She was launched in 1958, and so began her working life as a Moreton Bay fishing boat: For 35 years was used in this capacity by Dick and his fishing partners. At the commencement of the winter sea mullet season, they would load her up including a short wheelbase Land Rover on the aft deck, and transport it from Brisbane across to Moreton Island. 

This summer we spent a month living on board, cruising through Bass Strait and the Southeast coast of Australia. In was another special adventure aboard this extraordinary craft. Anchoring 30 meters off the beach at Erith Island on New Year’s Eve with no other human in sight; sailing 220 miles from Flinders Island to Eden, with the windvane nodding and nudging us back on course as the miles disappeared under our transom. These and hundreds of other memories will never be erased.

A serious of photographs from a month aboard a wooden boat.

The Timber Boat Festival provides a great opportunity to welcome people aboard your boat and enjoy their enthusiasm for timber boat craftsmanship and share in the camaraderie of fellow timber boat owners.

Sixty years later I look back on this and marvel at how adventurous we were. We never told our parents of these excursions. For all they knew we were just mucking about fishing and spearing the odd blue-swimmer crab.

Most Unique Boat was awarded to Roger Patterson’s PEGGY OF TWEED. An open canoe  stern launch, that was built by her owner Roger in 2022 in Pottsville, NSW.

After two years of planning thirteen Couta Boats travelled from Melbourne along with two crews from Perth for the 2022 Sydney Harbour Gaffers Regatta.

The child of Cambodian refugees Rita found her way to boats via a ‘curiosity of floating’. This led her to questioning, how do boats work? Having just completed a three month introduction to boatbuilding, this young shipwright is looking for an apprenticeship. Can you help her?

Wally Ward designed a well-known series of yachts in Sydney over a period of 30 years from 1937 to 1965. His first yacht JANAWAY paved the way with her perfect hull balance and unmatched performance for her size.

Come and join fellow lovers of fine lines and beautiful craftsmanship in what is set to become a regular event on Pittwater.

Here, summertime Wednesday night racing seems to be a form of sailing cult.