As responsible, environmentally aware marine professionals, we should be fostering the value of maintaining and rejuvenating more of the fine vessels that have already seen yeoman service rather than taking part in their ignoble demise in the rush to connect our customers with new models of dubious virtue or reliability.  

I can’t help thinking that auctions are an under used way of passing on unwanted timer boats. They provide an accurate way of assessing the REAL value of a particular vessel on any given day. Assuming the advertising is comprehensive, and the bidding system is fair, then the market will speak.

“It was 3am on 25th March when Flinders, Bass and William Martin rowed the over-laden little boat out through the heads of Port Jackson. They audaciously hauled directly offshore to clear the confused seas inshore and to catch a sea breeze.

Let’s face it: those of us in this room belong to a religion, a cult, if you like. It’s not a blessing of the fleet kind of religion; it's a nature-worshipping religion, a pagan religion, a mystery cult. The deepest mystery of all - is, of course - where does all the money go? Yes - our totems do demand the occasional sacrifice of the fatted wallet. But what do they offer in return?

By this time a crowd had gathered. Word had spread of the Mzungu’s visit, always an opportunity for some quick cash. The sun was getting hot, excitement was rising, and the boat building advice was flowing fast in Swahili.

It appears that there is currently a clear choice for designers between either ‘modern’ or ‘traditional’ hull designs, which produce quite different handling characteristics. This provides a significant challenge for designers to adopt the significant benefits of both hull types, without inheriting any of the poor handling qualities. 

Discussions on survival ensued until on about 23 or 24 July Dudley suggested that it was better that one of them die so that the others might survive. He suggested that they draw lots, but Brookes refused to take part. Dudley then suggested to Stephens that the obvious person to die was Parker.

A well-balanced hull however, retains a stable longitudinal position of CLR as it heels. This property is crucial to ensuring the balanced helm of a yacht. If the boat is also directionally stable, it is even possible for the hull balance to be matched to the turning effect of the heeled rig, enabling the boat to free-sail ‘hands free’ at any heel angle.

On Lamu, the values of Swahili culture are strongly attached to maintaining the traditional knowledge of dhow-building. The preservation of this traditional knowledge relates intensely to the conservation and sustainability of Swahili culture.

Superb weather on the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Opening Day - and Roger Mills was at the start to record the Classic Yachts racing. They sailed a short harbour course for the season opener, in fresh south westerly winds and sunshine.

The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) has been chosen by the ICMM Committee to host the next Conference scheduled for late 2026.

The seafarers’ photography competition, offers a glimpse into a largely unseen world; the hard labour, the camaraderie, the magnitude of the structures that stand as workplaces, and even the occasional beauty of working on ships.

A boat is directionally stable when CLP is aft of LCG, even when the rudder is free to turn. It is said to be in a state of ‘stable equilibrium’. These craft with long keels or skegs aft tend to track straight ‘hands free’ without the need to hold the tiller and they also track straight under tow, but are directionally unstable and difficult to steer when moving backwards.

But the penny suddenly dropped. Moon-spaceship-boat-Iceland. I skyped John in Switzerland and not long after we hung up, he had the boat booked. All I had to do was organise a group of eight friends to fill the bunks and find good ski-touring gear. Where we were going there were no lifts.

After patching up the old boat, he'd drifted from Spain to the Canary Islands, thinking the climate there might be more congenial for working outdoors in winter.  In the Canary Islands, he realised it was easier to sail on to the West Indies than beat back against the prevailing winds to Europe. ‘After that,’ he said, ‘it just made sense to keep going.’

The racing fleet did however get a boost this week with commitment from Tim Phillip’s to bring and race the magnificent STORM BAY. This is a rare occurrence for this legendary fishing boat. As a near sistership to Percy Coverdale’s WINSTON CHURCHILL, she will not only be a stunning addition to the fleet but also provide a living narrative on the interwoven fabric of fishing and racing boat design, from this part of the world.

While witnessing these wonderful displays of classic yachts outperforming lighter modern boats with their longer waterlines, “something simply just does not ring true!” How can these classics win off scratch in mixed fleets, often against ‘significantly faster’ boats of more ‘flighty’ proportions and high tech construction and yet be considered slow and outdated.

Consider this – a seamless state of being between land, sea, sky. Fluidity, no division. Oneness, nothing for sale, only a continuous state of being, a feeling of connection to the surrounding world. Sometimes land country, sometimes sky country, sometimes sea country.

The small boats take five people about a month to construct. The planks are made from a timber from the Congo. It appears that the supply of this timber has dried up and many boats were on shore half finished with no work going on. A small fishing boat hull costs about 3 million Ugandan Shillings

Melbourne based SWS has a loyal readership of 200+ in Denmark each week. We hope its the sailing stories and not ‘Something about Mary’. We recently received emails from Jens and Klaus Toyberg-Frandzen. They asked if SWS could get a letter and photo to Bill.