What I’m personally more interested in is the mentality… the relentless determination.. that drives this group of volunteers to show up every week and chip away at what must at times seem like an infinite task.

“I know nothing about restoring wooden boats so I’m not a good steward, though it does make an interesting paddock ornament.”

The YVONNE project has been an integral part of the life of some of my closest friends for seven years now. So when we heard that the seminal British publication “Classic Boat” had selected her to be on the short list of best “Restored Sailing Vessel under 40ft” then it is cause for celebration.

As the work is nearing completion, the AWBF is now welcoming any enquiries regarding her future! She will be launched on February 10th 2024, as part of the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally, and all funds from her sale will go directly to the AWBF.

Needing substantial, but not complete restoration, just as she was about the be dismantled, three years short of her 100th birthday, a final desperate round of emails produced an outcome.

So now I’m a little confused!  There are so many good things going on, so many positive stories and no shortage of activity, so why we are not brimming with optimism?

So far, the stem has been rebuilt – she was originally cut for and aft with a chainsaw, to widen the stem! A chunk of wood was glued in to fill the gap, and a new inner knee to cover the stem on the inside of the hull has been fitted.

For her launch Fred loaded the boat onto a timber wagon pulled by eight bullocks for transportation to Milang. There he was assisted by his father Frank and the boat was slung from the wagon by crane into the lake off the Milang jetty.

Volunteers from Transport Heritage Australia (THA) have spent years working on the ARGOS, which was built at Berry's Bay in 1903. But their plans ran aground two weeks ago, when the heritage tug started taking on water on its mooring at Empire Bay.

My name is Holly (22 years old) and my husband Jordy (23 years old) and I are the very proud owners of ‘Clare’. She is a Maurice Griffiths, 40 foot ketch planked in 1 1/2 Jarrah, built and launched in 1951 in WA. She is currently out of the water in Hastings VIC and we are currently completing a full restoration.

Like the preservation of our built environment, historical buildings only live on if they are living breathing things that people can engage with. Historic vessels surely the same?

There is of course in the community a finite amount of time, resources and money to go into restoring old boats. Not every craft can be saved. I estimate that of the wooden boats in Australia that are currently “out of commission” perhaps one in ten will ever float again… So what should be the criteria for deciding which craft are worthy of a new lease of life?

But as I stood in the new machine shop and glanced out the window, I saw an unassuming little boat that without a doubt had been drawn by the inimitable Laurent Giles.

Over the last 2 years, I have spoken to many people associated with OLIVE MAY to try and ascertain her provenance. From descendants of convict Thomas Doherty who built the ALICE AND ANGUS in Port Davey in 1800s, to members of the Appleton family who owned the OLIVE MAY up until the mid 1980’s.

I think to myself, isn't it great that we have people in the world, passionate master craftsmen like my good mate Eddy, who put all their love into a project such as Boongown, until it just seeps from every surface and inspires the admiration of everyone who sees it or is lucky enough to climb aboard.

“The day I on got on-board that thing at Palm Beach, I sat in the corner and thought, ‘shit this feels good’, Roscoe says.
“You don’t fall in love with every boat”, he adds.

She now sits happily on her mooring in Mill Bay, Mangonui in the Far North of New Zealand awaiting her new life. At this stage future plans for ELIZABETH are to race her with the Mangonui Cruising Club on Doubtless Bay and take her south to race against other classics in the Tall Ships Race in the Bay of Islands in January

Brendan’s vision was to rebuild her graceful design. And to create a yacht that would be both beautiful and very user friendly for himself and his family

After custodianship by the Calverts, the history of VENTURA becomes a little more vague. We know that VENTURA made her way to Sydney when she was acquired Captain Kennedy of Phoenix House around the 1960’s.

Taking her for a cruise today has been described as being akin to accompanying a beautiful lady to a ball: Everyone stares at her, ignoring her rather motley partner(s) … except to wonder how he ever became associated with such a stunner.