Chapter 122 : Wooden Boat Festival

I attend the wooden boat festival.  People I know are thinking: Not likely. More chance of a vegan going to a seminar on how to barbeque meat. 

Well I am going to the wooden boat festival. I’m going because it’s popular and I want to find out why.  That’s why I going.

We wander towards the masts standing upright and proud. Closer and we see many wooden boats gentle rocking.  Each boat lies tied to the pier surrounded by rigging, ropes and a few fluttering flags.

The wharves are covered by crowds of people pointing, looking, taking photos, eating and drinking. 

We join them and see that boats are unlike cars. All the boats are bespoke. They are not made on an assembly line. Not made by people who only put in one screw. Each boat is made by one person or a small group. Each boat reflects the maker in some way and each boat is unique in shape and size. Every boat has a story: who designed it; where was it made; who made it; when it is made; what is its name and why.

As the boats lie tethered to the docks we imagine them moving. We imagine the sails full of wind; a rollicking and rocking sea and a fine spray of sea water.  We imagine these boats moving silently, gracefully and effortlessly.

Most of the boats are painted but all the boats are made from timber. All the timber was lovingly grown, harvested, milled, selected and assembled with care.  The boats are made from natural timber and are powered by the wind. The boats depend on nature but can also be threatened and destroyed by nature.

As we wander we hear music. All the music sounds jaunty and irresistible. Why do music and boats make so good partners? We see a maritime market place and stalls selling equipment or bits and pieces needed to restore or make boats. We see people talking boats. How to build them, restore them or sail them. We see a tent containing school of boat building. Peering in we see another unique bespoke boat. With a story to tell.

As we wander we become part of a large crowd peering, pointing and looking for that photo opportunity. We see photos or a paintings of boats which makes the boats look beautiful. Not difficult. A painting of a boat with sails full of wind on waves looks good. It is a thing of beauty showing balance and harmony.

We wander into an exhibition of model ships. Every model is a replica and has stories. But for me the building contains the story.  This building is where I walking down an aisle and gave away one of my daughters to a man who loves boats.  

As we wander and see some of the tall ships I am reminded of days prior to aeroplanes and the internet when the docks were our connection to the world. Days when everything came and went through the docks.

Seeing the tall ships I am reminded of my antecedents who all came to Australia on wooden boats. I doubt they saw the boats as a thing of beauty. I try and imagine their voyage. They slept in crowded dormitories which continually rocked and rolled. They attempted to keep themselves clean, tidy and free of creepy crawlies. Some of their food came from wooden barrels and is not sold in the food stalls surrounding us. To make their trip almost impossible to comprehend is the knowledge that they knew very little about where you were going and no guarantee that they would arrive. 

We see more food stalls. I don’t need an excuse to eat food on our docks but this Festival gives me another. We sit and eating besides wooden boats on trailers watching boats of beauty.

When we get home I read Facebook and see all the things which we missed seeing. Including a scrimshaw exhibition and ships in bottles. More art involving boats and nature.  More stories. I can’t wait to return in two years’ time.  To see wooden boats; objects of beauty; built and sailed in harmony with nature and exercising my imagination.