In 2021, I was invited to sail on Sir James’ beautiful timber boat Nerida in a classic boat race on Sydney Harbour. Sir James had retired from competitive sailing, but came down to wish us well. He was about to turn 90, so I told him I was about to turn 60. He decided to give me some three pieces of advice for my 60’s…

This was an age before helicopter parenting became a thing, but even so, the Saunders children were given a remarkably free rein, and were often riotously exuberant. WALKABOUT's dinghy was stowed upright on the cabin top, and it was a favourite haunt of the kids,

He is the true sea-wanderer, in these hurried days, when the professional seaman sees little but ports…. and the wandering globetrotter has his soft way sped until the whole earth is fast developing-for him-into nothing but a nerve-racking kaleidoscope of which, his voyage made, he remembers little. No, give me a wandering such as Dwight Long’s and a little ship, stout as the IDLE HOUR

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. 

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.

In Melbourne you might catch the D6 Tram down Flinders Street, alighting at the French Renaissance style Flinders St Station. In South Australia a geology student from Flinders University, might undertake field work in the nearby Flinders Ranges

“This was our first Christmas at sea.  My wife surprised me with a large tin of tobacco, and I surprised her with a package of her favourite cigarettes. She had certainly bought both, and I had been aware of their existence all along, but that did not lessen our surprise or render the presents less appreciated.”

Graham had raced with the who’s who of Australia’s golden age of racing. His skills were sought out by the great yacht designer, Olin Stephens from New York. Known colloquially as The Yacht Doctor, the boats Graham had tuned for success stand as a litany of that age; Vittoria, Ragamuffin, Love & War, Stormy Petrel, Salacia II, Mark Twain. Queequeg.

There seems to be a long tradition in the telling of maritime adventures of, let’s call it….embellishment. I personally find a note of inauthenticity in perhaps the most revered early circumnavigator, Slocum. Some people like Tristan Jones, just blatantly made stuff up! Even writers like Jonny Wray and Erling Tambs who I enjoy enormously, are prone to gloss over the emotionally and politically difficult issues. But Robinson doesn’t shy away from telling us of his fears, his unfettered delights and his opinions of all manor of human and physical discoveries as he sailed around the world.

As isolated cultures and forgotten societies are infiltrated by thrill seekers wielding the tools of social media, finding truely original and enriching adventures seems harder and harder.

The SWS library keeps growing. But unfortunately the shelf space doesn’t! It’s a torment trying to cull… but editing your life frequently and ruthlessly, for me at least, brings much needed clarity.

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.

With an (almost) long weekend upon us, there are worse ways to spend your time than to settle down, perhaps in a quiet anchorage, and listen to four podcasts from the ABC, all discussing books about islands.

Is Pamela Allen’s book WHO SANK THE BOAT the greatest who-done-it of all time OR a genius attempt to educate children on the Archimedes' principle?

But the price of his adventures had ultimately to be paid by others, in the succession of families he created, then broke apart; and many of his actions brought him into conflict with the feelings of friends and contemporaries. We may legitimately ask ‘was it really all worth it?’

The twist comes when the skipper early on brings his mistress aboard—a sanctimonious Bible-quoting woman named Carola—to join in the voyage. Though the two are living in sin, they seem always to be looking down their noses at their young libertine deckhand.

THE SHANK RETURNS for anyone who wishes to turn the pages of adventure on the high seas, or plans to visit Tasmania's wild South West Coast for themselves to write adventures of their own. 
If however the latter is your preference, make sure you heed Ian's warning, "Are you ready for this?”

My friend Justine grew up on Big Rat. She remembers tiger sharks ramming the hull of her dad’s fishing boat and watching a whirlpool of fins, waiting for a bucket of guts to be tipped over the side. This was all I knew of the Abrolhos. Islands have always attracted writers and readers as rich fictional microcosms. Here’s a review of three books perfect for a Christmas on deck read.

The great irony of Thamas Tangvald’s life was that he could never see nor comprehend how negative his father's influence really was. What he never grasped was that his father was in fact an agent of tragedy.

It is an old, coral-encrusted question, puzzled over for the last three centuries, and usually posed in three parts. Where did Polynesians come from, when did they get there, and how?