Messing About in (Franklin) Boats

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Yukon (with the green hull) and Rhona H (in white) arrive to take part in Franklin’s Australia Day celebrations. In the foreground,former pilot boat La Chaloupe (right) is a Dover restoration and Black Swan (left) is a Franklin boat.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It doesn’t get much easier to enjoy a day out on the water than in the river port town of Franklin, 40 minutes south of Hobart.  The Wooden Boat Centre, the Living Boat Trust, the Danish ketch Yukon and a thriving popular culture of wooden boats make it a splendid place to visit.  Never better than on Australia Day, when the commonplace beer-and-barbeque is displaced by a mini-festival of traditional rowing and sailing boats. Rhona H joined Yukon to add some tall ship glamour, but the real fun was in the fleet of rowing boats, steam launches and skiffs that allowed everyone willing to have a go to get on the water.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”1405″ img_size=”600×400″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”1394″ img_size=”600×400″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The famous 1917 launch Nancy noses in to the dock to board passengers.  This superbly restored Tasmanian treasure is operated by the Living Boat Trust[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Members of Franklin’s ‘Women on Water’ offered rides in a smart St Ayles skiff.  Franklin will run a St Ayles Regatta in 2017, following on from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For more pictures and stories from Faranklin’s splendid Australia Day, click on this link.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]