Shipyard Raid 2009

Tad Roberts and Raiders share stories and adventures from the past Shipyard Raid. (The November talk was canceled by a storm and power outage--rescheduled for May.)

The Shipyard Raid is an annual 8-day sailing and rowing race for traditional small boats. The first raid held in North America, the Shipyard Raid is modeled after the Great Glen Raid in Scotland, Raid Finland, the Croisiere Loire, and predecessors in Portugal and Sweden. Like them, the Shipyard Raid promotes adventure, seamanship and sportsmanship in small traditional sail-and-rowing craft. After three Raids south from Silva Bay to the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, 2005-2007, in 2010 as in 2009 and 2008 the Raid is going north. The route of about 170 km is from the Silva Bay on Gabriola Island, B.C. Canada, through the Gulf of Georgia, up the Malaspina Strait (mainland side), and into Desolation Sound.

A Roberts of Roberts Creek, British Columbia, Tad Roberts grew up with boats on the South Coast. Tad fished commercially, and was mate on tug boats. He opened his own design office in Victoria, BC in 1984.