Don’t Procrastinate…Just be There!
Let’s start with some full disclosure… I love the Australian Wooden Boat Festival! In fact I love it so much I’m on the board, on the boat selection panel, talking at the Symposium and taking pictures of specific events… all as a volunteer. (a little tragic, I know!)
The festival has to be one of Australia’s greatest community events. It’s run by a few talented professionals with the help of an army of volunteers. Every two years the Hobart waterfront comes alive for four days, with spontaneous and uncontrived joy. Nobody is hyping it up, nobody is making a packet, nobody has an axe to grind or a point to score and everyone, both sailors and non-sailors alike can revel in what is nowadays rare; a celebration of craft, community, and adventure. It’s proudly analogue, not digital, it’s about touch and smell and history and story telling. Nobody who understands this will ever be excluded.
The fact that it’s only scheduled every other year, means that by the time it comes around, there is an intense anticipation for the exchange of ideas, the extraordinary visual aesthetic and let’s face it… the party!
Having sailed on four continents, it is fair to say that the atmosphere around the docks when the boats get back in from the parade of sail is unlike anything I have ever experienced in sailing regattas, gatherings and rallies. It’s welcoming and collegiate and buzzing with raw pleasure!
If you have a wooden boat and haven’t been to the festival you are missing out. Remedy the situation now! If you have been before, and think you are going to be repeating yourself by going back… think again! This years theme of “working boats” has spawned a fresh raft of activities and events to accompany all your favourite activities.
Next years festival runs from Friday 5 – Monday 8 February, so there’s still plenty of time to plan your visit. And from non-Tasmanian boats, we often get reports that the adventure of the voyage there and back, through one of the world’s greatest cruising grounds, is just as rewarding as the festival itself.
Entries for “Boats Afloat” are open for another six weeks, closing on August 31 at 11.59pm. But don’t wait to the last moment, get in touch with your family and friends, comrades and crew and plan the adventure now!
I always told my children when they were growing up, its better to regret the things you do, rather than the things you don’t do. And I promise you, if you and your boat are in Hobart early February next year… you won’t regret anything!
Expression of interest forms for Boats afloat are available HERE
