Ahoy Matey! Fish filleting, fishing pole casting, fish eating, treasure hunt, fish taco making contests at this weekend’s Noyo Harbor Festival in South Noyo Harbor

Watch our own Frank Hartzell, Harbormaster Anna Neumann, Supervisor Bernie Norvell and Fort Bragg Police Capt. Thomas O’Neal walk the plank- but only if you pay!

Why don’t pirates take a shower before they walk the plank?

Because they wash up on shore!

The third annual Noyo Harbor Festival wraps up Sunday with all the swashbuckling fun a pirate-themed celebration deserves—including rounding up a few buccaneers walking the plank!

Harbormaster Anna Neumann came up with the idea and volunteered to be the first to walk the plank—off the 12-foot-high pier just west of her office. Then, using a time-tested tactic, she challenged a few brave men to follow her lead.

So now, Mendocino County Supervisor Bernie Norvell, Fort Bragg Police Capt. Thomas O’Neal and I are set to walk out and shiver our timbers! 

Of course, that all depends on the generosity—or mischief—of those eager to see us take the plunge. A sliding scale of donations will determine just how soon we each walk the plank.

Saturday and Sunday, Fort Bragg will celebrate its rich fishing heritage at the Noyo Harbor Festival. Neumann says the event aims to honor local fishing families and promote dockside seafood sales.

The Noyo Harbor Festival is charting a new course this year! After two years in North Harbor, it’s sailing across the water to Grader Field in South Harbor—proud home of the World’s Largest Salmon BBQ.

Families can dive into pirate-themed adventures, from treasure maps to a lively treasure hunt. Festival highlights include a fish-eating contest and a casting competition—not the theatrical kind, but a challenge to see who can hurl a fishing line the farthest into the harbor.

Saturday also brings the ever-popular vendors’ fair, featuring local goods and treats. Sea Pal Cove will cross the Noyo River to dish out fish tacos for purchase. A team put together by Scott Hockett and the Noyo Fish Company will sell oysters. That same day, a kayak event launches from the upper boat ramp in South Noyo Harbor—conveniently located near a large parking lot. From there, pirates will paddle downriver on a mission to collect trash… and maybe even uncover some of Blackbeard’s long-lost treasure.

On Sunday, Seven local chefs will face off in a fish taco-making competition, serving up their best creations for attendees to sample and vote on. This will be a real face off of the most beloved fish cooks in town. Noyo Fish Company, Asian Fusion, Hucks Sliders, Los Gallitos, Coastal tacos, Medusa Tacos, and Sea Pal will go head to head in the big fish taco contest on Sunday.

There will be a treasure hunt in the harbor all weekend, with local businesses cooperating in that fun. 

Twelve boat stickers are hidden around the harbor, each featuring a silhouette of a different vessel. Treasure hunters must track them down using a riddle as their guide

Many of these boats are working businesses, and this contest helps connect our vibrant downtown shops with the 80 active enterprises in the morning basin. That’s why we placed the boat stickers at local businesses downtown,” Neumann explained

“When I look at these boats, I see the creativity and enterprise they represent. Others might just see something to take out on the water. This contest is meant to highlight the economic potential and ingenuity thriving in our harbor. As people lay out their stickers, they might suddenly realize—wow, these are all different, and look at what they do!”

Saturday promises a bustling vendor fair and scenic harbor tours, plus plenty of fish tacos and other tasty bites. Live music and sandcastle contests will keep the festive spirit going all day long.

Many are eagerly awaiting what promises to be the fiercest showdown of the festival—the fish filleting tournament. Competitors will slice into vibrant, freshly caught Chili Pepper Rockfish, once the top commercial catch out of Noyo Harbor. (Though for reasons that baffle locals, most rockfish sold in stores are labeled as ‘red snapper’ or some other mundane name.)

“A lot of people around here say they are the best. This is a chance for everyone to put their money where their mouth is,” Neumann said.  (This approach has worked before!)

The harbor district would like to raise $5,000 with the walk the plank fundraiser.

Before ‘jumping in,’ I stopped by to see firsthand why the fundraising goal matters. Harbormaster Neumann has already secured grants and made impressive strides—completing a new icehouse and a fish cleaning station. But grants alone don’t cover the core infrastructure our harbor truly needs.

Take the aging iron pipes, for example—they’re simply too outdated to support the new facilities. A significant portion of the funding will go toward replacing them. I stopped by to take a look and snap a few photos. The city is already working to upgrade its connection to the Noyo Harbor system, making this the perfect moment to install new infrastructure.

And the harbor’s current boat? It’s a small, bass-style vessel—ill-equipped for the kind of maintenance work the district regularly faces. What’s truly needed is a flat-deck utility boat to keep operations running efficiently. The existing boat is in rough shape, yet it’s still used for critical tasks like deploying booms during oil spills and clearing logjams, which are a frequent springtime challenge.

Unlike other districts supported by city budgets or taxing authorities, Noyo Harbor operates on slip rentals and a modest share of property tax revenue—roughly $800,000 a year. I’ve followed the district for years and truly admire the proactive path it’s charting.

That’s why I signed up to walk the plank.

Since its inception, the harbor district has operated under two distinct philosophies. One views its role as quietly overseeing the mooring basin. The other envisions the district as a driving force in revitalizing tourism and contributing to the ‘blue economy.

To me, the first approach just isn’t viable. This town has lost much of its industry, and what Harbormaster Neumann is doing—embracing a more active, hands-on model—is exactly what’s needed. Most of the infrastructure here is worn out and aging, and the passive ‘sit back and count beans’ philosophy simply won’t sustain us in the long run.

For those wondering why Fort Bragg seems to have two Noyo Harbors, it all goes back to the original State Route 1 bridge, which once crossed the harbor itself. Travelers driving from Mendocino to Fort Bragg had to navigate a winding road down to a low bridge over the Noyo River, then climb back up into town. Those old bridges—frequently damaged and closed due to flooding—were eventually replaced by a towering span at the harbor’s mouth. Built in the 1940s and replaced in 2005, the current Noyo River Bridge offers a direct and reliable route.

Why the move from North Harbor to South Harbor for this year’s Noyo Harbor Festival? While North Harbor boasts eateries and retail shops, past festivals became so crowded—with limited parking and difficult foot traffic—that local businesses didn’t benefit as much as expected. Most are still glad the event is happening and believe visitors will make their way to North Harbor as well. In fact, several events are still planned there, including an open house at the Noyo Center for Marine Science and other community activities.

Frank Hartzell’s coverage of the 2024 Noyo Harbor Festival in the Mendocino Voice

Come be part of the magic! Every splash, every smile, every plank-walk helps keep our harbor thriving. If you’ve laughed, danced, or devoured a fish taco here, this is your chance to give back.

Donate right here on our page—and help us keep the tide rolling in the right direction!

And remember—every dollar you toss into the treasure chest helps launch another brave pirate off the plank! It’s splashy, it’s silly, and it’s all for a seriously good cause.

In the North Harbor, there will be an open house and Skeleton unveiling of the Hubb’s Beaked Whale which the Noyo Center spent the past week articulating. The open house will be from 2 to 4pm at the Noyo Center for Marine Science Field Station

This year California Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday and like the Harbor Festival, features a treasure hunt!.  Special “trash” items will be hidden at cleanup sites all across the state. If you find one of them, you can redeem it for valuable prizes!  Big River Beach, Caspar Beach, Glass Beach, Hare Creek, Moat Creek, Navarro Beach, Pudding Creek Beach, Seaside Beach, Ten Mile Beach, Ward Avenue, Van Damme, Virgin Creek Beach to sign up for clean up go to Mendo Parks  For more information on other clean up locations go to Coastal Cleanup Day

Not only does the State collect trash and prizes at Coastal Cleanup, but they also collect data. With these numbers, policy makers, businesses, and the public can begin to take actions to reduce both plastic production and pollution. This data has been vitally important in developing debris reduction policies, such as bans on plastic grocery bags, plastic straws and polystyrene foodware foam.

Some fogbows in Noyo Harbor below!!