madisonville Wooden Boat Festival exists as a rich quilt of Southeastern Louisiana culture and maritime history. Within this tapestry, woven in as an integral piece, is the calm undulating shoreline of Marina del Ray.