The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.

FESTIVALS Sal Balharrie FESTIVALS Sal Balharrie

Fresh D’s Restored & ready to race

Owners have banded together to salvage, buy, restore, maintain and race the D’s, as they are called. They’ve found boats from as far afield as Burnie, Launceston, the Tasman Peninsula, even Sydney. They believe 18 still exist of the 26 or so that were built.

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FESTIVALS Mark Chew FESTIVALS Mark Chew

AUSTRALIAN WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL LAUNCHES ACROSS THE PACIFIC

"The AWBF is a celebration of our collective heritage. The 2025 theme allows us to explore our connection with the Pacific like never before, bringing visitors face-to-face with historic vessels and remarkable people from across the ocean. We hope to create a festival experience that feels both grand in its spectacle and intimate in its sense of community."

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FOR SALE Mark Chew FOR SALE Mark Chew

“The Little Blue Boat”

“Unremarkable little boat lives on a mooring and is little used in recent years, The family finds it too hard to look after. By this time it’s in disrepair and probably too late to sell it as a going concern”

Nothing remarkable there!

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Mark Chew Mark Chew

‘Elements’ and ‘Shelter’

This joint exhibition examines the connection between the ‘Elements’ and ‘Shelter’. At sea amongst it, in an anchorage seeking it and ashore being comforted by it.

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BOOK REVIEWS Mark Chew BOOK REVIEWS Mark Chew

Treasured Possessions.

In today’s world many of us cry out for ways to express our individuality and character. Many of our manufactured possessions are white and precision made from plastic or metal, it is rare for us to give them a name or character.

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TALL SHIPS Mark Chew TALL SHIPS Mark Chew

How Sarah built a tall ship

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.”

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FILM Mark Chew FILM Mark Chew

Winning the Sydney Hobart with a wet well.

Jock liked to remember WESTWARD as the only yacht with a fish well to win a Sydney to Hobart race. Her building virtually marked the start of Muir's Boatyard and her first race and handicap win kicked off Jock Muir's illustrious career as a blue water ocean racer.

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RESTORATION, FLOTSAM Mark Chew RESTORATION, FLOTSAM Mark Chew

A Trim Centenarian

Historic Workboats Are An Endangered Species, But This Little Tasmanian Has Remained Remarkably Intact For Over 100 Years. I’ve always been attracted to that place in sailing where working boats and sailing “yachts” intersect.

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FLOTSAM Mark Chew FLOTSAM Mark Chew

Australian Wooden Boat Festival

it’s good to see that despite the cancellation of the 2021 Australian Wooden Boat Festival, the organisers led by Paul Stephanus, have decided to go ahead with the spectacular biennial Parade of Sail on the Derwent. on Sunday 7th of February 2021.

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