The diverse crowd mingled around a variety of boats and their builders as they discussed craftsmanship, seaworthiness, and in the case of John Isaac's cedar strip kayak, merely uttered the words, "piece of art."

Isaac built his 19-foot single kayak from plans with alternating strips of cedar and Sitka spruce. The entire kayak was then covered in clear fiberglass and buffed to a shiny finish.

Isaac said he saw a similar kayak at the festival a couple years prior, "And I said, 'You know, I think I can do that,'" he said.

Photo by Ben Stuart, Homer News Gary Porter of Fairbanks brought his Tolman skiff, the Christina Lea, above, to the festival. Renn Tolman, the boat's designer, said eight skiffs were trailered to the Homer Spit for the event.

Nearly two years and 1,500 hours of detailed work later, Isaac finished his kayak.

For Isaac, a welder by trade, this kayak was his first attempt at boat-building. He said he hadn't put the kayak in the water yet, and several people walking by said he should hang it on a wall somewhere. But Isaac was looking to sell it at the festival. The expedition-size kayak was designed to carry one person and all the gear needed for an extended ocean voyage. It also carried a price tag of $12,500.

At the other end of the lot, Seward resident Jim O'Meara followed a similar course to boat ownership -- but said he had no plans of selling his wooden boat anytime soon.

Photo by Ben Stuart, Homer News This stip built canoe was one of several examples of workmanship on display at the Festival.

He had spent only about three hours in the water by Saturday, he said.

"It gave birth in the Homer Boat Yard," he said. "Everything performed so nice, it just balanced out. It's exactly what I want. It's a good little boat."

O'Meara's boat is based on Homer boat builder Renn Tolman's design. He bought a precut hull kit from Skiffkits -- a company out of Anchorage -- and built his cabin to suite his needs. Even with a full-time job O'Meara said he found a way to pour 600 hours of labor into the boat to finish it in four months.

Photo by Ben Stuart, Homer News Reid Casey, left, and his mother Nancy, worked on painting his own wooden boat. More than 500 boats were painted by kids during the festival.

"I was going to name ... (after my girlfriend)," he said. "But she took off."

"So I named it the 'Jimo'. I'm not going to name it after someone that's gone," he said.

Renn Tolman was on hand as well, selling his newest book and chatting up skiff owners from as far away as California. He said eight Tolman skiffs made the trip to Homer.

"It was a tremendous success for me personally," Tolman said after the festival. He said he has been coming to the festival for several years now and sold more books this year than ever before.

Also on sale were Kachemak Wooden Boat Society T-shirts and sweatshirts bearing a picture of long-time Homer boat builder George Hamm's boat, the Dan 36.

Hamm's wife Karen said sales were as brisk as the stiff wind that hit the Spit Saturday afternoon.

"In spite of the wind, it went really well. I was surprised," she said. "Dust was blowing and all the shirts got dirty, but they sold anyway."

A main draw to the festival is the children's events. Karen Hamm said the kids paint an average of 500 little wooden boats each year.

Caked in paint, a young Reid Casey painted his small wooden skiff green and red and yellow with the help of his mother Nancy.

Perhaps someday, as the wooden boat tradition continues in Homer, he'll be bringing a full-sized boat that he made to the festival.

Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart @homernews.com.