“Lindsay consistently impressed on us that most challenges were just temporary phenomena which could be solved and to have no fear in going where others had not yet been.” 

Following the sighting Nick rented a small plane to locate VAL and was set to rent a boat to bring VAL when the police said they had a training exercise nearby and they would tow VAL into Eden. Nick was told not to tell anyone that VAL had been found to avoid salvage claims.  VAL was repaired in Eden about 235 miles south of Sydney. A local man donated to Nick a new full suit of sails that he had kept for his next boat that never came to pass because of ill heath.

The dream of owning a yacht, started as early as my teens. But it became entangled into Trimarans, Racing yachts and 21ft Mini-Transats to name a few. What would I settle for? Then I read a book by Lyn and Larry Pardey, sailing in 24ft Serafyn, designed by Lyle Hess around the world.

This week’s Wooden Boat news from around the world.

It’s powerful stuff, and given the implied messages around generational misery stemming from the inhumane work practises, you might have thought that thirty five years down the track, the developed world had addressed the problem.

But it was the loss of the 370-ton ship Edward Lombe in 1834 twenty three years before the Dunbar disaster - that led the authorities to do something to warn mariners of the reef and its dangers.

When it comes to Classic Yacht brokerage there is some terrible copyrighting out there. Running a close second only behind inner-suburban real estate jargon, the average yacht broker is a fountain of cliches that leave me gasping for a trace of originality.

The Carin II survived the collapse of the Third Reich virtually unscathed and was found, moored off Hamburg, by Field Marshal Montgomery who requisitioned it as Nazi treasure for George VI and his family as a spoil of war.

A values driven selection of this week’s stories from around the world and on the web.

If you have been reading SWS for a while you will have heard me express my opinion about how the Classic sailing world needs to shift its outlook from one of exclusivity (“you don’t qualify to sail with us”) to one the is inclusive at every opportunity. It shouldn’t be so much about what your boat is made of, but what your attitude is to the values of community, craft, tradition and adventure.

“Storm oil” could be deployed upwind in a container attached, for example, to a sea anchor, from which it slowly released its contents. Like nutmeg on butternut squash, storm oil was effective even when applied in tiny amounts.

We talked about the boat and his sailing life in Lamu. So many of his issues were the same as ours; dwindling timber supplies, increasing maintenance costs, changing weather patterns. Within a few minutes he had invited us for a sail on his smaller double ended dhow the SAFINA to learn a little about how to sail a lateen rigged boat and to enjoy the waters of the mangrove clad Lamu channel at the height of the off season.

The Police Report reads - “saw floating in the water the left arm of a human being, which had apparently been wrenched from the body at the shoulder joint. We retrieved the arm from the water and on examining it found that it had two large incised wounds on the upper and lower parts respectively. We also found that on the inside forearm there was a tattoo mark of two men in the fighting attitude.

In no particular order we bring you three boats that caught the editor’s eye this week. A motor boat on Pittwater,A Twister in the UK, and a Crayboat in Queensland.

Container losses in 2024 were influenced by ongoing disruption in the Red Sea region, which led to a significant shift in global trade routes. Vessel transits around the Cape of Good Hope increased by 191% compared to 2023. This area is well-known for hazardous maritime conditions, which contributed to a concentration of losses. The South African Maritime Safety Authority says around 200 containers were lost in this region alone.

Organized by the Royal Barcelona Yacht Club (Real Club Náutico de Barcelona), the regatta welcomed historic yachts from over 10 countries and nearly 400 sailors, reaffirming its prestige and outstanding international appeal.

“It was when she neatly sailed off her anchor the first morning of the racing, completed her first race and dropped her anchor under-sail again that the trouble began. A complaint was put to the race committee that all these manoeuvres could not possibly be carried out on a boat this size with a crew of three, safely! This, despite the fact that all the manoeuvres had gone without a hitch. The committee did not say who had complained , but it obviously upset Hugh and his young crew. Might be why I found myself learning Coral’s ropes as the fourth crew member the very next day. “

The film centers on Ian King, the late Harbourmaster of American River inlet, as well as colleague and mentor of Chris. The documentary has connections to towns like Victor Harbor and especially the coastal people along the trading routes across South Australia. It also captures the inevitable changes over time from working harbour to a holiday destination.

“We gybed at Bembridge and pushed hard as we didn’t know what we would face at Ventnor and St Catherine’s.  We debated whether to go high and hope for breeze under the cliffs or to take the rum line.  In the end, we stayed inshore and it paid off.  There was less breeze, but we wriggled through before the big wind hole came in.”

Applications go beyond construction. Superwood is like carbon fiber, but less brittle, and carbon fiber is already used in everything from sports equipment and tennis shoes to race cars and airplanes. The last notable wooden airplane was the De Havilland Mosquito, in World War II, but in a future of eVTOLs, otherwise known as “flying cars,” a material like Superwood could be in demand.