Antique Wooden Boat Show

The Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show is held in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the city of Hessel, Michigan. Founded in 1978, the event is held every year during the second week of August . The Les Cheneaux Islands Antique Wooden Boat Show is held each year in the beautiful Upper Peninsula town of Hessel, Michigan. This year Century Boats are showcased. Century Boats have been in production since 1926 and have become known as “The Thoroughbred of Boats”. Thomas Holmes has written an in-depth article which can be found under the heading The Story of the Century Boat Company. Please consider bringing your Century to Hessel this year! A special award will be presented.
Some of the country’s finest boats call our rustic Les Cheneaux Islands home. Most of these boats are used daily during the summer months as a primary mode of transportation to and from the cottages dotting the area’s 36 sheltered islands. Les Cheneaux has a rich heritage in boat building and repair. Our craftsmen continue to offer some of the finest restoration and repair services available.
Entries in the boat show arrive each August from as far as California and Florida and include dinghies, rowboats, canoes, launches, sailboats, utilities, runabouts, large cruisers, racers and classic non-wood. Along with the boat show there is The Festival of Arts. Artists and craftspeople display and sell a variety of artwork, including photographs, paintings, pottery, textiles, glass jewelry, dolls, wood toys, and many other items.

Directions:
Boat Show
Hessel can be reached by car, plane or boat. The Albert Lindberg Airport has a paved 3,700 foot runway. If traveling via highway, From the Mackinac Bridge, take I-75 North to exit #359 (M-134).and drive east on M-134 just 16 miles turn Right on S Pickford Ave that turns into S Hessel Point Road to the Marina at E. J. Mertaugh Boat Works, 296 South Hessel Point Road in Hessel Michigan.

The Historical Museum
From the Mackinac Bridge, take I-75 North to exit #359 (M-134). Proceed east to Cedarville. The Historical Museum is located one block south of blinker light in Cedarville.

The Maritime Museum
From the Mackinac Bridge, take I-75 North to exit #359 (M-134). Proceed east to Cedarville. The Maritime Museum is on M-134, four blocks east of the blinker light.