Voyage unites sailors
Boats readied for expedition into Hobart for festival
A FLEET with dozens of ships will soon begin its expedition to Hobart, to join the nation’s biggest wooden boat festival.
One of the boats making the voyage, and with a rich history, is the Montague Whaler, used by several royal navies from about 1890 to the 1950s for ship-to-shore access and as lifeboats.
“Of the thousands that were built, there’s only a handful left that are still on the water and can sail and row as they were intended,” said Martin Riddle, a member of The Living Boat Trust.
“Most of the remaining ones are dried-out hulks sitting in museums that we are never going to see again. So this is a very special boat.”
The Montague Whaler was built in the Brisbane naval shipyards in the mid-1950s, and was one of the last ones to be built.
Every two years since 2007, The Living Boat Trust, in Franklin, runs a fully catered, 10-day small-boat expedition in the south of Tasmania, timed to arrive at the start of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart.
About 120 people with 36 boats will form part of the fleet, with people from all over, including Scotland, Canada, and every state in Australia, joining the expedition.
The fleet includes whale boats, small open boats that range from 4.5m to 6m long, along with fast response safety boats and motor cruises – most, if not all, are wooden.
Dr Riddle said his favourite part about the journey was sharing stories with the other sailors.
“We all have parallel adventures during the day on the water. Then at night, we sit around with a glass of red and a good meal and exaggerate what we did,” he said.
Dr Riddle has a deep connection to the event, having worked as a marine biologist for most of his life. He came from the UK to work on The Great Barrier Reef, then moved to Tasmania in 1994 to join the Australian Antarctic Division, where he stayed for 20 years.
The Living Boat Trust is a not-for-profit set up to maintain and preserve Tasmania’s maritime heritage.
“We’re only able to organise this because we have a backbone of volunteers that maintain our boats and facilities during the rest of the year,” Dr Riddle said.
The fleet leaves Recherche Bay on Wednesday and will moor at Waterman’s Dock as part of the festival on Friday, February 10.
“The Parade of Sails is mayhem, so you won’t necessarily see a group of small boats coming together because everyone’s trying to get into the festival,” he laughed.
The event is followed by a four-day Return Raid back to Franklin.