Last month the niche world of wooden boats made a fleeting apperance in the mainstream media with almost an hour of conversation on ABC Radio Sydney’s nightlife program. And what’s affirming for us is that the participants are all regular contributors to this humble journal.

And bear in mind that in 1987 the ABC famously cost eight cents a day. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, the ABC today costs each Australian just half that amount. Since the mid-1980s the real funding has decreased by 28% or $336 million. This is 34% lower than the average of 18 comparable international public broadcasters.

Steve's approach to minimalist sailing, and the challenges of getting off the grid, should inspire anyone with big adventuring dreams and a small budget.

Imagine discovering a log that had just floated down a Tasmanian River in a storm and building an ocean going yacht out of it. Not just any log, but a rare Huon Pine log, felled 40 years earlier from a tree estimated at 1,000 years old.

They were a series of illustrated samurai manuscripts detailing an eleven-day cross-cultural encounter between locals and the crew of a mysterious foreign ship - a meeting which took place in 1830, at the height of Japan’s isolation period.

Tom’s style is quiet and laid back, but he lures you into his world, speaking in what I imaging is soft Connecticut accent, with knowledge and authority on the world of East Coast American Classic Yacht Sailing.