“It is disappointing to now be told to leave Docklands with no viable alternative,” Mr McDonald said, adding that it had received a previous commitment from DV “for a future home for the Alma Doepel in Docklands for more than a decade. After all of the work, meetings, plans and advocacy to now end up with ship getting kicked out of Docklands is extremely disappointing.”

The closure of our current location means the end of The Victorian Wooden Boat Centre as we know it. There will never be another opportunity to recreate what we have here and keep it viable. We will wind down the VWBC until its lease ends, at which point it will close permanently.

The Melbourne Boat Show is back for its 61st year. This year there will be a “Heritage and Wooden Boat Precinct” Hosted by the Boating Industry Association of Victoria (BIAV) over four days in the heart of the city, at Docklands.