New Antique & Classic Boat Cruise In Scenic Cajun Country.

“Cajun Classique” being born on the bayou. Thanks to fellow Woody Boater Cory Werk for making us aware of this new Cruise they are doing in Cajun Country. They have a poster and cool website as well. Not to mention a very very cool location for a cruise. Our Woody hats are off to the gang for trying something new. To get the boats out on the water and used the way the mahogany gods intended them to be used. Cory even created a snazzy press release. Here it is. Its got all the info.

BREAUX BRIDGE, La — November 15, 2013: The Southwest Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society is sponsoring a new cruise through the heart of Cajun country. The “Cajun Classique” event begins in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on Monday, April 7th, through Sunday, April 13th, 2014. Registration for classic wooden boat enthusiasts is now open. Deadline to register is March 1st, 2014. Registration and details of the cruise route and daily excursions can be found at CajunClassique.com. As far as it is known, this excursion represents the only classic boat cruise west of the Mississippi River.

According to this map of Louisiana my 4th grade geography teacher was wrong! But actually makes sense.

“We’ve done cruises before, and continue to do them around the country, but this is the first cruise down the bayou with a taste of Cajun culture,” says Wayne Elliott, member of the Antique & Classic Boat Society (ACBS) and veteran cruiser. “During my attendance at LSU years ago, I would hop across the Basin to visit Cajun country any chance I could for the food, music, and of course for the Cajun people.” Wayne Elliott and the new ACBS member Cory Werk are Tour Directors of this event, with Cory operating Bayou Teche Experience on site in historic downtown Breaux Bridge. “It’s a perfect match,” says Cory Werk. “From the time Cajuns settled the swamps and bayous of South Louisiana, boats were a necessity for trapping, hunting and fishing for subsistence. They built their wooden boats by hand by watching and doing, not by reading a blue print. A folk art that still goes on today.” South Louisiana has a long history of wooden boat building traditions. The cruise will end at the Wooden Boat Show at the Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival in Franklin, Louisiana. Considering the foibles of antique watercraft, a mechanic will be on call throughout the cruise.

Those blue dots and arrows mean something. You can find out on their website.

The “Cajun Classique” cruise down the oak-tree laden Bayou Teche will go through three parishes over seventy miles in two days. Time out will be taken to experience the local culture including its indigenous music and food. The Teche’s historic and cultural significance will be highlighted. A remnant of the Mississippi River’s waters of 5,000 years ago, the Teche has seen Civil War battles, has welcomed the first settlements of the Cajuns in 1765, and is home to the oldest operating lock and dam structure in the Mississippi Delta. Boaters will lock through this 100-year old structure. Cultural excursions include visiting the hometown of Pulitzer Prize nominated author James Lee Burke who writes about the famed Detective Dave Robicheaux; the Crawfish Capital of the World, plantation homes, rice mills, the world-famous Tabasco plant and Jungle Gardens; and a visit with a local Cajun boat builder may prove the highlight of all.