Half a dozen items that caught our attention in August from the world of wooden boats or the values that surround it!

They’re votive offerings — some more than 200 years old — that residents of this Mediterranean port city continue to bring in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for everything from avoiding shipwrecks to successful rescues of migrants trying to make it to Europe on unseaworthy boats.

Just as interesting were the men, studied at leisure, compelling admiring wonder at the monastic trade of their choice. Principal Keeper George Williams, filling out his log with an old-fashioned dip-pen and inkwell, listening to ‘pop’ in bed. Assistant Keeper Roger Simmons, a romantic, still thrilled at tending a light seen by generations of mariners, and listening to changing voices in the sea

In Bali, the jukung developed as a fishing vessel, its design being adapted to the island’s coastal waters. Lightweight and highly maneuverable (by compasison to other traditional vessels), it could handle surf launches and landings and was relatively stable in rolling seas. Traditionally, jukungs were carved from a single dugout log, usually jackfruit wood, with added planks and bamboo outriggers lashed on with natural fiber ropes

Sorolla worked long hours carrying a small sketchbook everywhere, scrawling quick studies of landscapes, people or boats that he passed. Many of these sketches later became studies for major paintings. But even with his sketches at hand, he often chose to paint outdoors, believing that only by immersing himself in the environment could he truly capture its essence.

In 2015, when I took on the task of sole ownership, Skipperhood and the need to learn to sail solo, I dared to dream that this vessel's steadying long keel, robust simplicity, warm timbers and curvaceous design, might provide me with sanctuary, adventure and community. This has come about and now 10 years on I find myself at the threshold of another leap.

So we returned to Australia to pack up our lives. The house needed to be rented, a new home had to be found for our beloved dog, immediate family had to be persuaded that what we were doing was not completely crazy, and friends had to be farewelled and encouraged to come and visit.

A selection of wooden boat news from around the world in August.

So while diamonds glitter on distant exoplanets and sparkle in alien skies, wood tells a deeper story. It is the rarest treasure because it is born from life. A simple stick on Earth is more precious than an entire planet of diamonds when viewed through the lens of the universe.

As always with these things, the story that needs to be told is primarily about the people who worked and maintained these craft, and then the appreciation and admiration for the boats will follow. With that in mind here are three beautiful short archival films from around the world, that evocatively remind us that the roots of our passion are labour not leisure.

“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.