Isn’t She Pretty?

Well, yes, she is.  This is the elegant Haven 12 1/2 nearing completion in Franklin at the Wooden Boat Centre (yes, there are serious bushfires nearby, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed).  Handmade by skilled shipwrights, this is a labour of love and an extraordinary cooperation between alumni of the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building, the Wooden Boat Centre in Franklin and the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. Crafted from pure Tasmanian celery top pine supplied by Hydrowood, fitted out with the finest of materials and hardware from  generous donors on both sides of the Pacific, this is a little masterpiece and it could be yours.

In 2017, a similar project with Dutch boat builders saw an elegant sailboat auctioned off for much less than its ‘retail’ value, but we were delighted that the new owner (a recently retired commercial fisherman with Dutch heritage) was so pleased with it and promised it a good home.  The funds raised from the sale went to making the American project possible with huge contribution from the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building.  This is once again the plan: raise funds from the sale of this boat to put towards the next boat building project at the festival.

Sean Koomen and his team have very generously donated a second Haven 12 1/2 to the Wooden Boat Centre in Franklin, so that Tasmanians can have access to the boat in perpetuity for sailing practice and pleasure on the Franklin waterfront.  This second boat will remain on permanent loan to the Centre.

In the meantime, you could be taking home a boat with a great story behind it and a superb fit-out including sails, rigging and hardware – ready for a glorious summer of pleasure on the water.

The boat will be auctioned on the festival site by a professional auctioneer on Sunday 10 February at 12:00 noon.  You must be registered to bid, and you can do this on the festival site from 10:00 am.  You may submit a sealed bid for the auctioneer’s attention, but it must reach our office by the close of business on Thursday 7 February to be accepted.  We take no responsibility for late bids or missed delivery and we cannot accept bids over the telephone or by email.

In addition to the Haven 12 1/2, we will also auction two other boats:  the restored dinghy ‘Vanessa G’ and a brand new Huon Pine dinghy from the Wooden Boat Centre.

The restored dinghy ‘Vanessa G’