Taste Test Taste Test! Wendy and Paul Johnson, owners of theBlue Moon Caf, test a batch of clam chowder. The Johnsons are providing chowder for the August 7 Boat Builders Festival.

Highlights will include an array of seafood from local waters supplied by region businesses and a display of boats of all sizes, plus accessories, crafted by local boat builders. This is in addition to tours of two famous East Boothbay shipyards, the opportunity to board the historic schooner Bowdoin, the schooner Oliver C. Weyant and other vessels, visits to a sail loft and picturesque marina, a nautical art show and live music.

There will be a choice of two chowders. The Blue Moon Caf and owner Paul Johnson will provide pots of steaming hot clam chowder. Johnson, a land trust board member and a major supporter of this event, is also supplying lobster rolls and crabmeat rolls, not to mention iced tea and numerous paper products.

Doug Carter at the Sea Pier will supply lobster for the lobster rolls. Mussels will be provided by Great Eastern Mussels, thanks to owners Chip and Nan Davison (Nan Davison is BRLT president).

Great Eastern mussels are fresh from shallow natural beds, purged overnight in cold Maine seawater so they are never sandy or gritty and are hand- picked and inspected. Festival visitors will get a chance to see them cooked right on the deck at the Ocean Point Marina. The Dead River Company is also supporting the Boothbay Region Land Trust's festival by contributing the propane used to cook the mussels. Another local family-owned business, the Glidden Point Oyster Company, is providing oysters fresh from the Damariscotta River.

Barbara Sculley and family will show visitors how oysters are shucked and serve themup fresh on the spot. These cultured oysters are from the family's sea farm located in a very natural, pristine setting using no machinery or processing equipment -- everything is done meticulously by hand.

Visitors are advised to line up early as these succulent oysters are expected to sell out quickly! For landlubbers, including kids, there will be hot dogs available, contributed by Hannaford Supermarkets, which is also donating rolls and some paper products.

Hannaford has long been a strong community supporter and the BRLT is grateful for their help.There will be a veritable fleet of locally built boats of different sizes on display, reflecting the boat building heritage of this area.

Festival-goers will be able to view and touch the individually crafted vessels, admire the brightwork and the perfect varnish and meet the builders who produced them. To date, nine local builders have accepted the Boothbay Region Land Trust's invitation to display their vessels, providing a total of 14 handcrafted boats, plus equipment.

These include: Carpenter's Boat Shop, Robert Ives, builder, showing a 13' sailing dinghy and a Monhegan Island skiff; Shew and Burnham, William Shew and Cecil Burnham, builders, showing a 12" Whitehall rowing skiff; Stimson Marine, David Stimson, builder, showing a 25' dory type skiff, as well as plans for other types of boats; Southport Island Marine, Doug Goldhirsch, builder, showing a Southport 30;Tony Jose, builder, showing a 20' Whitehall sailing skiff with two masts; Finest Kind Wooden Boats, Rick Prose, builder, showing a 9' yacht tender; Edgecomb Boat Works, Michael Mayne, builder, showing a Lyman; J.E. Jones Boat and Propeller, Jimmy Jones, builder of traditional wooden boats, showing a 23' fantail launch, a 9' Dinghy, a 12' flat bottomed skiff, a 17' strip built kayak and a 14' strip built canoe; Paul E. Luke, builder and manufacturer of boat products, showing a 12' yacht tender and several market boat products including fireplaces, stoves, anchors and feathering propellers.

There will also be tours of Hodgdon Yachts, known for their world class yachts, including recently, Scheherazade and Antonisa, and Washburn & Doughty, which has tugboats and other working boats in service all over the world.

Festival tickets are $15; children to 12 admitted free. Proceeds of the event will benefit the Boothbay Region Land Trust's ongoing work in protecting a wide range of properties, including islands, shoreline, meadow, forest and wetlands, as well as working waterfront. More information is available at 633- 4818; or www.bbrlt.org.