Boatfest 2024 | Another Successful Retrocomputing Gathering!

In the middle of Boatfest — a gathering in West Virginia that has everything to do with retrocomputing and nothing at all to do with boats — I heard some commotion coming from the rear of the room. When I arrived there I found John “BoatOfCar” Shawler and Amigo Aaron, hosts of the popular Amigos Podcast, playing football. They were playing on an original Magnavox Odyssey, the first commercial home video game console released back in 1972. The game is so primitive that it requires a third person to serve as the referee, and the field itself is depicted by an overlay that has to be stuck to the front of the television. If that sounds remotely entertaining to interesting to you… welcome to Boatfest.

For the third year in a row, I made the 1,000 mile drive from Oklahoma City to Hurricane, West Virginia. This trip marked the first major voyage of Big Rob’s Van, which did surprisingly well. Sure, a few parts fell off along the way, the radio doesn’t work reliably and we had to stop at a Home Depot in Kentucky to buy a 2×4 to perform an on-the-road repair to the bed, but it did get us to West Virginia and back, so we’ll call that a success. On our first night on the road we stopped for the night at Big Springs National Park, where I slept in the van and Susan camped in a tent. On the following day once we arrived in West Virginia, Susan headed off to a cabin for the weekend while I remained in Hurricane for the event, spending my days at the event and my nights inside the van (in a friend’s driveway, not down by the river).

Boatfest is a throwback to the computer club meetings of the 1980s. There are scheduled events, but the majority of the show is all about looking at the things people brought. The computers you will see at Boatfest range from old machines that you might remember seeing (or maybe even owned) back in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, all the way to obscure machines that only the nerdiest of the nerds have heard of. Sitting on the table next to me was a nearly pristine 386/16 computer running Windows 3.1 that everyone recognized. Two tables away was an Apple 1 motherboard kit sitting next to a PiDP-11, a miniature version of the PDP-11 minicomputer released in 1970. A couple of tables past that, a couple of young teens were battling one another in in a car game on the Dreamcast. One of the best things about Boatfest is that nobody brings the same things to share two years in a row, which means the show is completely different every single year.

Another great thing about Boatfest is that new people are always discovering it. Among this year’s new attendees were Marshall and Lee, locals who found out about the show. Marshall bought a Altair kit and was showing some simple games it could play with its LED lights and how to load software into it. On the other side of the table, Lee had three vintage portable computers including a TRS-80 Model IV portable that I hadn’t seen in many years and another “luggable” system running Lode Runner. Trust me, you have not played Lode Runner until you have played it using keyboard controls while staring at a tiny amber monitor. Heaven!

Petzel may have one-uppoed his Amiga Toaster demonstration from last year by showing off his NABU system from the 1980s. I’ll probably get this wrong, but the NABU was a computer from the 1980s that connected to your home cable connection and was able to download software that way. The updated system Petzel was demoing had a Raspberry Pi simulating the original back end, allowing new software and games to be downloaded and played. It was yet another example of a computer system I had never heard of, and yet somehow there were three of them in the room.

There are a few events that have become regular staples at Boatfest. Frank, Jason, and L. Curtis Boyle were holding court at the front of the room, doing repairs for RetroRewind. Anyone with broken gear is welcome to bring it to the show and the guys will do their best to repair it on the spot for free (minus the cost of parts of course). Several podcasts associated with the show including the Amigos, ARG Presents, and my own Sprite Castle took turns doing live shows. Finally on Saturday night was the auction. Anyone attending the show is invited to bring items from their personal collection and put them up for auction. Many people throw in an item or two and donate the proceeds towards either the show or the charity the show is associated with.

I didn’t have as much time or space to pack for the show as I had hoped and so for this year’s auction I only brought (and sold) some boxed DOS games from my personal collection. I really had no expectations when it came to pricing and was more interested in them finding new good homes than the amount they sold for; that being said, I made enough to cover a few tanks of gas in the van for the trip home. I am constantly surprised at the amounts some of the items in the auction seem to command. It seems like computers that mostly work but still need a few repairs sell for for than completely working systems! I have a few non-working Apple II computers and a few other items that I am already planning to bring to next year’s show.

Another Saturday night tradition that has developed is the bringing, sharing, and consumption of adult beverages. There were multiple spirits available to imbibe, including yet another jar of West Virginia moonshine that was smooth enough to be dangerous. At the far other end of classy, I found a bottle of Dill Pickle Flavored Vodka at the local liquor store, which I picked up and challenged people to drink. It was as tasty as you might imagine dill pickle flavored vodka to be.

Those who hadn’t already started their trips home gathered on Sunday for a picnic thrown by the Amigos crew. There were hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, and plenty of sides for everyone. As Susan (who had returned from the cabin and joined us for lunch) and I were sitting at a picnic table enjoying a hot dog, on the other side of the gazebo we could hear a loud conversation about the evils of Adobe’s licensing. Only at a Boatfest picnic!

I had a great time looking at and playing with all the old computers, but the highlight of the show for me is reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Thanks to everyone who brought things to demonstrate at Boatfest or just stopped by the show to check things out. Every year on the drive home from Boatfest I begin brainstorming about new things to bring to next year’s show and I’ve already come up with a good one. It seemed to me everybody in attendance had a good time, and assuming there’s another show in 2025, I will definitely be there!