The News, Culture and Practice of Sailing woodenboats
in Australia, New Zealand & The South Pacific.
SWS is a not-for-profit enterprise, created for and by the traditional maritime community. If you read and enjoy it, consider supporting us financially.
Click Here to Donate
Esperance to Fremantle in 16 days
A second wonderful piece from Tim Phillips aboard the Jane Kerr. Tim is undoubtably one of the last true woodenboat adventurers. An inspiration for those of us looking for more from our time on water than sailing well varnished, museum pieces, around in small triangles!
The Winner That Wasn’t: WILD WAVE
Quick trivia question : Name three yachts that arrived off Battery Point, at the end of the Sydney-Hobart, believing they were line honours winners, only to be denied by the protest committee?
The Line Honours Rescuer
Peter Warner may have won line honours in three Sydney to Hobart Races and narrowly missed a fourth by less than a minute but perhaps he was better known for his rescue of 6 Shipwrecked,Tongan teenagers.
A Special SALAR is for Sale
Salar 40s were designed to be safe, comfortable, and seaworthy, and to travel long distances. ‘A round the world yacht’ was the marketing slogan when the boat was built, and it wasn’t just hot air.
The Kent Group — I just love the place!
After a tumultuous 2020 and a busy Christmas period we decided on a turnkey cruise! Squally Cove is beautifully set-up and so, so easy to live on. The Kent Group — I just love the place… Fishing, walking, swimming, scenery, it’s got the lot.
You’re invited inside the Shed
The greatest celebration of Wooden Boats and Maritime Culture on the planet*, welcomes you attend the 2021 Maritime Trail.
Can The County Shutdown Tally ho?
From the get go, Leo harnessed the power of social media to broadcast his story building not only a boat, but a remarkable community of volunteers and supporters.
Estlander - Sails and scandi structures
The second article in Charlie Salter’s series highlighting the relationship between architects and wooden boats.
Baader-Meinhof & William Golding
it was at sea, aboard the wild rose, that golding could escape the demons of class, inferiority and what we might now call post-traumatic stress that haunted him all his life.
Magical Mahurangi
The mid 1990’s. Two locals begin rowing round a few of the older boats asking if anyone might be interested to participate in the revival of a Regatta based at Mahurangi. The rest is history.
Get Me To Bribie
Can we draw your attention to the smile on the chap, about to christen the bow of his boat with a bottle of beer. Sums it all up. Priceless.
Book Review
The story is brilliant … However what I found difficult to grasp was the genre. Was what I was reading based on documented research or extrapolations from the imagination of my author?
The Margaret Pearl
In many ways the post-war wooden, Southern Australian Cray Fishing boats are ideally suited to become cruising vessels. Listen to a man who has actually lived the dream and dodged the pitfalls.
Noosa Gaff Rig Regatta
The Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club held the inaugural Noosa Gaff Rig regatta in 2019 in conjunction with a local charity on the banks of the Noosa River…And now there are plans to do it again.
Eight Bells : Tim Severin
…Somewhere in this spectrum fits Tim Severin who died three weeks ago in West Cork, Ireland. In my teenage years I read “The Brendan Voyage” a few times, relishing his account of both the research and the execution of his greatest adventure…
Eight And A Half
The photographs and article come all the way from Hungary. The images speak for themselves of family bonds, of patient learning, of persistence and of dreams. This is the story of Eight And A Half.
A New Custodian for Sunstone?
The famous Sunstone is for sale in Nelson, New Zealand, and for the right custodian she would be the most rewarding combination of form, function and provenance.
42 Boats in 42 Days
“When Melbourne went into stage three lock down in July 2020, we lost the opportunity to go sailing in our beautiful wooden boats.”
SOLVEIG’S SONG: BACK TO HOBART
70 years after her first trip to Hobart, this little boat is heading south again this year, in the hands of husband and wife team Anne Lawrence and John Whitfield.
The Last Lighthouse Keeper
“I knew there were already plans to electrify the lights. To automate. To relegate man beneath machines. To make us redundant. To take all the purpose out of life. As if richness did not lie in purpose and meaning but in leisure. I was keenly aware that I was in love with a dying life.”