News Bites
We seem to have accumulated a few items this week that may not warrant there own individual article but are definitely worthy of sharing. So here’s a selection of things you might like to know!
The Falcons are coming home
Tony Jones updates us on THIS STORY from Western Australia.
Today we have news of a significant milestone. The Falcons are packed ready to return big thanks to Paul Hammond and Bert Anderson. We would like to invite you all to a lunch at the Studio workshop on May 6. RSVP required To see the boats and receive your sculpture or Mele Bilo print more detail to follow. Once again thanks for the support
SIRIUS HAS A NEW CUSTODIAN (at last!)
We have written often in SWS about one of the most important Australian boats, in desperate need of restoration. See HERE & HERE. So we were delighted last week to recieve this correspondence
Hello Mark,
Yes, I have been negotiating with Simon Morris and the boat yard for a couple of years now! My wife and I are officially the new owners and ships agent. Negotiations haven’t gone well so far with the boat yard but we haven’t given up hope. I’m meeting with Simon today and making some marketing arrangements to get the word out and try to save the boat. I’ll be in touch again once our marketing efforts are in place
Regards
Bobby Soliman (Sharif)
LEOFLEDA TRIBUTE
Sean Hogben a regular contributor wrote these wonderful and heartfelt words on the story we published about John and Ruth Young’s LEOFLEDA
This boat and what she has seen says more about John and Ruth Young than perhaps any other talisman, for that is what she is. When in January 1994 all the foundation diploma students of the Shipwright's Point School of Wooden Boatbuilding, John and Ruth's masterwork, gathered at the shed in Franklin, we were eager to get to know each other and John had wisely organised a cruise so we could begin to form a team. The lead boat was Leofleda. Adrian Dean and his cruising sloop were there, Clive Crossley and his powerful motor sailer joined and off we went to Mickey's Bay on Bruny Island. I had my time on Leofleda, as did we all, and John delighted us with his minimalist style of sailing. No hanking on the headsail in a light norwester, just let it bellow, cup of tea from the basic galley and the feeling we were safe with this wonderful couple and their tough little vessel. She floated near us for two years at Franklin, carried us on Huon estuary and channel adventures and spoke volumes of how we might go on to a career in timber boat building - the Muir way. It was an unforgettable, priceless time in our lives which shaped us as people as much as craftsmen. Now those mentors are gone, John and Ruth, Bill Foster, Adrian Dean. With eyes half closed I see all their smiling faces again, just as pretty as Leofleda's sweet sheer. To know she is in good hands and suitably refitted is comforting. We owe her and her maker a great deal.
VERTUE UPDATES
Roger Robinson is the keeper of the Vertue Yachts website. He also publishes a quarterly newsletter and this northern spring edition is definitely worth a read!
“Welcome to your regular quarterly Newsletter for an update on Vertuelly anything. This time I’m delighted to have been able to start proceedings with another delightful account in our ongoing series about ‘My Vertue and Me’. Bill Rogers has transported us to the wonderful coastline of Massachusetts, where he completed a masterly ‘deep refit’ on his exquisite boat Stronghold, since when he has also taken her north across the Bay of Fundy and on up to Nova Scotia. Another, completely different, major project is being meticulously undertaken by Joop van Son in the Netherlands and it is fascinating to have some of the intricacies of modern Vertue construction illustrated in his latest update. This is serious stuff and Joop’s explanation of the process of constructing the very latest Vertue, No 239, is amazing. I’m also especially grateful to celebrated Classic Boat columnist Adrian Morgan for his lyrical account of the challenges of moving his boat’s base from the soft, southern Solent, to the rugged north west coast of the Scottish Highlands. It seems there are pros, cons, and enormous contrasts involved in such an exercise.”
AWBF wrap up continues
Festival communications highlight New Zealand Maritime Culture at the 2025 AWBF.
“Our friends from the Tino Rawa Trust brought a shipping container full of classic New Zealand boats to the 2025 Australian Wooden Boat Festival. Not only that, but they shipped the mighty Ngataki across the ditch to race Hobart's own Te Rapunga on the River Derwent for the first time in 90 years.
The New Zealand program also included an interactive Polynesian Seafaring exhibit produced by the New Zealand Maritime Museum and special guests from the Te Toki Voyaging Trust.
Other classic NZ yachts like Lady Gay and Te Uira graced the waters of Sullivans Cove and hundreds of kiwis flocked to Hobart to celebrate our shared Maritime Heritage.
We're looking forward to the 2nd biennial Auckland Wooden Boat Festival in March of 2026. Godspeed Kiwis!”
Click on the below play button to watch this short feature film of the New Zealand delegation at the 2025 AWBF featuring friend and supporter of SWS, Michelle Khan!
Music credit to the Tasmania-based Where Water Meets
Another Gem, WANGADIR, Comes Under the Gavel
60FT WATTS AND WRIGHT HISTORIC CRUISER ONLINE AUCTION LOCATED: BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND
Commences Wednesday 23rd April and will end on Tuesday 29th April 2025 at 2:00pm AESTIt’s a rare opportunity.
It’s not often vessels of historic significance come on the market, even less often when they have been refurbished and renovated, such as “Wangadir”.
Spotted gum hull, fibreglass sheathed deck and wheelhouse. • Gardiner 6L3b engine overhauled by Bryant Brothers 2015. • Modern galley and bathroom, traditional cabin and wheelhouse. • New tanks, 1200 litres fuel, 900 litres water in bladders. • Huge master cabin with ensuite bathroom. • Spacious saloon and bridge. • Maintained electrical systems. Built by Watts and Wright in Brisbane, launched 1940, served in WWII before later plying Northern waters as a coastal cargo carrier before being converted to a recreation vessel. Significantly restored and renovated in 2015 and subsequently as a private recreational cruiser and on the register as an historic vessel since 2008. “Wangadir” is Gardiner powered; the engine also being restored by Bryant Brothers in 2015. She is a spacious coastal cruiser with old-world charm and some modern conveniences, the best of both worlds. Beautifully presented, classy and elegant, historic yet with modern appliances and equipment. Recent Survey Available.
Adrian Seiffert 0418 783 358 adrian@marineauctions.com.au
Todd Anderson 0409 630 733 todd@marineauctions.com.au
