Hobart succumbed to a bad dose of festival fever earlier this month when wooden boats of every description and wooden boat lovers gathered together for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, reports CAROLINE STRAINIG.
Held from 6-9 February, the eighth festival attracted around 550 wooden craft of every description and 40,000 visitors, many from interstate.
In addition to the wooden boats themselves, the dockside setting provided the perfect backdrop for an extensive program of music, demonstrations, and displays. Opening with the wonderful Parade of Sail on Friday, there was action aplenty on the water throughout the weekend, including classic yacht racing, an historic 18ft skiff challenge and the ever-popular "Quick ‘n' Dirty" kids boat-building and race.Festival chairman Steve Knight said the feedback from exhibitors and visitors had been fantastic, and the Tasmanian Government had already confirmed funding for the next two festivals.
"We are already talking to groups from Japan and other people who are interested in being part of the 2011 event," Knight said.
"We are very happy with the way the festival has gone this year, both from a management and visitor perspective. A very early indication from visitor surveys conducted by Tourism Tasmania and general talk around the docks is that our interstate and international visitor numbers are increasing year on year, although again no firm numbers have been available from previous events.
"We have a lot of people to thank without whom this unique event simply would not happen.
The boat owners, of course, for bringing their magnificent craft to Hobart, our wonderful management team and volunteers, those boat owners around the docks who happily vacate their berths, and the businesses who offer help and encouragement - we appreciate every one of them."
The event will be held in 2011 from 11-14 of February.
For more information visit www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au
Constructing a marine ply dinghy - note the use of cable tie fixings.
Hobart's dockside was busy and the good weather helped.
As the saying goes, there is absolutely nothing better than messing around in boats...
One man's festival
Max Yaffa of Yaffa Publishing has made the trek to Hobart from Sydney several times to visit the festival.
How did his obsession with wooden boats start and how did this year's festival stack up?
I love boats of all descriptions. I had putt-putts when I was a kid with a Blaxland single-cylinder 3.5 hp Pup which you start with a leather strap. My first putt-putt was given to me by my neighbour and great friend who just happened to be a famous sailor by the name of Peter Kurts, owner of the beautiful S&S Love and War, three-time Hobart winner. The putt-putt was an 8O-year-old open clinker launch by the name of Hurricane Smith passed onto me once his son Simon and grown out of it.
This was the start of the wooden boat fetish, for both sail and classic launches. I have restored two vessels to date and I am onto my sixth boat, but one that did not need restoration -- big sigh of relief there.
How does one feed this obsession of finely crafted things of timber?
Tasmania, of course, the capital of wooden boat-building in Australia, using Huon Pine to build just too many beautiful boats to count.
The wooden boat festival runs for four days. I arrived on the Friday just itching to get down to the docks. It's held at Constitution and Victoria Docks where all the local fishing boats come in and unload their catch, and I must say most of them are also built of timber. This sets the scene for a vibrant atmosphere that I think you could only get in Tassie.
This was my third festival and will certainly not be my last. The weather as you know in Tassie can be an experience in itself, but it just happened to be about 25 degrees, both on the Friday and the Saturday, which is quite balmy for Hobart.
I usually just stroll along all the wharves for my first day or so picking out boats that appeal to me. Then I stalk them for the next couple of days, so to speak. To question them about where they are from, how they got here, was it a good trip, where it was built and so on. I try and meet and greet the always colourful and very inviting owners who just want to yarn all day about their pride and joy. I can so relate to that, and sometimes a rum and coke, also known as a cup of tea, is offered. So when a bloke asks you for a cup of tea it's not always of the hot soothing kind and then you could be there for a while.
So many boats, about 500 or more, in fact. So many more wanted to go that they had a waiting list. They ranged from sailing yachts of every description to dinghies, fishing, putt-putts and canoes - all things that float and are made of wood and most dressed with the appropriate signal flags, to give that extra nautical theme.
Not to forget the numerous stalls - ones that displayed people actually putting their boat-building skills to the test, all in front of you. Antique outboard motors, inboard motors and a fantastic display of model boats ranging from steamers to tall ships and all types of sail boats with different rigs with the utmost of detail - another must-see of the festival.
You could have walked away from the show and built a boat yourself. There were stalls with all the latest products ranging from paints to epoxy systems and brand-new diesel engines, and when that new boat is built there were new anchors to moor your pride and joy at your favourite anchorage with a good glass of red in hand or a cup of tea.
Everywhere you walked throughout the festival people were singing old sea shanty songs and there was a wide variety of great Tassie food, wine and beer, to keep your energy up as you continually go back over your tracks just in case you may have missed a yacht or any other display. I must admit I bumped into so many people I knew from all over Australia, but the one thing I did miss to my great disappointment was a beer at the Shipwright Arms Hotel; I won't miss this great experience next time.
I hope that the Sydney National Maritime Museum can to as good a job in 2010 because they have a lot to live up to.
All-in-all what a fantastic event not to be missed by any boating enthusiast, especially the ones who have the wooden boat worm, if you know what I mean. Well done Tasmania. I will be back.