Photo: Festival Boats.
One of the difficulties in writing a blog about something like the 9th Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF), which occurs every 2 years, is how to do it justice and paint even a rough picture of the event for you. We have taken lots of photos but even they don’t really tell the entire story of being here and experiencing what had previously been stated as the best Wooden boat festival in the world.
Our AWBF experience started on Thursday 10th February; when at about 1.00pm we arrived in Sullivans Cove, Hobart, ready to enter our designated berth. Sullivans Cove is located in downtown Hobart and the AWBF uses all of the berthing facilities which include two docks (Victoria and Constitution), Kings Pier Marina, Elizabeth St Pier, Franklin Wharf and Princess Wharf, plus all of the surrounding onshore areas. We had previously received full briefing packs on arrival arrangements, berth location and berthing process via the internet, and the experience of entering and completing berthing was without fuss and very well managed by volunteers in various inflatables and the communication centre. We were located in Kings Pier Marina, stern in to the Southern Sea wall. It proved to be an excellent location. Docking of all vessels actually occurred over Thursday afternoon and Friday until 3.00pm. By Thursday night about half of the “on the water” vessels had arrived and completed berthing. We got our first inkling of what we might be in for on Thursday afternoon, as literally hundreds of people were wandering around watching proceedings even though nothing officially started until Friday afternoon.
The first official event was the Parade of Sail at 12.30 on Friday led by the festivals flag ship ML Egeria, followed by the tall ships Enterprise, James Craig, Lady Nelson, Windeward Bound, One and All and Young Endeavour. This was followed by final berthing of vessels and despite there being over 200 vessels on the water of all shapes, sizes and types (power, sail, paddle/oar and steam) we never saw one incident, although we did hear later of a collision in the parade of sail where one boat lost its mast, oops. In addition, more than 300 boats were ashore, everything from small dinghies, kayaks, rowing boats and model boats.
By Friday afternoon we had already caught up with many friends we had made cruising last year and other people who came and introduced themselves as friends of friends. It was going to be a great weekend.
The Official opening was held on Friday evening and we were informed that despite an estimate of 80,000 visitors expected during the 3 days, Friday alone had seen more visitors than the previous busiest day of the 2009 event and expectations were now for 80,000 on Saturday alone! One of the underlying reasons for the expected larger visitor numbers was that entry this year was free and the festival is all about the boats with no commercial pressures normally seen at boat shows.
Saturday, the first full day of the festival, dawned fine and even as we were waking up, visitors were appearing on the walkways and by midmorning walking anywhere was a slow process through crowds the like of which we have never seen at any boat show. They were all so friendly and stopped for a chat, asked questions, questioned if Dol’ really was a timber boat, and generally enjoyed themselves. We talked too many different people and met new cruisers who we will no doubt meet further on our travels.
In addition to looking at all of the timber boats there were numerous activities and demonstrations ashore and events afloat. We don’t have the space to list them all but they included boat building techniques, children’s activities including a “Treasure Island”, films, talks, bands and entertainers. One of the more unique entertainers was a “Tin shed” band which was built on to a raft and driven by an outboard which manoeuvred around the various water areas playing Aussie country and western style music – truly a sight to see and hear.
One of our highlights of Saturday was being invited aboard the famous Americas cup challenger, Gretel II. She has been restored without expense and is truly a timber boaties dream. The laminated beams, the finish and the exquisite detail were simply amazing.
Sunday started a little slower with early visitor numbers below Saturday’s hectic levels but as the day progressed so did the crowds, no doubt swelling as the fine weather continued to warm up the day. Special events in the festival included foreign contingents from Japan and Indonesia. From the Japanese city of Yaizu, sister city to Hobart, came a wide selection of Japanese arts including origami, dancing, judo, Ikebana (flower arranging) plus Japanese food and of course their local wooden craft, From Indonesia it was model boats (approx 2m in length each) and two full sized Indonesian island fishing vessels plus an Indonesian food court.
One of the very unique groups of vessels at the festival in our opinion were the steam boats. Approximately 5 small vessels (about 2.5m in length) and two large launch sized were house together in the festival and each day they built up steam and ventured out and around the venue. The craftsmanship, and love that has been heaped on these vessels was obvious with more polished brass and varnish than seen anywhere else. In all cases they had “Perspex” hatches over the drive shafts etc so you could actually see all of the workings of these magnificent craft.
On Sunday afternoon 17 yr old Jessica Watson, around the world solo sailor and young Australian of the year, was at the festival and Gail and I took the time to go and listen to her speak. She is a unique young woman who whilst not giving too much away obviously has many more adventures in the planning stages.
Monday morning dawned as the best day weather wise and was a public holiday in Hobart. Even though the festival was scheduled to end at 3.00pm with vessels taking part in the closing sail past, the crowds were out in their droves again and it was slow going walking anywhere. Concluding events included children’s rowing, the sailing of the youth Quick and dirty challenge (build and then race a boat) and the final closing sail past as part of the Royal Hobart regatta. A breathtaking sight as literally hundreds of yachts, launches, steam boats and other craft completed a short course near the venue.
For us the 3 days has been an amazing experience the like of which we will probably never see or experience again, the people we met, the friends we will no doubt meet again, the colour of all of the flags, the timber and all that varnish – what a joy to be part of it. We have never been to a Wooden Boat Festival before, but it would need to be a very special event to beat the AWBF.