MATILDA’s shakedown passage from Le Lavandou to Corsica in 20-30 knots. Loving and learning along the way.

The real test, of course, came when their boat sank from under them between Panama and the Galapagos. Maurice, having worked so meticulously to prepare the boat, at once saw its loss as a huge failure on his part. He was certain they were now doomed and plotted ways they might kill themselves to forestall their suffering. Maralyn, meanwhile, could not conceive of not surviving

Things started to unfold about an hour later when a single passenger standing port side abreast of the mainmast heard a noise from aloft but dismissed the noise as normal for a wooden vessel and did not discuss the sounds with any other passenger or crewmember.

A round up of news from this week…

It’s about time we settled on a name for this page. I’ve found over the last few months that we come across many interesting snippets and links that might be of interest to the readers, but probably aren’t worth a full, stand alone article. So we started a news page, rounding up wooden boat and related stories from the past few days.

Last week, the Classic Yacht Association of Australia learned that it had secured support from the Joe White Bequest to run the 19th Cup Regatta in 2025. This is the second year in a row that the event has benefitted from the Bequest and hopefully it’s just the start of a long and fruitful relationship.

Wood and steel hulls in old boats can be managed relatively easily through established recycling routes, as can other metal and wood components on a boat. This is not the case for FRP, which doesn’t easily decompose, though it does physically break down over time. Research undertaken at the University of Brighton has shown that boats made of FRP which are left in the water release microscopic fibres.

A raid on the north-east England island monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 – the first documented attack in the west – was probably launched from Norway. Its precise targeting suggests the raiders were well-informed about their destination, and no doubt attracted by stories of the riches held there. Writing afterwards, York cleric Alcuin described how the church had been “spattered with the blood of the priests of God, stripped of all its furnishing, exposed to the plundering of pagans”.

The text was short and to the point. “My late father fresh out of the Navy after WWII, courting my mother by taking her sailing on a 90ft wooden schooner on the coast of Maine.”

It was a little tense but not unpleasant sailing and after a few hours we popped out of the murk to a starlit sky and a building North Easter. We could just lay the Ile Pomegues off Marseille and the 1970’s S&S design began to live up to her reputation as a windward wizard

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.