From its earliest days, the Ocean Cruising Club has celebrated those who dared to brave the ocean in small boats, and many of its early members are now legend.

“I’d like to live to be 100 and die at sea,” Peter Mounsey says. The way he's going he'll live well beyond that. And why isn't he a “National Living Treasure” I ask?

The trio of rafts travelled 14,000 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador to eventually and accidentally arrive at Ballina on Australia's east coast.

When I first became interested, I thought that this taciturn Englishman was working in a space where eccentricity meets the counterculture…. Well-meaning hippies, who were fun to follow, but not to be taken too seriously. But the more I learned the more appreciative I became.

The other most noticeable aspects of the vessel is that she's tiller steered and what a tiller! 12 feet long and a huge piece of red gun and although she was responsive in light airs, off the wind and with a beam sea, she was a handful for two.

Waves crashed onto the little craft and her crew while they manned the pumps. The helmsman was lashed to the wheel, while other members of the crew blistered their hands as they man the pumps for hours on end.

The goal of the voyage is to ignite a movement of 10 million “planetary navigators” by developing young leaders and engaging communities around the world to take part in navigating the earth towards a healthy, thriving future.

We all know what happened to the WINSTON CHURCHILL. But her accomplishments in life have been eclipsed by her tragic demise. Many might not know of her whirlwind circumnavigation in 1967. A time in history when the word “laconic” began to be owned by Australians

So we continued with the big dog leg left, rain coming down, rolling gunwhale to gunwhale, making 7 knots. We ran watches during the night of one on two off, which just about worked, but you get a lot of practise getting in and out of you wet weather gear, PFD and sea boots!

At a time when personal liberation and rebellion against authority were prevalent many expressed their individualism through new outlooks on religion, popular culture, and sexuality, and a handful through making slow and mindful voyages around the world in under prepared small boats.

Perhaps rowing is a metaphor. As we age we seem to spend more time looking back than looking forward, and we risk stagnation. If we don’t row we go nowhere.

“As the latest custodian of Māori Lass, I’ve often tried to visualise the people who’ve sailed her before us, the far-flung corners of the world she’s been to and the rough weather she’s survived. Rounding the buoys in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel during twilight racing with the Kettering Yacht Club just doesn’t seem a suitable enough challenge for her.”

After two years of planning thirteen Couta Boats travelled from Melbourne along with two crews from Perth for the 2022 Sydney Harbour Gaffers Regatta.

Sal and Mark - Editors of SWS - walk you through what’s to be undertaken in the 8 weeks prior to departure.

The SARIMANOK was entirely made of vegetal elements, not a single nail was used, and was modelled upon the Filipino Vinta. There were no modern navigational instruments on board and the sailors relied only on the sun and stars to guide them.

But Freddie Mercury is not why I came to Zanzibar. Early childhood memories of holidays at Lamu on the Kenyan coast are filled with images of powerful Dhows plying their trade along the East African coast.

“I have always been a bit eccentric and done my own thing. My mother thought it would ruin my skin and make me unladylike, which it did, and I wasn’t encouraged. So that for me was a great challenge, I did it in spite of everybody.” From teaching sailing during WW2, to commissioning her own boats and founding a magazine - Sheila’s story remains an inspiration.

THE SHANK RETURNS for anyone who wishes to turn the pages of adventure on the high seas, or plans to visit Tasmania's wild South West Coast for themselves to write adventures of their own. 
If however the latter is your preference, make sure you heed Ian's warning, "Are you ready for this?”

‘Women Should Own Boats. Women are very enthusiastic about sailing, but comparatively few of them own and sail their own boats. If a few more women owned boats they would be placed on the same footing as men in yacht clubs, as are the women in England and the United States’. So wrote the inspirational Shelia Patrick and first female member of CYCA - Charlie Salter takes us inside her story.

The sheets were inch thick manilla or sisal rope and there were no winches or cleats, just solid belaying pins. The enormous tiller was controlled by a rope bridle. There was no shelter for the helmsman from heavy weather although luggers built in following years had a small wheelhouse.