This long weekend...

James Craig, not wooden but very impressive. Smoky skies in the background.

Lyndon and I visited the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. It was great, the weather was fab and the Hobart foreshore really came to life. We actually went down Friday evening, Saturday morning and then again Saturday evening.

Lyn had in the past had his boat in the festival, but as it's still being restored we will have to wait another 2 years to take part again.

We rather liked the vintage Chris Craft above, but I have to say, the sea dogs were my favourite!

Look at this cutie below! He was my favorite :)

We also went to the Hobart Regatta where I had my first ever go on the Dodgem Cars. It was fun! I think I was quite good at it (can you be bad at it???). It was certainly a laugh, chasing people around in circles.

I also did a lot of gardening, pulling out a tonne of weeds. Still a lot to do to make the garden looks pretty again.

Oh and did I mention I am taking part in a craft market in less than two weeks? Eeek! I had ordered fabric for scarves but the printers haven't posted it yet!! Freaking out here...

Have a great week

xx

Lyndon's masterpiece

Look how clever my Lyndon is. Over the past while he has built, completely from scratch, a new trailer for the boat.

He has designed, cut steel, welded, spray-painted, riveted and wired this beautiful new trailer for our Touchwood.

Lots of piccys so you can admire the skill!

What a talented man.

What a cute dog!

There's mumma's bubby looking very much like a made her sit there for the pic (which I did).

Below are some progress shots and no, I didn't pose Molly in this one. She was just relaxing with her ball.

Are you all suitably impressed?

Now all we need is the engine back in the boat so we can get out on the river for some fun!

Thanks for looking and have a lovely week :)

xx

A lovely little spot

Here's the first part of my little adventure over the weekend.

Lyn and I took a Sunday drive south of Newcastle to Bugewoi for lunch. Lyn's workmates Rick and his wife Chris, Harry and Deb came along for the roadtrip.

On the way we stopped off at a little spot called Swansea which is at Lake Entrance.

The water was beautiful.

It was a such a clear, warm day and water was very enticing. I just loved the 'vintage' feel of the old boats and dingys - not that I'd be brave enough to venture out in one, I think it would end in a swim back to shore! At Bugewoi we went to the pub for lunch, sitting outside under a massive fig tree.

We ventured home via a little village called Catherine Hill Bay.

I'll post pics of that next :)

Isn't Bugewoi the cutest name?

xx

A lovely weekend for boating

We had a lovely long weekend here in southern Tasmania for Regatta Day. It was also the Australian Wooden Boat Festival here in Hobart.

Hundreds of wooden boats down around the waterfront along with displays, exhibitions, food and entertainment. Beautiful :)

Above: one of my favourites - very stylish!!

Seeing all the beautiful boats and people cruising around on the water really made me wish we could have participated with Touchwood, Lyn's vintage timber powerboat, but she is in the shed with her engine removed. *sigh*

Have a lovely week bloggies.

xx

Touchwood

I recently posted a pic of Lyndon's 1960's Australian Seacraft timber power boat, Touchwood. One of the necessities of boat ownership (however small) is maintenance. Over the past few months Lyn has been busily taking the engine apart for a makeover and has been building her a new trailer. The last one had become very rusty and therefore rather dangerous.

Molly relaxing in the middle of the construction

part way though and missing lots of bits - a long way to go yet!

The very industrious 'master of the tools' Lyn decided to build a trailer from scratch which included learning how to weld. It's not quite finished but I thought I post some shots anyway.

testing out to see how the boat fits

the bare bones being smoothed out

Part of the process involved lifting the boat off the trailer (welding close to a timber boat - a big no-no!). This was a rather scary task but thankfully was successful. I was scared that the carport was going to give way!

hanging in mid air!

I'm looking forward to getting Touchwood in the water. Lyn's not sure it will happen this coming summer but I hope so. We have had such adventures out on the Derwent River. Lots of fun times cruising around and some scary times too eg breaking down out in the middle of the very wide river!! We've been towed by another boat, caught in super rough water (the sea breeze comes up so quickly!) and had friends scream along behind us on the ski-biscuit. SO much fun.

at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival

River fun

Sharon from My French Country Home is linking up with bloggers who have stories about living by the water. Living in Tasmania, and my city Hobart, we see water everywhere. I have been lucky enough to have a view of our Derwent River from all the places I have lived. I drive by and cross the river on my way to work. In summer we play on the river.

Lyndon is proud owner to a 1960 timber powerboat called Touchwood. She has a marinised Holden car engine and a whole bunch of vintage style. We enjoy taking her out on the river for a fun cruise on a sunny day. About half an hour or so up the river is a little town called New Norfolk (great for antiquing!). It's such a pretty place and the river, while not wide, is picturesque here. Above is a photo of Lyndon out on the water enjoying himself.

Being such a small boat, she can only go out in smooth, clear weather. It is funny how you come to 'read' the water and see the weather changes on the way. I'm not great 'in' the water, but just love being 'on' or near the water.

ps this photo was taken one summer a couple of years ago. At the moment Touchwood is undergoing maintenance and hopefully will be back in the water this coming summer.