Small boats at the Wooden Boat Festival

If you like varnished wood and traditional designs, the Wooden Boat Festival is a treat for the eyes. Here are some examples of our favourites:

None of your stick-on lettering for this boat

A recently built copy of a 1908 boat - 29 ft long, with a 29ft spinnaker pole!

She can set 1500 sq ft of sail - here with a 'ringtail' (the sail at the back of the mainsail) and a 'watersail' set under the boom.

Smaller boats having fun

There were lots of small motor and steam launches

The furry stuff is called 'baggywrinkle', made from frayed-our rope, to protect the sails from chafe on the rigging when sailing downwind

The pointy end

Lots of messing about in boats

There was a strong Dutch contingent at the festival (Abel Tasman, who first charted Tasmania, was Dutch). This is a little flat-bottomed dayboat with leeboards rather than a keel; note the leaden sky!

The weather wasn't great on the last day but the sun broke through at the end of a rain shower to deliver this perfect rainbow. The steam yacht is a local boat, rescued from a beach where she'd lain, rotting, for several years.