14th Annual Sikaflex "Quick & Dirty" Boat Building Competition held on August 23rd & 24th, 2025.
If you missed this years annual SikaFlex Quick & Dirty Boat Building Competition don't worry, there's always next year. The event is typically held in August and this year there were a total of four teams participated. Despite the low number of entries the weather for the weekend event turned out to be perfect. Some of the designs were particularly creative and the race itself was probably the biggest blowout win we've ever had. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.
First held in 2011, this annual SikaKFlex Quick & Dirty Boat Building Competition has quickly become one of the "must-see" events of the summer season. Sponsored by the Sika Corporation, a supplier of Marine Adhesives & Sealants, the event provides would-be boat designers and builders a chance to showcase their creative skills and talents.
THE CHALLENGE: Using only the provided supply of plywood and lumber, plastic cable ties, and adhesive/sealant (SikaFlex 291 of course!), two member teams must build, paint and then paddle their design around a designated course in Port Jefferson Harbor located just offshore of Harborfront Park.
At the conclusion of the race awards are presented to the three front-place race winners as well as for best Original Boat Design. Following the award ceremony our annual raffle is conducted which rewards some lucky person(s) with the current years raffle boat. If you, your friends or family, or members of your organization are looking for a fun and entertaining event to participate in this Summer, then the Quick & Dirty Boat Building Competition is definitely for you.
LISEC also invites and encourages local community businesses to become a sponsor for this annual event. In addition to providing advertising and community awareness for your business your sponsoring contribution will help defray event costs and provide welcome enabling support for all of LISECs current and future programs.
If your business or organization is interested in becoming a sponsor for this event please fill out our Sponsorship Form and mail it into the address listed on the form.
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The Twelvth Annual Quick & Dirty Boat Building Competition will again take place this coming August at beautiful Harborfront Park. If you are interested in participating in this fun event please fill out our Application Form and General Instructions and mail it to the address listed on the form.
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Quick & Dirty Boat Building Competition
Artists Rendering of an Armed Whaleboat
Whaleboat 1776 Project Featured on TV & Local News Media
The Whaleboat 1776 Project is getting noticed! Thanks to both our local press and metro news organizations, public awareness of this historical project is growing and reaching audiences well beyond the Port Jefferson Village boundaries.
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Many of our visitors now mention that they came to visit us specifically because they either read about the project in Long Islands Newsday and/or saw it featured on Channel 12 News Long Island. It wasn't long after when CBS News New York contacted us to do a featured piece on the project.
The CBS news article in particular provides a good overview of the project and a bit of the history behind it. Included are interviews with several of the volunteers who are helping make it happen.
Note: To watch the video allow the initial advertisement to play thru to its end and the video will start automatically (make sure the audio is turned on).
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Get Ready for Launch Day - May 2, 2026
Bayles Boat Shop to be part of Suffolk County's LI250 Events
The Bayles Boat Shop is proud to be
a participating member in the Suffolk
County celebrations commemorating
the 250th anniversary of the signing
of the Declaration of Independance.
In coordination with Suffolk County, the Long Island 250 (LI250) Passport Book program and the Village of Port Jefferson, the Bayles Boat Shop invites you to visit our Boat Shop located in Port Jefferson’s Harborfront Park. Come and see first hand, our Whaleboat 1776 Project promoting and commemorating Port Jefferson's historical role in the Culper Spy Ring. During your visit, you will be able to engage with our volunteers to learn about the construction of this historic craft, the role whaleboats played on the Long Island Sound during the Revolutionary War and the local patriots who risked their lives as members of the famed Culper Spy Ring.
And don’t forget to bring your LI250 Passport Book: we will have our Bayles Boat Shop Stamp ready to commemorate your visit to our shop.
Come Visit Us - Boat Shop Hours
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
9am – 12pm
Launch Date for the Whaleboat
May 2, 2026
Bayles Boat Shop Sponsors Golf Hole for Port Jefferson Rotary Indoor Golf Classic
On March 1st 2025, the Port Jefferson Rotary Club held their 8th Annual Putt & Pub Crawl fundraising event in beautiful downtown Port Jefferson.
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The Bayles Boat Shop enthusiastically supports this annual fundraising event by sponsoring a golf hole which is set up at one of Port Jeff's local dining establishments. This year, our host for this event was Port Jefferson's ever popular Port Bistro & Pub. And what better design for a golf hole then our very own Bayles Sloop tied up to the dock. We even added a lighthouse design to add a bit more challenge.
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This event is always a fun afternoon of golf (putting) and frivolity at some of the Village's most popular eateries and drinking establishments. Just the thing to shake off those winter blues and hone your putting skills at the same time!
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Bayles Boat Shop Craft Featured in the Filming of "One Life To Give"
A young gentleman walked into the boat shop one Spring morning and inquired whether we might have an 18th century rowboat available that he might possibly borrow for a day for use in a film which he was helping to produce. The gentleman's name was Michael Tessler and he was Executive Producer for the film One Life To Give. Now most boat shops wouldn't usually have a boat of that vintage just laying around but we did happen to have a 40 to 45 year old Adirondack style canoe available which we felt would fit the part quite nicely.
Michael agreed and was very excited to have found a worthy boat on such short notice and we were equally as excited about having it featured in such an historical film. There was only one slight catch however; our wooden canoe had not been in the water for a good number of years and the filming was to take place the following Saturday (only two days away). As any classic wooden boat owner will tell you, any traditionally built wood boat (this canoe is lapstraked spruce fastened with copper tacks) will most definitely leak until the wood swells and the seams close tight. Our boat was no exception!
And so, very early on Saturday morning, with high hopes and fingers crossed, we headed off to East Beach in Mt. Sinai, NY for the start of filming. As luck would have it, on this particular morning the beach was blanketed in an extremely dense fog. Rather than being dismayed Michael and the film crew felt that the fog would lend a very dramatic effect...and indeed it did.
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While waiting for the film boat to arrive (used for filming the off-shore scenes) the actors went about familiarizing themselves with their boat. They eagerly stepped into the canoe and were pushed off for a short paddle to nowhere. It took only about 15 minutes before they were seen to turn around and head quickly back to shore. Then, above shouted questions of "How'd it go" and "Is everything OK" you could hear their exclamatory shout..."THE BOAT LEAKS!"
We quickly mentioned that this was "kind of" to be expected, it being such an old boat and yada, yada, yada. And the actors, much to their credit, laughed it off and proceeded to sit their wet bottoms back down into the boat and go out and do it all over again, and again, and again...but not before emptying the boat out each and every time upon returning to shore. Needless to say, filming took the entire morning and the results are in; the shoot was a great success!
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The film One Life To Give premiered on June 24th, 2018 at the Staller Center in Stony Brook, NY. It tells the incredible true story of the friendship between two young American heroes, Nathan Hale and Benjamin Tallmadge. A friend- ship that saved the American Revolution and changed the course of human history
