I am not a “marine professional” - I’m a pharmacist – but I do know what I like. And I love timber boats. Today, having bought two old timber boats and advised a number of friends, I’ve learned a thing or two about the purchase process and becoming the custodian of a piece of maritime history.

She was the very first of the environmental and peace vessel to go to sea. In 1958, a crew of anti-nuclear weapons activists set sail aboard her in an attempt to interpose themselves and the boat between the U.S. Government and its atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

TUP is on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels. As just over half of their 36 yachts were folkies, they are in many ways H & J’s “signature” boats, and they were probably responsible for the largest number of the class in Australia

I love this film for many reasons. It shows a strong and yet vulnerable woman, telling us about her life, working in a patriarchal society. It’s stunningly filmed. It resonates with the music of Africa, and it happens to be made in a part of the world that I’m closely connected with in my life outside boats.

“When I’m working on boats, I’m in my happy place,” said Deborah Simmons, 17, an apprentice in the wood shop as she was sanding down another plank. “I’m just going, going. I’m letting myself flow through the wood. I’m in the zone.”

“Grasshopper, where does the wind come from?” .…“Why, the sun of corse! Sails harness the resulting movements of air.” It was only a matter of seconds and BOOM ! Another Paradigm Shift!

Bingo.! Augmented Rowing, A marriage made in heaven. Solar sailing if you like!

In 1922, on a remote beach in Western Australia, a group of Australian Scientists proved Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to be correct.

If you are heading to southern Australian waters, there is a fair chance that you will spot a gaff rigged wooden boat sailing or cruising along the shoreline. And when in full sail they are magnificent in their graceful movement through the water.

Couta Fishing Tasmanian Style. A film from 1929 thanks to the AWBF and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

The careful mathematical figures and many pages of design details, displacement ratios and sail area plans give a picture of the meticulous planning that he did before a yacht was allowed to be built.

This year, Wang Ye worshipers hope the ceremony - eight days of religious rites that culminated in the burning of a carefully crafted "king boat" on Oct. 31 - can help end the coronavirus pandemic.

“We knew it would be the hardest thing we had ever undertaken, for the Antarctic winter had set in, and we were about to cross one of the worst seas in the world.”

The fleet developed from a competition run by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron during the late 1940s. They wanted to build a fleet of yachts that would perform well in local conditions and satisfy both the serious sailor who wanted to go racing as well as the family that wanted to go cruising.

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.

The Classic Yacht Association of Australia, held its first ever race on 11th October 1997. Twenty Four years later, this Sunday around 20 boats will start race one of the 2021/2022 CYAA Summer Series.

The Wooden Boat Shop is an Accredited Training Facility for apprentices in Marine Trades and over the years has trained around 50 shipwrights.

Have you cooked lunch for the Queen aboard a super yacht? While backpacking around Europe did you happen to spend a summer working in a lighthouse in the Scilly Isles? Perhaps you’ve worked as a rigger on a tall ship or have an unusual story of restoring a Viking Longship for a museum in Oslo.

Last Wednesday on the ABC’s “Art Show” there was in interview with Gemma Rasdall. She not only lives on a boat on Pittwater but works as an artist painting on Scotland Island often using old sailcloth as her canvass.

It's not often that you come across a seventy year old, 30ft yacht that’s been around the world. The story of MAORI LASS has some great history but it also has some large blank chapters waiting to be filled by a yachting sleuth with the time and inclination to fill in the gaps.

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.