There were plenty of familiar faces on the docks (and in the Bars) around Hobart for the 2023 Australian Wooden Boat Festival.
It is such a wonderful event and the Hobart Mercury editor who had been a little sceptical of the attendances bandied around, agreed that the figure of hundreds of thousands was not an exaggeration.
A strong contingent from our part of the world represented the southern end of Port Phillip very well with more than 10 boats afloat on display in all their beauty.
Led by Tim Phillips in Storm Bay along with the Jane Kerr, The Jane, Green Moon, Squally Cove, Southern Rock, Wayne Parr’s Moonraker, Gina, Jim Woods in Margaret Pearl, JoJo, and my own Gullwing – and that’s just the boats! (Apologies if I omitted any).
Add to that the number of passengers and crews including Sydney’s Larry Eastwood who spent 2 weeks aboard Storm Bay with Sally and Tim and then the number of our peninsula friends who came to the Festival by big bird; it was really something.
The CBA/WBS Cocktail Party was held at the Henry Jones Hotel with over 120 in attendance including Festival Chair Joy Phillips and Festival Patron John Bertrand. Also in attendance was Mark Chew, Festival Director and principal/editor of Southern Wooden Boat magazine.
CBA President, James Mighell, congratulated Tim Phillips on gathering such an impressive fleet of boats built by or with some association with WBS.
Tim introduced the Couta Boat Assoc Past Presidents that were present and John Bertrand talked about how special the Festival was and of how impressive our own small part in it was.
So, all I can say is that the Festival is a full two years in the making and even though it is all over in 4 days, the opportunity to participate in it as an owner, a crew/passenger or simply as a visitor to Hobart, it is something worth adding to your own calendar in February 2025!
Skins
See below for links to images:
Day 1
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wkiqyvzjv1s1bmw/AAD43NV0Hmvm2Vx3Wtmjxx5sa?dl=0
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nXxLGz25RLdSl4PuZrV3PCQjdIQpFRqT?usp=share_link
Aerial Images – Credit Stu Gibson
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1e56abr48wtc0x2/AAA84Zh_36NvLg1l5BZGMqk7a?dl=0
Day 2
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IKpA4-RHDap2NIAv79ZDYy4TU1UZnSii?usp=share_link
Day 3
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oak1t70AgBhcwGZh3s4JQu5Arp_dTH8H?usp=share_link
Day 4
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1E3SV0GApdFtYi3JRbSKxTFQqVC_cY7Ak?usp=share_link
(photos: Bridgit Thomas)
