Wooden Boats Galore

Tuesday 12 February 2019

Hobart’s Australian Wooden Boat Festival is held every two years in February. We had planned to attend in 2017, but David and Rachel had other ideas with the birth of Little Pete in late February 2017. So we rearranged our route and made it for the 2019 Festival.

Wow, what a spectacle. Almost 500 boats moored in and around the docks and marina plus many more smaller craft, all beautifully constructed or restored, on land dotted around the waterfront. Tall ships, small ships, model ships, sailing dinghies, motor launches, speed boats, steam boats and row boats.

However, before enjoying the Festival, we had a little task to undertake which was to fly to Sydney for 2 weeks to look after little Pete whilst Dave and Rachel returned to work until Rachel’s mum returned from holidays.  Our time is Sydney coincided with Australia Day which gave us the opportunity to sit harbour-side at Kirribilli with John, Mary and Michael and enjoy the harbour activities on a glorious day. Several of the ships on the harbour sailed to Hobart after Australia Day to participate in the Wooden Boat Festival. It was great spending 2 weeks with Pete, Dave and Rachel, and catching up with friends and family most evenings and weekends when David and Rachel gave me a leave pass from my babysitting duties.

We returned to Tasmania on 4 February, collected the van and headed to Triabunna on the east coast, staying 2 nights at a free camp behind the pub to spend a day on Maria Island, just off the coast. There are no vehicles on Maria Island so we took our push bikes  enabling us to see more of the island in our available time. Next time we visit we’ll stay overnight on the island to better enjoy the landscape and wildlife.

From Triabunna it was back to Hobart and a campsite at the Lea Scout Centre 11km south of the city to meet up with friends Steve and Bronwen who are also touring Australia. We spent 5 days together, 3 of them at the Wooden Boat Festival and Hobart Regatta activities along with eating, drinking, laughing and having a great time together. They also joined us for a night out at a fantastic Italian restaurant in Battery Point; Da Angelo Ristorante, to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary yesterday.

Australia Day on Sydney Harbour. (TOP) The James Craig (1874) and Young Endeavour  ((both steel hulled) under sail passing the Opera House. Both sailed to Hobart after Australia Day where we saw them again at the Wooden Boat Festival. (LOWER) Lady Hopetoun, a steam launch built in 1902. Lady Hopetoun’s hull is still largely original and is constructed of New Zealand kauri planks on American elm frames. Her deckhouse is teak. She still retains her original triple-expansion steam engine, but her original coal-fired boiler was replaced in the 1920s. A new boiler was installed in 1997.
Australia Day 2019 Sydney Harbour
Whilst in Sydney, Carol and I treated Pete to his first cafe experience and babychino. Yummo!!
Dave, Pete and I went for a bush walk through Excelsior Reserve Caste Hill. Pete was none too impressed at first. Once on Dave’s back all was good.
Before heading up to Sydney we spent a few days at the town of New Norfolk on the upper Derwent. We managed to get on the water for a paddle. Some features in the town and region are the old Willow Court Asylum, now mostly vacant, and extensive hop farms.
St John The Baptist Church, Buckland Tasmania
Our camp at the Lea Scout grounds near Hobart. Steve and Bronwen’s “slide-on”, named Trevor (yes, they’re as crazy as we are) is set up behind Blake. (LOWER) Tasmanian Native-Hens (Tribonyx mortierii) checking out our campsite.
A motley gang at Lea Campground. Bronwyn and Steve on the left, Wendy and Mark (travellers who Bron and Steve met earlier) and us.
The Bark Endeavour (left), James Craig and a third tall ship behind moored in Hobart
HM Bark Endeavour. Built between 1988 and 1993 using traditional methods, the Bark Endeavour is a replica of Lt James Cook’s HMS Endeavour. Those masts carry almost 30km of rigging. That’s a lot of rope to sort out.
James Craig’s figurehead, with RAN’s L100 HMAS Choules in the background. Choules was also in Sydney Harbour on Australia Day.
(LEFT) Windeward Bound (1998), constructed primarily from recycled materials, was modelled on an 1848 two-masted brigantine-rigged vessel. (Top right) Aboard the May-Queen (1867), Australia’s oldest sail trading vessel. (Bottom right) One and All (1985), one of Australia’s youngest tall ships.
With 500 timber vessels to photograph, it was hard to choose a few to show you. Coming in many shapes and sizes, all were a joy to behold.
Some of the smaller craft on display. The one on the right is a single scull that is available in kit form. Could it be my first project once we settle down after our travels? They know how to charge. All up it could cost about $7,000 for the kit, rigging and oars, plus freight from Tassie… then I’d have to build it. Ouch!!!
Yum Yum enjoying the Parade of Sail from Sandy Bay. Some of the model boats on display, more befitting Yum Yum’s stature.
The historic township of Darlington on Maria Island. Starting life as a convict punishment station in 1825, then a convict probation station from 1842 to 1850, it was later leased to Diego Bernacchi who developed various agriculture, industry and tourism enterprises on the island. It was declared a National Park in 1972.
The Painted Cliffs on Maria Island. A short expanse of beautifully eroded and patterned sandstone created by groundwater percolating through the sandstone leaving traces of iron oxides.

2 thoughts on “Wooden Boats Galore”

  1. Hi Graham & Carol,
    Great to hear from you, the photos are amazing as usual.
    The wooden boat festival looks great.
    Pete is certainly growing.
    Things the same here. I’m waiting for volunteer work.
    Damien & Jason are planning a road trip in the USA in September. From west coast to east coast.
    They are coming on the weekend to organize it.
    Safe travels, Vicki

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