"Imagine up to a dozen big Unlimiteds thundering through the waters, recreating the action of earlier years." That's how the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum describes Mahogany & Merlot on its event site. It names boats like Miss Budweiser, Miss Bardahl, Atlas Van Lines and Pay 'n Pak as examples of the restored raceboats that come back to Lake Chelan every October.
The date is what makes this year's event worth a closer look. The City of Chelan's 2025–26 parks rate resolution sets Lakeshore Marina's seasonal moorage window from opening in late May to closing on October 1. This year the hydroplanes start their exhibitions at that same marina on Friday, October 2. So the summer slips are done for the year on Thursday, and the lake's loudest weekend begins the next morning. The days after it bring a run of scheduled dock and marina closures. Chelan's boating season doesn't trail off into fall. It ends on dates that are posted in advance, and this weekend sits right on the line.
The marina's clock runs out on Thursday
Seasonal moorage at Lakeshore Marina costs $1,700 for a 20-foot slip in 2026, and the city says the season runs about 130 days, depending on lake level. That works out to roughly $13 a day. Daily moorage for a powered 20-foot slip at the same marina is $36 with tax this year, so a season-long slip costs a little over a third of the daily rate. A 30-foot seasonal slip runs $2,400.
The city's moorage closing date doesn't say whether the launch ramp or the free pump-out shuts down with it. The Lake Chelan Chamber's boating page from July describes Lakeshore Marina as having both a launch and a free pump-out station, but it doesn't give winter hours. If you plan to put a boat in after this weekend, check the posted signs at the ramp before you hitch up.
Reading the hydroplane schedule
The event is free. It runs at Lakeshore Marina beside Don Morse Park at 619 W. Manson Highway, and event parking is at Don Morse Park. The American Power Boat Association sanction for the weekend describes the exhibition course as a 2-mile lap, run three laps for six miles. It doesn't say where on the lake the course sits.
Here's the organizer's schedule for the Unlimited hydroplane rides and exhibitions:
- Friday, October 2: 10 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, October 3: 10 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 5 p.m.
- Sunday, October 4: 10 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 3 p.m., when the event ends.
Every day has a lunch break from noon to 1, and the Vendor Village runs in the upper parking lot. The Museum's own listing shows the weekend running until 4 p.m. on Sunday, but the organizer's schedule says 3 p.m. I'd plan around 3.
The site's homepage notes that exhibitions start early Friday "weather permitting." For viewing, a member of the Antique & Classic Boat Society who covered the 2018 event called the grassy slope above Don Morse Marina an excellent spot to see both the classic boats and the hydroplane course. That account is eight years old, and the 2026 layout may be different.
Two things aren't public yet. The organizer hasn't posted a confirmed list of which hydroplanes will run in 2026; the boat names on the homepage are examples. It also hasn't posted a price or location for the Pit Pass into Thunder Alley, where visitors can see the boats up close and talk with the crews.
Friday evening, The Superchargers play the Lake Chelan Eagles Club, and the schedule lists that show as open to the public for this event. The 5 to 7 p.m. reception at Campbell's, the event's official headquarters hotel, is listed for participants.
Saturday is when the lake and the vineyards overlap
Saturday has the most going on. Mahogany Row lines the docks at Don Morse Park & Marina that day only, with restored Chris-Crafts, Centurys, Gar Woods and other classic runabouts displayed for viewing and voting. The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society presents it. At noon, the antique and classic boat parade runs during the lunch break, and The Superchargers play live by the beer garden.
The event's winery-tour page describes a Wine, Beer and Spirits Garden overlooking the marina, with Vin du Lac Winery and Blue Spirits Distillery. It also points visitors toward sponsor wineries within seven miles of the event, though it doesn't list a 2026 shuttle or tour times.
The same afternoon, three harvest events on the Lake Chelan Wine Valley calendar overlap with the hydroplane hours:
- Tsillan Cellars Fall Harvest Market and Vineyard Tours, noon to 4 p.m., 3875 Hwy. 97A.
- Lake Chelan Winery Harvest Wine Club Party, 1 to 4 p.m., 3519 WA-150, with lunch, a grape stomp and live music.
- Amos Rome Vineyards Crush Behind-the-Scenes Tour, 1 to 3 p.m., 700 Wapato Lake Road in Manson, with vineyard and production tours and a five-wine tasting.
The Tsillan market is the first fall harvest event since the winery changed hands. A Manson-based investor group led by Ronan and Gillian Walsh took ownership on June 30. The Lake Chelan Mirror reported that founder Bob Jankelson stays on as an ambassador and that the tasting room, restaurant, events and wine club continue as before.
Uplake, the Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation holds its 2026 Harvest Fest in Stehekin on the same October 2–4 weekend. The Manson Tribune reported that organizers considered a later date because the crop was ripening late, but kept the festival in the first week of October.
The quieter weeks the closures leave behind
Once the hydroplanes leave, the next set of dates is about construction. Chelan PUD announced the fall and winter work on September 28, and the Lake Chelan Mirror covered it the next day. Here's the order:
- Early October: Old Mill Park's day-use dock and marine dump station close for dock replacement, with work expected to finish in January, depending on conditions.
- November through January: Manson Bay Park's marina closes while PUD contractors replace the breakwater, which keeps the marina water calm and protects the shoreline from wave erosion.
- Through roughly Memorial Day: At Riverwalk Park, the lift station area and about 10 nearby parking spots stay closed while the City of Chelan builds a new plaza with benches, a viewing area, new lighting and an accessible ramp as part of its lift station replacement.
Old Mill Park also has a four-lane launch and short-term moorage, according to the PUD's park listing, but the closure notice only covers the dock and the dump station. Manson Bay Park lists a winter-only boat launch and a sanitary pump-out, and its notice doesn't say whether they stay open while the marina is closed. The PUD posts park status updates at chelanpud.org/parks. That's the page to check before you tow a boat to either park this winter.
The rest of the fall calendar moves inland
After this weekend, the valley's fall events move off the water and into tasting rooms, storefronts and barrel rooms:
- All of October: The Manson Chamber's Fall for Manson, with an interactive passport going live October 1 and scarecrow displays and voting at participating businesses from October 12 to 31.
- October 17: Amos Rome Vineyards' Harvest Lunch & Fall Wine Release, noon to 3 p.m. on Wapato Lake Road.
- October 18: Callan Cellars' Annual Pumpkin Succulent Workshop, 3 to 5 p.m. at 37 US Highway 97A.
- November 13–15 and 20–22: Fall Barrel Tasting across the Lake Chelan Wine Valley. Participants include Cairdeas Winery, Tipsy Canyon, Hard Row to Hoe, Rocky Pond, Vin du Lac, Tsillan Cellars, Lake Chelan Winery and Silver Bell.
Vin du Lac also has a project in the works on its own property. In August the Lake Chelan Mirror reported that the winery had applied for a 1,709-square-foot tasting room, a 1,480-square-foot covered patio and expanded parking at 105 Spader Bay Road. The city received the application July 27 and deemed it complete August 5. For now it's a proposal still in review, not a building with an opening date.
So the order this fall runs like this: moorage ends Thursday, the Unlimiteds run Friday through Sunday, and the Old Mill dock closes in early October. By the time Manson Bay's breakwater work starts in November, barrel tasting season is a couple of weeks away.
If the October 1 moorage deadline has you thinking about what lake access looks like year-round, from a private dock to a slip that doesn't depend on the city's calendar, I'm happy to talk through how that works on different parts of the shoreline. Reach out through Nick Bowler and let's connect, maybe after you've watched a few laps from Don Morse this weekend.
