Flotsam & Jetsam 07.08.26
Save GRETEL update - Advocacy, Instagram and more
From Nigel Watts
Hi there,
Thanks for your prior support of the Save GRETEL petition. Quick update....
ADVOCACY WORK
New signatures for the petition have been slow of late, but rest assured that the advocacy work continues. Recently I have approached multiple organisations to enquire about their support for this project. This is a project of significant national importance and I am hopeful these organisations may be willing to help. I'll keep you informed of any outcomes here. As a nation and community we can’t let GRETEL waste away, it is just not right!
RESEARH AND EXCITING NEWS
I have been doing a lot more research into GRETEL and her amazing legacy and will have some exciting news to share about this very soon – stay tuned for more on this shortly.
INSTAGRAM
GRETEL and this project is now on Instagram, for anyone so inclined. Nearly 1,000 followers in under 2 months, not bad for an old girl. Follow along here... https://www.instagram.com/gretelyacht/
Thanks again for your support. If you know any friends or family who may be interested in signing this petition please pass the link onto them. Every signature counts, it provides continual motivation and when I do talk to organisations and individuals about this, all these signatures have weight.
If you have any suggestions on how to raise support for this project please don’t hesitate to get in touch by email savegretel@gmail.com.
SV RHONA H could be yours!
We wrote about the Rhona H a few years ago in SWS
𝗢𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗔 𝗛 𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁!
Expressions of Interest are invited to procure the ownership of the 1942, 62ft LOA, 52ft LOD, Gaff Topsail Ketch. RHONA H. Designed and built by Edward "Ned" Jack, Launceston in 1942 of 1.4 " Huon Pine.
After 12 years of ownership the custodians of RHONA H have made the difficult decision to offer her to new owners! Original built as a recreational fishing boat, her career began in 1942 when designed and built by one of Tasmania's finest wooden boat builders Ned Jack and his son Edwin of Trevallyn, Launceston for Frere Youl a member of the Youl family successful pastoralist of Symmons Plains. Perth Tasmania, Frere christened his new craft Jessica after his only daughter. Ned Jack is recognised throughout Australia for his outstanding design work and equally outstanding boat building! Ned had a rare talent for designing beautiful and seaworthy vessels! In 1946 Charles Youl, Frere father was in poor health necessitating his return to Symmons Plains to help manage the family estates, Frere sold JESSICA to Max Hardy a fisherman, of Stanley Tasmania.
Charles Youl died in 1948. Max promptly renamed his new boat RHONA H after his then financee Rhona Bird. Max and Rhona were married in July 1947.
RHONA H quickly became the Pride of the Stanley Fishing Fleet, fishing for the then plentiful Barracouta and later shark and crayfish. RHONA H never failed to be the perfect fishing vessel in some of the most dangerous fishing grounds in Australia. Under Max Hardy's ownership, RHONA H was the last commercially operated Ketch of the fabled Mosquito Fleet, a fleet of Trading Ketches crossing the notorious Bass Strait taking fish to Victoria and returning to Tasmania with cargo. A few words from Max Hardy:
"Max borrowed £4,000 to buy the vessel. “It seemed to us to be all the money in the world then. It was a battle, but we worked away at our goal, and ended up having her for 26 years”. “She was a beautiful boat, and what made it good for my wife Rhona and me was that we were the first to fish at Sandy Cape with a decent boat. We learnt to catch crayfish there before they ever knew there were crayfish off the continental shelf."
Max removed the original 40hp Ruston Hornby diesel and installed the current 76hp Gardner. He also removed the mizzen mast to create more room to carry more fish. In 1972 Max Hardy sold RHONA H to Bobby Warren a fisherman of Queenscliff Victoria.
Bobby and his brothers continued using RHONA H for shark fishing off the Victorian coast supplying tge popular "Flake' to the Fish and Chip shops of Victoria. Eventually finding her way back to Tasmania now under the ownership of David (Zagger) Nichols a fisherman of Victoria Dock Hobart.
In 1988 RHONA H after spending 46 years as a fishing boat was purchased by Murray Young of St Helens Tasmania. Murray restored RHONA H back to her original Auxilary Gaff Rigged Ketch configuration for charter work along the east coast of Tasmania until the 1990's.
In 1998 it sailed from Sydney to Hobart with the Tall Ships fleet. In 1999 RHONA H now under the ownership of Bruce Potter, moved to Launceston where it made many Bass Strait crossings and twice competed in the Three Peaks Race, Vintage Division, as well as making regular trips to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart.
In 2013 RHONA H returned to Hobart and has remained there since as part of a fleet of Tall Ships taking passengers out on the Derwent River and charters further afield under her current owners.
The GLIDE Restoration
Rockport Marine are doing a great job documenting the full restoration of the yacht GLIDE
Built in 1947 at Major J. Casey’s yard in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, GLIDE comes from a practical and capable lineage. Casey was known for fast sailing vessels, rum-runners, and more than 100 military rescue boats built during World War II. His boats were not precious. They were strong, purposeful, and made to be used.
That sensibility served GLIDE well. Over more than seven decades, she earned a reputation for elegance, power, and hard service. When she arrived at Rockport Marine, the expected work was significant but familiar: a new keel and frame-end repairs. But as the crew opened up the boat, it became clear that a more complete restoration was needed.
The project has become a clean, carefully sequenced renewal of the hull structure — preserving GLIDE’s sheer, deck, shape, and character while replacing much of what lies beneath. The intent is the feeling of a boat renewed, not a new boat.
For updates on this restoration and other projects, subscribe to the Rockport Marine quarterly newsletter
Ian Johnston on the Festival
Regular SWS contributor, and co-founder of the Australian Wooden boat festival Ian Johnson sends a message about the 2027 event.
The upcoming AWBF is already looking as if it will be the best one yet. There is a plethora of new events organised, as well as the return of the crowd favourites.
We have the best Festival in Australia – and we have the awards to prove it!
It is a time to catch up with friends and make new ones. I love that it is a hands-on event; everybody is welcome to participate in activities and touch the boats, there is much to learn and fun to have. One of my favourite events is on the Parliament lawns, which are given over to the best children’s participatory event in the country, the Little Sailors Village.
Another is the activities in and around Constitution Dock: take your friends or family for a row and watch the internationally famous Quick and Dirty Race as a finale on Monday afternoon. Better yet, lend your dinghy to the Festival so that more people can go for a row. There is also brilliant music and theatre, as well as seafood and cooking demonstrations; everything is free.
"The most rewarding part of the Festival is being one of the 400 volunteers; there's a role for anyone who wants to be part of the family."
Volunteers are very well treated by the Festival organisers and the grateful public. It is a friendly and enjoyable way to get the most out of the weekend. Without our volunteers, there would be no celebration of our cultural heritage or our Festival; please become a volunteer.
And if you have got a boat, bring it, put in an EOI. It does not have to be a varnished work of art; we want boats with character that carry their patina with pride. Yes, clean her up a bit and slap on some paint, and join in the fun and excitement of having your boat at the biggest and best boating Festival south of the Equator.
See you at AWBF 2027!
Ian Johnston
Sea turtles diving through the eye of the storm help develop better cyclone forecasts
Illustration of a top view of a flatback sea turtle.
From Rob Harcourt in The Conversation
Despite the key role northern Australian seas play in shaping tropical cyclones, we have surprisingly few observations below the surface. The region, which includes the Timor and Arafura seas between Australia and Indonesia, is vast, remote, and shallow.
This makes it difficult or expensive to use traditional ocean observation methods. Ships and underwater ocean gliders can only sample small areas, and nobody wants to collect measurements in the middle of a cyclone.
Australia needs an ocean observing system that can work in all weathers in this region. Following a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the Integrated Marine Observing System, CSIRO and Macquarie University, the University of Western Australia, UNSW and traditional owners, we think we’ve found one.
To address the data desert to Australia’s north, we have enlisted the help of deep-diving olive ridley and flatback sea turtles, which lay their eggs on beaches around tropical Australia.
Biologists have tracked sea turtles for decades using miniaturised GPS tags. Building on experience from overseas, we paired a GPS tracker with an oceanographic probe that measures temperature when the turtle dives, sometimes as deep as 80 metres.
The temperature data is transmitted almost immediately by satellite, making it available to forecasters in near real time. Over several deployments on 46 animals between 2014 to 2024, the turtles took more than 8,000 ocean temperature snapshots across northern Australia, from the Pilbara to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
MOONRAKER & Sorrento Pier
From the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network
The marine environment can change rapidly, and recent events provided a stark reminder of the vulnerability of vessels exposed to extreme weather. Ian explains, ‘that changed dramatically during the night of Monday, 1 June, when extreme weather caused 12 vessels, including Moonraker, to break from their moorings.’
When conditions eased, Moonraker was discovered outside the breakwater near the Sorrento Slipway. A crane-equipped barge was brought from Melbourne to recover the vessel, lifting it from the water and transporting it back to Melbourne.
Picture: Suze Jones/Sorrento News
The barge delivered Moonraker to the Victoria Dock Slipway before the vessel was moved to the Melbourne Boat Yard at Appleton Dock, where assessment and repairs commenced. The damage may prove extensive, but the Mackinnon family remain determined to restore the vessel and return it to service as soon as possible.
The incident highlights both the challenges and resilience inherent in maritime operations. From steamships and ferries to dolphin-watching vessels, Sorrento Pier continues to reflect the enduring relationship between community, commerce and the sea - a maritime connection that has shaped the character of the township for more than a century.
Alden & Lacco- What a combination!
This little gem was brought to our attention by Richard Taylor. Check out her instagram page because there could be a little more work than these pictures suggest… but still a great little boat with unquestionable provenance!
This 30ft classic Alden/Lacco designed wooden ketch is now for sale.
Swan is a heavy displacement sail boat. Swan has been built to a very high standard. Hull, deck and cabin roof are celery top pine. Cabin and cover boards are Iroko Keel is yellow stringy bark with a concrete incased steel and lead ballast. Original working sails in usable condition but showing there age. Engine is a Yanmar 2qm20h diesel in good working order. Swan is based on a 45ft Alden topsail schooner.
Photos were provided of the schooner to legendary boat designer Ken Lacco and drawn up as a ketch rig and scaled down to be built in the small historic boat shed in the port of Ryhll on Phillip Island. swan was built by John Jannson with the help of Peter Ingless Launched in 1984 swan has always lived in the waters of westernport bay. We have sailed her as far as Paynesville to take part in the classic boat festival.
We have owned and enjoyed this boat for 11yrs but due to age and disability she is no longer a suitable boat for us. We are open to offers from suitable wooden boat enthusiasts. There is to much history and particulars to list them all. Happy to talk or txt with interested parties. Swan is currently moored just off the Rhyll pier if you want a quick look. For a little more detailed history swan has an instagram page showing the various stages of repairs, maintenance and use. Sv_swan
FOR MORE INFOMATION CONTACT MARCEL TIMMERMANS