GM’s Log – November 2016

Planning is well advanced for the 2017 MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival, coming up fast, in just 11 weeks time. With around 300 beautiful wooden boats in the water and a couple of hundred more on display ashore, we are well placed to present another edition of Australia’s most popular wooden boat celebration. We will welcome guests from all over the world, with an especially enthusiastic team from The Netherlands as our guest nation and a strong showing of North American boating personalities from both East and West Coasts. There are some leading lights on the program for the ANMM Australian Wooden Boat Symposium, including maritime photographer Ben Mendlowitz, designer Ron Holland and celebrated long-distance sailor Lyn Pardey. Sponsors including TasPorts, Blundstone, Wrest Point, MyState, DMA and Southern Cross are back on board and we have great backing from the Tasmanian Government and Hobart City Council to deliver this free public event that draws tens of thousands of people to our lovely port city.

It’s an exciting event, and we’re often told that getting involved in producing it is the best move you can make. We have a brilliant crew of volunteers; smart, capable, enthusiastic and dedicated to having fun while producing the largest wooden boat festival in Australia. The reward is in the crowds of people on the Hobart waterfront with big, silly grins on their faces, loving every minute of it. You don’t have to be a sailor, you don’t need special skills – all you need is a willingness to pitch in with a bunch of friends to accomplish something worthwhile. We’re recruiting now, and if you’re interested in getting involved, please give us a call or log on to the website here: https://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/get-involved/volunteer

We would love to see you join us!

Best regards

Paul Cullen

General Manager