The story of mosquito nets in Lake Mai Ndombe shows how solutions created thousands of miles away can have unexpected consequences, and why local communities must lead conservation efforts. 

The paddler, a small young man, with well-defined muscles, nimbly guides the fragile little craft back from the mother boat, having loaded up with ice, fuel, and charcoal, the necessities for a successful outing. His “oneness” with the boat hints at generations of seafaring ancestors.

Bassett was a forceful and decisive character who found it hard to tolerate foolishness, but was forgiving of ignorance. The uninformed he set out to educate, lucidly and patiently. He had an uncanny knack of grasping the salient problems and of solving them at the outset.

The small boats take five people about a month to construct. The planks are made from a timber from the Congo. It appears that the supply of this timber has dried up and many boats were on shore half finished with no work going on. A small fishing boat hull costs about 3 million Ugandan Shillings

Chris Crerar was a great supported of SWS. He wrote some heartfelt articles that told of the highs and lows of owning wooden boats. Many of our readers were absorbed by a deep seated honesty in his writing style

The South and West coasts of Tasmania are places that demand respect. The isolation, the exposure to the southern ocean, the lack of communication, all conspire to make the coast daunting. But all coins have an obverse side.

Jack Bellamy and his twin brother, Keith, who were both on the 1952 voyage, had watched from the kitchen window as the boat was built.
"You'd see the boat growing and all the framework going up, all the ribs and everything, and it was an amazing job to think what they did, the three brothers," Jack said.

This short documentary features more wooden boats than you would see in a year, here in Australia, but that’s not what its about.

For its characteristics of toughness and strength, the traditional gajeta falkuša was made only with cypress wood from the volcanic island of Svetac. The keel was made of oak and the shell of larch.

The oceans are typically and correctly viewed as a marine habitat. But they are much more than that. They are a workplace, a metaphor, an escape, a prison, a grocery store, a trash can, a cemetery, a bonanza, a tinderbox, an organ, a highway, a depot, a window, an emergency, and, above all, an opportunity

The ALMONTA remains on the seabed, its crow's nest and railings breaking the surface of the calm waters of Porter Bay and lilting precariously to one side.

But the takeaway for me as one of the current custodians, is that I didn't realise how much these old wooden boats still meant to the people who had been involved with them.

A recently discovered 1990’s documentary on the Couta Boats has been re-edited into 8 minutes of rich and fascinating history.

Zane Grey caught some big fish, but, much to his chagrin, every time pictures of his catches were published, some local identity went out in a grubby boat and, with home-made tackle, caught still bigger fish.

In many ways ocean racing has become a monoculture. To succeed you must be skilled and tough and rich, but for most owners with a realistic chance of victory, the broader values, ambitions and motivations of the founders of the event have disappeared amid the ruthless need for a trophy.

Couta Fishing Tasmanian Style. A film from 1929 thanks to the AWBF and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

No, it’s not a fishing manual or boat survival handbook; it’s more a fable-like story. For the old man, fishing isn’t simply a contest; it has a philosophical meaning.

Here’s a selection three vastly different jobs that peaked my interest. Even if they aren’t actually in your skillset, its hard not to dream of what life might be like if a connection with timber craft meant that money was coming into the bank account, not just going leaving it