FLIGHT was used as a Patrol Boat on the Tamar River in the last years of the War. Thereafter , she was used as a pleasure craft, the Flag Vessel for the Derwent Sailing Squadron and hosted the Queen and Prince Phillip during the Royal Tour of 1954

Recently I heard, via the SWS grapevine, EGRET is alive - she’s in Beashel’s shed in Elvina Bay. So, this week, for SWS, I’ll rekindle old love and write an article about EGRET. I’ll call Colin and find out what’s going on with the vessel, I believe to be one of the most beautiful in Australia.

Yes we have been slack. 18 months is too long between updates. We could call “COVID” but really its just time and resources. (Hence the “Donate” button at the top of the page!) So here’s a short update on how the beautiful old lady is coming along….And we promise it won’t be 18 months before the next one!

From her early days PISCES worked from Apollo Bay, venturing into Bass Strait for shark fishing and netting. After a stint at a few other Victorian west coast ports, she was eventually taken to Queensland where she was used as a vessel for fishing the black tipped reef shark.

Firstly, and most importantly… she has an appointment with a large, angry chainsaw on the 1st May unless someone puts their hand up

The pictures in this article are my brief attempt to capture the essence of this wonderfully evocative piece of Tasmania’s wooden boat history.

She first met Julian, the man not the boat, at the Shakespeare Hotel - an irony not lost upon her, for Julian was a fisherman with a sonnet in his heart and his very own name on the stern.

“She was a good result for the effort that went into her. The fact that she has lasted 130 years is proof of that, particularly when you consider that this boat has not been pampered. For much of its life it has either been neglected, or actively abused.”

The Kettering Wooden Boat Rally 2022 – if you didn’t happen to make it, here’s what you missed. Welcome to a place where you can smell the wood shavings. Here varnish is thick, history alive and passion is real. Old boats are and always have been, a way of life in Tasmania. Old boats don’t come to Kettering to die, they come here to thrive.

The vessel has long held a place in the imagination of Shute fans who embarked on a search for the yacht several years ago, tracking it down to a harbour in Newcastle where its owner lived on board with his parrot.

The ARGUS began taking on water. Seeing our strife, a neighbouring vessel, also crossing Lake Alexandrina, homeward bound,  began following, collecting our cargo, just as quickly as it was being jettisoned.

Not one to sit around, Phil was working on her hull that afternoon. Within two days the cabin top and interior fittings were removed, taken to the tip and a bare hull remained.

Now, 216 years later, the INDEPENDENCE is again taking shape on the shores of American River and the men involved have had to use as much craftsmanship and ingenuity as the crew of the Union to get it done.

I feel myself go white just as Greg texts me an image of MARCO POLO still on its mooring but submerged almost down to the gunnels.

Cheoy Lee yachts have legions of fans and associations around the world. They are always advertised as a Cheoy Lee Robb or a Cheoy Lee Rhodes etc. and devotees are prepared to pay a premium. So what’s going on?

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

Credit where credit is due and a great opportunity to work with a great team!

Last Saturday the 118 year old ALMA DOEPEL was lifted back into the murky waters of the River Yarra after a 10 year restoration. In this film we speak with Ferdi Darley the amazing and articulate head shipwright on the project just four days before the launch.

Reading Bill Cole’s reminiscences of Tumlaren “ELISABETH” which Bill owned in Auckland during the early to mid-1960s ignited a dream that Kiwi shipwright Phil (Blue) Holmes had kindled for some time to do up another Tumlaren.

“The final tally - twenty two years dreaming, three years courtship, four months work, six dozen beers, 40 pies, 2 sanders, five rolls of sand paper, fourteen brushes, twelve rollers, two pairs of overalls, one iPhone dropped twice from the scaffold, much profanity, lots of advice, unexpected help from great people and in the end a beautiful boat.”