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.

If you have a classic dinghy (by the broadest of definitions) you are welcome and you are supported. Some of the boats are spectacular and some them look like they have been dragged of the rafters in the garage for the first time in forty years.

From its earliest days, the Ocean Cruising Club has celebrated those who dared to brave the ocean in small boats, and many of its early members are now legend.

It is interesting to compare Slocum to Pidgeon, and their boats.  Slocum was  the hard-bitten sea captain who'd come up through the hawsepipe, and who had fallen on hard times.  His voyage was a way of fighting back, and he did a magnificent job of it.  Harry Pidgeon seemed to breeze through life, guided by his sunny disposition. 

Three wood specimens were tested and showed no deformation after space exposure," the researchers said in a statement in May. "Despite the extreme environment of outer space involving significant temperature changes and exposure to intense cosmic rays and dangerous solar particles for 10 months, tests confirmed no decomposition or deformations, such as cracking, warping, peeling or surface damage.

Waitoa was part of a flotilla boats used by a pearl cultivation enterprise, run by Japanese investors in 1960’s. As time went on she became a ferry for Islanders working at Escape River to travel back and forth to TI. When an oil spill wiped out the cultivation business in 1970 we returned this lugger and few others to fishing for pearl shells, called mother-of-pearl, in the Torres Strait.

Reality check No.1: this is on an island that is a public reserve administered and maintained by the taxpayer-funded National Parks and Wildlife Service. Anyone has a right to be there.

Steve's approach to minimalist sailing, and the challenges of getting off the grid, should inspire anyone with big adventuring dreams and a small budget.

She is perhaps one of the most famous of Norwegian yachts and has a long history of racing and regatta wins. Sira was built to win the Kattegat trophy, a trophy that was transferred to the 8 Metre class in 1907. This was achieved in the very first season in 1938 with the designer and builder Johan Anker himself at the helm.

The maritime gods smiled upon us, with lots of sunshine and winds tailor-made for the wooden boat vessels. A gentle breeze fluttering between 10 -12 knots filled the sails throughout the weekend.

The closure of our current location means the end of The Victorian Wooden Boat Centre as we know it. There will never be another opportunity to recreate what we have here and keep it viable. We will wind down the VWBC until its lease ends, at which point it will close permanently.

The door slid open again and the room lit up as an unassuming bearded man in a dusty cable knit jumper walked towards me. He moved through the shed, feet wide as if crossing a moving deck, held his hand out and with a beaming smile and a soft Hudson Valley lilt said, “Mark? I’m Nat”

Six engaging speaker sessions will take place each day at the Maritime Museum, with films playing on rotation all weekend long. All are invited to join the celebration! Entry is free but bookings are recommended.

“I had a look, and seeing so much water in, knew something had gone wrong, and that the craft was foundering. The only chance for us then was to square away for Cloudy Bay.”

The annual Mahurangi Regatta is back to its former glory after a few years of setbacks. Enjoy the imagery here!

From a utilitarian 17th century Dutch tradition, to the Hudson Valley Roosevelts and the storied races of the late 1800s, to the present day.

"It gives us an opportunity to move forward as a nation and as a community … By not creating those opportunities for those conversations, we stay in the status quo."

John was and will remain an absolute icon in this country for his amazing achievements, from supporting the endeavours of the average bloke who just wanted to be able to sail his boat, to the top echelons of NZ Sailing.

“I have mentioned the influence of Claud Worth, the English doctor, writer, and designer, whose TERN IV I greatly admired. Those who know Worth’s boat and my BRILLIANT design may see this inspiration; both are shaped and built not as racing yachts but as sea boats intended to survive the worst weather and to make good passages.”

“It has good 1960’s functionalism with the double stack control rooms seemingly cantilevered off the lift core. All braced and laced by one slim leg and a zig-zag stair.”