Flotsam & Jetsam 12.06.26
Nick Atkinson- Three seasons in South Georgia
From the recent symposium held at the Auckland Wooden Boat Festival, hosted by the New Zealand Maritime Museum
Join sailor and musician Nick Atkinson as he recounts an unlikely journey that began at a bakery on Ponsonby Road and wound up with our hero living on the heavily glaciated island of South Georgia with Tim and Pauline Carr. He didn't travel in a straight line however. Grand classic yacht regattas in Scotland, Sardinia, and Antigua formed stepping stones to eventually landing the gig at the museum in Grytviken, the site of an old whaling station and Shakleton's grave. Hear accounts of epic ocean passages aboard the three masted 1902 schooner Shenandoah as well as tales from three incredible seasons racing the 95' LOD 1911 Fife gaff cutter Mariquita, leavened with stints on canting keel maxis and the odd bicycle. He also never travelled without his saxophone, a tradition he continues to this day.
Albany Maritime Festival
Did you know there was one? We didn’t until we received this email from Elly Spillekom,
secretary of the Maritime Heritage Association of Western Australia.
The Albany Maritime Festival 2026 is bigger than ever to celebrate 200 years of city of Albany and the 50 years of building the Amity Replica
On June 26, the exhibition 'Early History of Shipbuilding + 50 Years of Amity Replica Launch' officially opens at the Museum of the Great Southern. The exhibition 'The First 100 Years of Maritime History of Shipbuilding in Albany' is a tribute to the men and women who kept this state afloat. Without boats or ships, there would have been no voyages of discovery and exploration , and all those early immigrants would not be here. The team of Stan Austin, Peter van der Brugge, Richard and Rodney Olsen, Albert Kunus, and others who helped build the Amity replica did a fantastic job reviving old shipbuilding methods. Fortunately, there are still shipbuilders and carpenters in Albany engaged in the construction and repair of wooden boats.
Here are the links to the exhibition and the talks
https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/greatsouthern/early-history-boat-building-albany
https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/greatsouthern/talk-series-early-history-boat-building-albany
HURRICA V in San Francisco
HURRICA V has been in the pages of SWS many times over the years. Here she is again thanks to her custodian Mark Sanders in San Francisco.
“I thought you might like to see this article. Master Mariners in San Francisco Bay has been an institution for more than 150 years, honoring classic sailboating. HURRICA V is a 1924 classic built in Australia with a storied history. Most recently, she was at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club in Australia before her cruise to San Francisco a few years ago.”
By Adam Gambel.
St. Francis YC was well represented at the 2026 Master Mariners Regatta on Saturday, May 23,with Members and affiliated crews posting impressive finishes across multiple divisions while battling classic San Francisco Bay conditions—strong currents and sustained winds topping 33 knots.
Taking first place in the M1 large Marconi-rigged class was Ocean Queen , skippered by Keith Hubbard. Formerly owned by the late S/C Dewey Hines, Ocean Queen is a 55- foot Philip Rhodes yawl built by Abeking & Rasmussen and now operated by Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation in support of its Classic Racing and Maritime Trades Programs.
Crewing for the race were students in those programs. Finishing second in the M1 class was Hurrica V , a 72ft Charles Nicholson ketch owned by Mark Sanders. I was on the helm and the crew included Mark Sanders, Hurrica V program managers Jason Chan and Dustin Winn, Robin Driscoll, Mark Dahm, Mike Ratiani and other Hurrica V regulars. Hurrica V also captured the prestigious Dead-Eye Trophy for the fastest elapsed time in the M1 division.
The Master Mariners once again showcased the strength and momentum of the Bay Area’s classic yacht community—and that energy now turns toward Rolex Big Boat Series. The 2026 RBBS has expanded eligibility for Classics to include vessels 40 feet and above, so more boats are able to participate.
'Odyssey' Movie Anachronism: That Viking Longship Ain't Right
Love this from Peter Swanson on his “Loose Cannon” Blog Page
The blockbuster summer movie “Odyssey” has got the right-wing harpies groaning and moaning: How could Director Christopher Nolan cast a black woman as “the face that launched a thousand ships?” The poet Homer, they say, may have been blind but he wasn’t colorblind.
“Odyssey” Director Christopher Nolan wear his PFC on an outing aboard Draken.
Don’t be distracted, dear reader, by this faux scandal about Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen of Troy.
The outrage ought to be directed elsewhere. Like, why on Earth would moviemakers show Late Bronze Age Odysseus traipsing around the Mediterranean in a 10th century Viking longship?
Father and daughter battle storms and health scare as they sail around the world
From the BBC.
A father and daughter from Australia have been putting their relationship to the ultimate test - by sailing together around the world.
Rob Donald and his 19-year-old daughter Freya set sail from New South Wales, Australia in March 2025, heading for Norway.
The pair have been through storms, a serious health scare and a close encounter with a tiger shark in an adventure that Freya said had been weird and difficult at times but also one that she "wouldn't trade for the world".
The BBC caught up with the Donalds in Penzance, Cornwall, as they rested and prepared for the final leg of their epic voyage.
The all-wood yacht Misha was built in 1937 by a famous Dutch boat building company.
Rob bought the 9.8m (31ft) vessel in 1989 in France then sailed it to Australia and then did another trip to France and back.
He had a dream to take the boat back to the Netherlands and show them it was still going after all these years, and that is what inspired the present voyage.
Karajarri celebrate Australia’s first ‘Sea Country’ Indigenous Protected Area
(By John Cannon, From Mongabay, an independent, nonprofit media organisation reporting on nature and planetary challenges with a global network of local journalists)
In northwestern Australia lies a remote and wildly diverse region called the Kimberley. There, the iron-red soils of the Pindan Country connect forests and the Great Sandy Desert, all bracketed by a vast stretch of Indian Ocean coastline. Its springs and wetlands host migratory birds. Offshore, sawfish, as visually striking as they are rare, ply the waters just beyond the unbroken Eighty Mile Beach, itself a nesting site for the little-known flatback turtle (Natator depressus).
The Kimberley has also long been a home to humans, as rock art more than 17,000 years old attests, and among the heirs of that legacy are the Karajarri people. Over the past 30 years, the Karajarri secured legal recognition of their claims to the land, later establishing an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), Karajarri Pirra Ngurra, that now covers an area of land nearly the size of Rwanda in the state of Western Australia.
They also developed a ranger program that draws on long-held cultural knowledge of the landscape.In March 2026, the Karajarri people dedicated Karajarri Jurarr Ngurra, Australia’s first “Sea Country” IPA, comprising 237,489 hectares (nearly 587,000 acres) of marine and coastal ecosystems. It includes part of Malumpurr, the Karajarri word for Eighty Mile Beach. The IPA “strengthens long‑standing efforts by Karajarri Traditional Owners and Karajarri Rangers to protect the region’s biodiversity and keep Country healthy,” Malarndirri McCarthy, Australia’s minister for Indigenous Australians, said in a March 20 government statement about the Karajarri Sea Country IPA dedication.The aim of the Karajarri IPAs is to support a mutually beneficial relationship between the land and its longtime stewards, says Jesse Ala’i, former Land and Sea Country manager for the Karajarri Traditional Lands Association.“In order to have healthy Country, you need healthy people,” Ala’i says. Likewise, he adds, “Healthy people need healthy Country.”
Marvellous Gateway Piers
Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network alerted us to this charming 12 minute video.
“There is something remarkable in this moment of arrival that must stay with so many immigrant Australians. Some beautiful old footage of Greek Migrants arriving at Station Pier and Wharfies at work you may not have seen.”
A New Rig for ENDEAVOUR
Exciting things are taking place here in the Port! @sea.museum's Endeavour Replica project is well underway! We stopped by to chat with lead rigger Matt Daaboul and admire the incredible craftsmanship. Click to watch
