The Curiosity of Floating
By Sal Balharrie
When was the last time you met a 26 year old who inspired within you a deep and true sense of altruism? If you’re passionate about the future of wooden boats, by the end of this article, you too will be wanting to help Rita Moeung.
As a driven, young shipwright and boat designer in the making, Rita represents the future of the Australian boat building and restoration industry. The child of Cambodian refugees Rita found her way to boats via her ‘curiosity of floating’. This led her to questioning, how do boats work? How do they float with all that stuff down below? How do they move through the water?
She has just completed a three month introduction to the craft with McKenzie Marine, Palm Beach – a placement that found her driving three hours a day to follow her dream. She is now looking for a place to complete an Apprenticeship.
RITA: I came in to this industry just purely by admiring the craftsmanship of wooden boats. The craftsmanship and just the curves, the curves of a boat is what really interests me. And how a boat comes together. And then the curiosity of floating. That’s what really led me to pursue a career in it.
SAL: The curiosity of floating I love that. Tell me a bit about that.
RITA: Whoa, like you think about big cruisers or the Titanic. Or just boats in general. How do they do that? You’ve got the boat itself and then you add luggage when you add rooms down below and you add human beings, you know and it just somehow it floats. And not only that, it moves, it travels. If it’s wood, it expands it contracts.
I remember the spark or floating, like the curiosity of floating began when I was on an 11th grade camping trip. And one we were camping by the river and one of the activities was to build a raft. Just out of rope, a couple of sticks and you know those blue tubs?
And yeah, we put that together. And then we pushed it in the river, and just had a couple of sticks and it started float rolling down the stream. Yeah, and that really was what sparked me and then, and then I didn't really pay attention. Like, I didn't think I would start a career. And then after that, in 2018, I did an industrial design course. And one of our assignments was a competition design to build an Alessi product based on the criteria. And so I chose to do I want to water jug. So floating and designing a jug led to a career on the water.
And when I’m out on the water I love thinking about waves. And I think about timber.
Rita fixing a bilge pump on OWEN JOHN.
SAL: What do you think about Timber? Tell me about that.
RITA: Well I see timber working with the wave because when it's cut, it's rough cut. And that's where the wave begins. And when you sand it to try and get it flat, you get highs and lows. Yeah and then it's very porous. So it's still a living and breathing thing, even though it's considered cut down and a dead kind of thing. And because then it expands and contracts. And on the ocean, wood keeps moving.
SAL: So you’re saying wood ebbs and flows – it expands and the contractions. I've never thought about that. That is so beautiful.
RITA: Yeah, so then when you put it together it's like it's like a wave on a tidal wave, right on the water. But like how do you balance that? How did that all come together? That’s the craft of the design. And yeah, so that's what I think. I like I feel I'm kind of a romantic. I just want to do things in a traditionally way and to go to a yard work with guys who design and build - one offs you know. It's kind of hard to come by and so I yeah, I dream about that a lot. I don’t want this craft to become obsolete or to die. I want it to remain a real thing.
Like the industry now is more about slipway maintenance. It's rare that you get the opportunity to work on restorations and to build and rebuild.
It's also the functionality of it as well. You know, just like because I'm big on functionality before aesthetics, because I think, you know, the aesthetics come through the functionality. I want to work and learn from people who think like this – that form and function matter.
SAL: Yes, and there's a word for that. It's called vernacular. Vernacular is when something functions so well, but it's also beautiful. Boat designers are always looking for vernacular - something is aesthetically pleasing on the eye, but it's also functional. Yes, so you're absolutely on the money. We need. You need a you need a mentor and you need a job in the right place with somebody who's going to grow your talent. What would your dream job be?
My dream job would be rebuilding, you know, designing and working on an entirely new. One day, I really want to be able to design and construct at the same time. Yeah. I want to be a part of the whole process.
I'm really interested in the small putt-putt boats. Yeah, small boats under 20foot. There’s this Swedish designer and builder SVEN YRVIND. He’s got a Youtube channel and he’s currently building a small boat and he's planning to travel it from Sweden to New Zealand.
I like his open mindedness. You know, he's not very traditional in a way. He's willing to experiment.
SAL: Was it hard to break into Sydney?
RITA: Sydney is a bit particular. Yes. Because I remember when I started this journey into boat building, I wasn't too familiar with Palm Beach area. So I thought, I'll just try my luck out in Tasmania, because wooden boat building is much more prominent there. So, I went there. And I worked there for about four months but I just became home sick. So then I approached McKenzie Marine. And now after that, I feel like I've got a bit of a grasp. Like, I know what I want to do. I know where I want to go. And I definitely want to be in Sydney.
SAL: Are your parents supportive of this area of interest?
RITA: Yes, they are supportive. And they're just like, so surprised..You know, because when I’m hunting for boatyards I take my mum around with me because I want her to get out there and see, I want her to discover Sydney and she's just like, amazed. She's a refugee from Cambodian. And she came here because of the war, 40 years ago, but she's never really got out there and never really seen Sydney like that. And yes, she's just blown away about the size of a boat and now like she says to me, she just wants to go on a boat. So it's interesting to see like my parents kind of explore as well.
My dream is to take my grandmother sailing from Sydney to Melbourne.
SAL: How old is your grandmother?
RITA: Um, she's been 75 for about three years.
SAL: You sound like you somebody who's got a really strong vision Rita. Where would you like to be in five year’s time?
RITA: I'd like to have a finished an apprenticeship and just be in a workspace where I'm able to design, build and construct boats as part of a team. I really want to focus on the small boat market.
SAL: And what would you say to other women about this industry and career opportunities?
RITA: I would say if you're really passionate about it, just keep going. Keep pushing for it. Because it's a very male dominated industry. I remember I called a yard and asked about opportunities. You know what the guy said?
“Oh, are you a lady?
And I said “Yes.”
And he said,“Ladies work in the office. You won’t be allowed in the yard.”
Yep, I couldn’t believe it - straight up - he said, ladies are only hired in office. You know, you're not going to be in the yard.
So you get you get comments like that, where you've just got to be, okay, whatever. And you just keep going. You've just got to be persistent to what you want to find and what you’re looking for.
SAL: Rita, what is it you like about being on the water?
RITA: I love it because it’s just otherworldly, it’s like your gliding or flying and you can do it just with timber – it’s otherworldly. It's amazing.
SAL: Rita, how can we help you? Is it connections? Introductions.
RITA: Anything and all of that.
And so SWS Community – I now put this to you. Here she is, an incredible young woman with a vision, a passion and growing skills. Who out there can help her?
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Thanks to Anna Ingham for the introduction to Rita and thanks to MacKenzie Marine for supporting the opportunity for women to break into the industry.
