Wooden Boats of Tasmania – new playlist on AWBF Youtube 

Wooden Boats have been a significant part of the Tasmanian story for over 200 years now, in more ways than one. As an Island State, Hobart is of course the perfect location for our festival, and the waterfront ports come alive with wooden boats of all shapes and sizes (and ages) every two years for our festival. But what about the history of these wooden boats, since the AWBF has only celebrated wooden boats since 1994? 

The Australian Wooden Boat Festival were lucky enough to gain permission from Libraries Tasmania and Tasmanian Archives to share with you on our Youtube a series of short films of great historical importance. They feature some of the original footage showcasing our famous local Shipwrights, and fishing industries such as Couta fishing, Crayfishing and the Scallop fishing industry. 

Also featured is the 1988 Tall Ships celebration, which saw the Derwent River become a sea of sails with the largest gathering of Tall Ships ever, in Australia. 

These films are an important part of the history of wooden boats in Tasmania, their use, the people behind them, the builders, the timbers and the reliance on them for survival for many families in Tasmania.

Please free to share these films amongst your friends and sign up to our Youtube Channel to be the first to see all of our AWBF content, including Boat Builders and Boat Folk, as well as any external content we find relevant to share with you. 

A huge thanks to Tasmanian Archives and Libraries Tasmania for working with us to share these great films. 
See the Youtube Channel Here.