boat spotting

Last month I went to the Classic and Wooden Boat Show held at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. There were a heap of different wooden boats of all sizes and designs. It was a great opportunity to observe the various different styles of yachts, power boats and craft which have been built or restored.

I particularly enjoyed a few designs and yachts that were shown. The Halvorsens are a particularly beautiful craft, although I doubt a novice like myself could build one. It would be great to spend a week travelling up and down rivers in one of these boats.

Another magnificant craft on display was Whisper, a 10' clinker dinghy designed by Paul Gartside and built by Denman Marine. This beautiful dinghy is made out of Huon, King Billy, and celery top pine. The craftsmanship on this craft is exceptional.

Denman Marine had also brought their Iain Oughtred designed Caledonian Yawl. I must have spent a couple of hours just gazing over the various parts of this boat. Again the celery top and huon pine construction looks amazing.


Since the show, I have been looking at the various Oughtred designs and my dream is to build a Tirrik. This is a shorter version of the Caledonian Yawl, although I am sure numerous fans of these boats would outraged by such a summary. Grapeview Point Boat Works is the only website I am aware of which details the construction of the Tirrik (no comment on the quality of their photos). Hopefully in the future I will have the skills (and finances) to undertake the construction of one of these beautiful designs.

Overall I was very impressed with the Classic and Wooden Boat Show. Since I am more interested in the construction side of wooden boats, I probably spent more time talking to folks about the designs rather than checking out the yachts. However I hope one day to get to the stage in life when I can turn up to such a show and display some of the craft I have made. Until then, I'll continue to be happy to observe.

Trim - another beautiful design and build