The last twelve months have been quite eventful for the Wooden Boat Association!
• We’ve downsized our fleet, retaining only Begonia. This has reduced our storage fees at APYC, and cut our insurance and registration costs. The boats have all gone to WBA members, so we will still see them from time to time, and, most importantly, they will be being regularly used.
• The WBA has been represented at a number of events. Begonia was displayed at Paynesville and Geelong festivals, thanks to Justin Nix and Bob Morgan; the Seaworks Winter Solstice, coordinated by Andew Cohen, and also at the Melbourne Boat Show.
• A good number of WBA members' boats were also on display at Seaworks and the Melbourne Boat Show, and I extend my thanks to those members for their assistance in presenting the WBA in such a good light at these events.
• When I dropped in at the Classic Dinghy Regatta at Inverloch it was great to see several WBA members there. Of particular note is Anthony
Horgan, who won the award for "best presented boat", and Krzystof Zemski, who won the trophy for the overall point score for the 4-race series.
• Another notable win for one of our boats, was Kelvin and Pelz’s “Lily” which in April won second place in the “Best Presented Boat” event held during the Canberra Traditional BoatFest , at Lake Burley Griffin.
• While at the Melbourne Boat Festival we started putting together a Gecko canoe kit, supplied by Nick Atkins. Chris Kelly and I, with assistance from some members, worked on the canoe during and after the boat show, and eventually handed it on to Andrew Robertson, holder of the winning raffle ticket. Andrew is a member of the WBA Facebook group.
• Our sailing weekend away, last October, was at Paynesville, where activities included a circumnavigation of Raymond Island, a pub dinner, and a picnic lunch at Ocean Grange. These extended weekends away are always a great way to enjoy the company of other WBA members, and to get to know more of them.
• The third Amazing Raid took place in March, in perfect weather. Fittingly, new member Jake Smith and his young family, competing at "Team Bananas", topped the score board, and have now had their name added to the Amazing Raid trophy. Keep an eye on future edition of Shavings for notices regarding the next raid.
• Club nights over the past year have been a combination of face to face and Zoom. Tim Drinkall ran a great session where he spoke with the various nominees of the Allan Chinn Award, which was very well attended.
• Also well attended was our face-to-face author talk with Nick Grainger, where he regaled us with the story of sailing a Shetland fishing boat from the north of Scotland to the Pacific Ocean, where they were dismasted, almost sank, and spent several weeks desperately trying make landfall in American Samoa without any conventional navigation instruments. If you don't have a copy of "The Voyage of the Aegre" it is definitely worthwhile obtaining one!
• In March we were once again at the Victorian Wooden Boat Centre, hosted by Nick Atkins. We were privileged to see that Adrian Mnew had completed his Illur dinghy, Aeolus, looking more like an example of high-end cabinetmaking than a sailing dinghy.
• Dugga Beazley came and spoke to us about the boats he has sailed in, and owned, over the years, using models and half-models to illustrate the finer points of how the fishing boats he used evolved over the years. I’m looking forward to future club nights, and extend an invitation to members to get in touch with the committee if they have ideas for activities and presentations.
• Obtaining a key for the Parks Victoria boat ramp, making it much easier for us to launch members’ boats, was a significant achievement this year.
• Our VHF radio course saw eight of our members complete their radio licence - a great result, with everyone very happy with the informative and comprehensive training on the night. We are looking at offering other courses in the future, with the first possibility being a power boat licence. At present we only have one expression of interest for this, and we will need at least five for this to go ahead, so if you are interested, please get in touch. Speak to a committee member if you would like to take part. No dates have been set yet, but I would like to run it before the end of the year.
• It’s been great to see members making use of the WBA stickers and iron- on logos! If you need more stickers or iron-on logos they are available, at $5.00 each. Talk to me at a club event, or email
