Color this cool.
Warm brown colors of wooden boats meet Tahoe's blue hues this weekend in the Tahoe Keys Marina and Yacht Club.
Last year's event was such a success, organizers decided to make the South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic an annual affair. Chris Craft, Hacker, Gar Wood and Italian Riva boats will be at the show, which will have about 60 boats.
“It's a wealthy man's toy,” said event spokesman Jack Kanler. “They are all gleaming out there, just beautiful pieces of art.”
Kanler estimated more than half of the boats are from Tahoe, and while some are regularly used, others only go in the water for shows.
“They need to (constantly) be varnished as opposed to fiberglass boats that just need wax once a year,” he said.
The showstopper will be the 55-foot “Thunderbird,” built in 1940 and formerly owned by Lake Tahoe tycoon George Whittell.
A free northbound Nifty 50 Trolley will deliver people from the “Y” — the intersection of highways 50 and 89 — to the marina. The boats are displayed noon to 4 p.m. Friday, July 17 and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday July 18. Tickets are $15 for one day and $20 for both.
Powered by two Allison V-1710 1100 horsepower engines, the “Thunderbird's” Honduran mahogany wood and stainless steel will ripple Tahoe's cobalt blue water Sunday, July 19, to lead a wooden craft procession to Emerald Bay. The crafts will circle Fannette Island and head back south to the Tallac Historic Site for a picnic at Valhalla. The underway flotilla can be seen by boaters and beachgoers shortly after 10 a.m.