Ed is tough but considered, practical but romantic, exacting but inclusive. If more people were like him, sailing would be a better sport.

Sure, the videos still have a slightly annoying millennial sensibility, but by combining some authentic James Wharram footage she makes me think that she would have fitted in well aboard TANGAROA in 1955.

What I do know is that we shouldn’t be dismissing this as an “American” issue. With acute problems of housing affordability, spiralling inflation, and murmurs of recession it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, that this story repeats on Pittwater, Hobsons Bay or Middle Harbour in the near future.

‘In the midst of a global pandemic, a young boy is given an extraordinary gift. AGRICOLA 7101 is an uplifting documentary focusing on a group of kind-hearted individuals who come together to rescue a long-neglected and rare classic Australian sailing dinghy - fundamentally changing the life of a young boy along the way.’

In the latest episode of the AWBF Boat Folk series they introduce you to one of Tasmania's oldest wooden boats - proud SV BRITANNIA.

While re-reading Ian Fleming’s oeuvre recently, I seem to remember that my wife remarked… ”This is misogynistic crap” …and she’s probably right.

Today we talk with the three most active members of the YVONNE 97 syndicate, about the restoration of Port Phillip’s famous Tumlaren. And like so many of the best wooden boat stories, its not really about the craft, its more about the people, the friendships and the philosophies embedded into the project. Sit back, enjoy, and hopefully be inspired.

OK, I’ll lay my cards on the table… I’ve got a vested interest in this one! There aren’t many Philip Rhodes Designed boats in Australia.

Shackleton’s Captain uses Hurley’s original footage and embellishes it with a cast of modern actors, experts and graphics to explain how important Frank Worsley, the Endurance’s captain was to the expedition.

When the 2021 Australian Wooden Boat Festival went the same way as so many other mass gatherings over the last 18 months, the organisers quickly made sure that the year wasn’t completely wasted.

While researching the elusive Errol Flynn and his yachts, see Hobart to Hollywood SWS 3rd June, we discovered Templeton Crocker, the original owner of Flynn’s schooner the ZACA. From 1929 during a global Depression, Crocker spent his huge railroad fortune building and fitting the yacht and embarking on scientific expeditions in the Pacific.

“While most people know that Bogie and Bacall had a great love affair, probably fewer know about my father’s other great love–sailing. Specifically, it was with his 55-foot sailing yacht, SANTANA. The sea was my father’s sanctuary.” - Stephen Bogart

When it came to Classic boats on the big screen, the readers of SWS took it to a whole other level - here’s what you had to say!

So here it is, SWS’s TOP 5 ALL TIME CLASSIC MOMENTS AFLOAT! If you have a film featuring a wooden boat of which you are particularly fond, let us know. Preference given to craft of the Southern Hemisphere.  It’s all up for debate and your input.

From the get go, Leo harnessed the power of social media to broadcast his story building not only a boat, but a remarkable community of volunteers and supporters.

I have heard Dugga speak over the years and been enthralled by his story telling and depth of knowledge acquired over years of being out, working the same stretch of water.

Plans were thrown into chaos with boats trapped on the hard and crew travel arrangements stymied, undaunted, Peter Costolloe pressed ahead and those who made it to the start line didn’t regret it.

Ginny Gerlach and I share a core passion - to see more women on water. It’s as simple and as complicated as that. The passion certainly comes out in this interview.

…And I think this is why we also love, sail and chose to be the custodians of old boats – in doing so we are connected to something bigger than ourselves, a bigger story, a continuous story…

In many ways the post-war wooden, Southern Australian Cray Fishing boats are ideally suited to become cruising vessels. Listen to a man who has actually lived the dream and dodged the pitfalls.