Personally when I cast my eye over my 100 year old boat her signs of age endear her to me. My aesthetic is that of the cathedrals gloomy with the smoke of innumerable candles, the scars of the sackings by the Ottomans, the steps worn hollow by a thousand years of kneeling penitents. Further to that my humble vessel belongs to a vernacular tradition based on the Queenscliff fishing boats from the turn of last century. A tradition of hard usage, hard knocks, and short pockets.

And aboard the boat anchored next to us, the playboy model American girl came up on deck with her walkman hooked to her string undies. I think we call them thongs, now. Things. Thongs.

It’s a fascinating concept… Three moments in time for Kiwi boat design spanning a 90 year period. From a vessel ordered to be both fishing boat and farm truck, to a time when the vision of two young sailors was to create a global legacy shaping a generation of cruiser-racing boats, craftspeople and competitive sailors.

Whales, Wanderers, Gretel, Dragons, Scallops and Gaffers. Now that’s a nice cross section of our world in the news this week!

Yet there comes a time to divest of your interest, not only the boat itself but also of the identity and lifestyle it has shaped in you over the years, and not to forget the divesting of so many emotions that come with any parting or sense of loss. But I’m assured that treasured memories will endure, indelibly. 

The language of work provides a vocabulary which often spills outside the narrow confines of an industry. Nowhere is this more true than in fishing. The coble fishermen of Flamborough on the Yorkshire coast and the deep-sea trawlermen of Hull have provided names for sea and land alike.

“…above all, keep simplicity in mind when looking over a boat. The push-button temptations of our age are fine, but strength and craftsmanship are a far better investment for most sailors…”
— Rod Stephens

The Calendar, The Centenarian, More MJOJO, mining (or not), Hoddle’s Grid and much more

This is how I like to think of wooden boats. Infinitely repairable, like grandpa’s axe. And even though philosophers have long debated whether an object consisting of multiple parts is still fundamentally the same object if all of its parts have been incrementally replaced over time, very few of us are curmudgeonly enough to question the authenticity of boats like TALLY HO, PEGGY BAWN or VARG

More recently, official guidance has diverged on what to do in the event of an interaction. Portuguese authorities advise skippers to 'play dead' or reverse if conditions permit. Whereas the Spanish authorities advise motoring away as fast as possible towards shallower water.

Near Sinkings, saved habitats, boxes ticked and books worth reading. All in this week’s news page.

A centralised repository of all the Traditional Maritime Events you can think of in this corner of the world!

I have rarely met someone so passionate about his yacht. We sat together in the whisky drinking armchairs in the saloon, as he pointed out the details and features, the fixtures and finishes, even the movement, smell and noise which brings this timber creation to life. It appeals to all the senses.

“As we decided to install a 15 H.P. Gardiner (sic) Engine, I have provided for, so you will see by the specifications, a strongly built boat. I consider the price submitted by Forsyth & Templer is reasonable and I strongly recommend accepting their tender.”

The boats on display at Jellicoe are the beating heart of the festival. The quality and longevity of the craft is an extraordinary testament to two things. The passion with which Kiwis look after their boats and the rot resistance of that gold standard timber, Kauri. Here in Australia we may have developed a rich and broad tapestry of tradition around wooden boats, but in no port on the big island can you walk past restored gaff rigged centenarians, one after the other, for 200 yards.

A wide-screen sky refreshed itself with menacing patterns as a distant gloaming approached. An oblique, low hanging, long dark finger spearing in from the South east. We came to the bridge. Duck! Our skipper commanded, we ducked, sweeping under with over a foot to spare. Yes, this was an adventure! No! We were not attempting a moonshot. This was adventure in a pastoral landscape, nothing more serious than a bruised roll cloud gathering speed across the horizon behind, heavy rain poured out of it.

Rule 5 presents another problem for the single-handed boater: “Every vessel must at all times keep a proper lookout by sight, hearing and all available means in order to judge if risk of collision exists.” The single-handed skippers I know seem to get away with their best attempts to manage these issues. But if there is an accident, the solo boater is exposed to significant liability. If the master of a vessel is found to have violated one or more of the COLREGS, he or she may be found liable for costs of rescue efforts, property damages, loss of income, salvage costs and environmental cleanup. In the event of a death, even criminal gross negligence charges are not out of the realm.

The results are resins that are not only sustainable but also outperform their fossil-based counterparts! During testing, the glass fiber-reinforced composites with a variant of the plant-based resin exhibited improved toughness and significantly higher tensile and flexural strengths and toughness than DGEBA resins. These results represent a big win for sustainable composite alternatives.

The biggest news page yet, with boats for sale, boats for free, events, opinions and awards from around the wooden boat world.

But my over-riding impression of the adventure is not one of privileged white folk having fun on the back of the colonised, but of an fast disappearing attitude of discovery and adventure, where the only rules worth obeying, are those that you set for yourself.