Delve into the ties Pasifika peoples have with the past, each other and the environment, in this new permanent exhibition. Wansolmoana – meaning One Salt Ocean – reflects the cultural significance of the immense body of water that connects the islands and people across the Pacific region.

Following on from last week’s Article The Lost Loot of Lima we had a wonderful update from Richard Bell, on the ground in Queenscliff. These Documents are part of a Queenscliff Historical Museum project about the Fishermen and Families on Fisherman’s Flat, Queenscliff.

I remember trying to sleep in the forward berth and being “squeezed” as the bow flexed - rather frighteningly as they were built to be very light - perhaps too light, as much strengthening was needed before the next trip in rough weather.

The 25 mile trip down the bay from St Kilda is always a good time for contemplation. The views are not spectacular. There’s no harbour bridge to serenade you on your way, or dramatic cliffs to escape… just a thin diminishing and growing 360 degree strip of land, interrupted by the teeth of the city skyline, and the pimples of the You Yangs and Arthur’s seat.

The Notice of Race has now been published for this years Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta.

“Without their regular feasts, the faithful are unstrung from the calendar, awash in a sea of days that are all the same.”
― Hilary Mantel,

The Melbourne Boat Show is back for its 61st year. This year there will be a “Heritage and Wooden Boat Precinct” Hosted by the Boating Industry Association of Victoria (BIAV) over four days in the heart of the city, at Docklands.

“…She was built at a time when people wanted adventure on the water, rather than a chilled Chardonnay tied to a pontoon.”

Maritime and terrestrial navigation requires two-dimensional coordinates. Once in the air a third coordinate comes into play — altitude. It was Gatty’s research and practical application that led to a solution to many of the complex problems associated with three-dimensional navigation.

Their core business seems to be in the small fishing boat market, with a side line in jet skis (now rebranded as PWCs), and devices for holding a plastic chardonnay glass stable, while towing a donut loaded with screaming kids.

Well, at the recent AWBF annual General meeting Joy stepped down so that she could spend more time with two of the most important things in her life…Her family and her stunning Neilson Ketch HOLGER DANSKE

“What matters is action. Not to think about writing, but to write. Not to think about sailing, but to sail. Not to think about loving, but to love.”

It’s an eclectic mix of craft, from out and out racing boats from every decade from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, to 90 year old fishing boats, to world girdling cruisers.

Andrew has produced an old school, analogue (!) Calendars for 2024 featuring his photographs of some of Australia’s wooden craft, and he has kindly made a small quantity available to SWS readers.

The Timber Boat Festival provides a great opportunity to welcome people aboard your boat and enjoy their enthusiasm for timber boat craftsmanship and share in the camaraderie of fellow timber boat owners.

After almost two weeks of uncertainty, and six months' worth of mud drying on the weary paddle wheeler's hull, Longreach tourism company Outback Pioneers revealed the boat would not be able to cruise again.

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.

In thinking about trade routes in the parallel universe of Indian Ocean sail cargo it is important to understand that in spite of the desert, the heat, humidity and the vast areas, there was an active trade of considerable size and variety centuries before the discovery of oil or the building of the Suez Canal.

As the day wore on the breakers grew closer. By early afternoon I had rounded the northeastern tip of the island and begun to make my way along the northern side. By about 1400hrs the first pang of fear came in. I was rowing along, just outside the reef, the land was oh so close, yet completely inaccessible.

Almost exactly three months after we had left Sydney, on 22 April I stood on Georges Head to watch ANITRA V sail back through the Heads after a voyage of seven days from Kettering. It was an emotional moment to see my boat returning to Sydney.