“The Leeuwin has been absolutely smashed to pieces,” a witness said on Radio 6PR Australia. “None of its mast is standing, and it’s listing over and hanging over onto the port.”

Voyage crew will learn and undertake 18thcentury sailing skills, such as haul lines, set or furl the sails, stand watches, and steer the ship, all under the supervision of Endeavour’s professional crew. Although previous sailing experience is not essential, voyage crew are required to commit to a rotating watch roster, be physically fit and not suffer chronic seasickness.

South Passage’s reason for being is sail training, a term which, these days, is lost on many people. To para-phrase Irving Johnson: sail training is not about preparing young people for a life at sea; rather, sail training uses the challenge of voyaging on a sailing a ship to prepare young people for life.

As you can see from Paul’s films, sailing a Tall Ship like DUYFKEN isn’t for everyone, but is your the sort of person who likes a bit of adventure, doesn’t need to wash three times a day, and understands the meaning of teamwork then get involved!

“It is an unforeseen circumstance. No one trains to have a giant mast break on a schooner. Everyone acted with professionalism. Everyone was doing the best they could with the gifts that they had.”

The Oosterschelde was built in 1917 and made a living tramping around the world with general cargo: coal from Cardiff, oranges from Morocco and Baltic timber. She’s survived hitting a second world war mine, abandonment and many storms.

The intersection between the worlds of Tall Ship sail training and our young new Australians, is where the real change seems to happen.

We regret to inform you that an accident has occurred during the maintenance period in Cape Town, resulting in Bark EUROPA partly falling over while attempting to be placed back into the water from the drydocks

Two centuries later, the books used as source material by Flinders during his three-year voyage are back on Australian soil, in the possession of the National Archives in Canberra.

Another major piece of evidence in this discrepancy, is that my model is carrying on its mainmast, now very discoloured, the House Flag of Robert and John Craig, Glasgow

DUYFKEN—Little Dove—was 80 feet long, shoal draft and carvel planked. She had three masts and a total of six working sails. She was fast, sturdy and had a relatively small crew of 20. Her design was a “jacht," which in 16th century Holland meant “hunter” or “pursuer."

My connection with the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, has allowed me to meet many dedicated wooden boat aficionados, perhaps none more so than fellow board member Captain Sarah Parry, so I was delighted to hear that she was going to be on the ABC’s “Conversations with Richard Fidler.”

Discovered in the spectacular Dampier Marine Park, off the coast of Western Australia, the the Scottish-built cargo ship sank with more than 20 crew on board in 1911

One of her fastest voyages in what was generally called the “Grain Races”, was a passage of 93 days, departing Williamstown on 4th March and arriving Queenstown in Ireland on 5th June, 1929 with 3840 tons of wheat.

Don’t expect character arcs, unresolved sexual tension or Chekov’s Gun, but do expect spine tingling accounts from the last great fleet of square-rigged sailing ships the world would ever see, and extraordinary imagery to match.

“We’re totally thrilled to have the participation of our Australian mates, but there are ethical protocols within the field of archaeology that everyone should respect.”

Maritime experts are convinced they have confirmed the final resting place of Captain James Cook's ship, Endeavour, after 22 years of searching.

In 1922, on a remote beach in Western Australia, a group of Australian Scientists proved Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to be correct.