Credit: Michael White
Now we know you’re probably sick of hearing about our little yacht, BUT, she’s back in the water and fully restored! Read all about this historic vessel relaunch.
On Saturday 10th February, 2024, as part of the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally, we had the pleasure of ‘relaunching’ Undine. In front of a crowd of 100+ wooden boat enthusiasts Undine was delicately lowered into the waters of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel at approximately 10:21am, by the team at the generous Oyster Cove Marina (who originally lifted her out of the water, put her on a truck and said “there you go, she’s all yours!” some two years ago).
The crowd compiled of Kettering locals, wooden boat enthusiasts, AWBF Inc members, AWBF Board, staff and volunteers, Kettering Wooden Boat Rally participants, and of course the team from the Wooden Boat Centre. Undine was given a final spit and polish at 7:30am, and the crowds started gathering not long after, for a 10am kick off.
AWBF General Manager, Paul Stephanus lead the formalities, with AWBF Chair Scott Rankin speaking first. As Chair of the AWBF, Scott spoke of the honour and privilege it was to watch the restoration come together, and how important it is to promote and support the future of maritime heritage, and educate the younger generations about the sustainability revolving around wooden boat restorations.
Next up, Dean Young MP was invited to speak, as Liberal Member for Franklin and Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Industry. Dean spoke of how the Undine project can be used as a model for future projects at the Wooden Boat Centre, providing students the opportunity to learn how to maintain wooden boats and secure the future of the maritime industry.
Wooden Boat Centre lead Shipwright, Cody Horgan followed, with a huge sense of pride shining through in his speech. A journey of both a labour of love and a testament to the incredible teamwork that went into bringing Undine back to life was shared. Cody shared some of the stats and figures behind the restoration, the number of screws used, where the timbers were sourced from and so on.
Ex AWBF Board Member Peter Higgs was then invited forward, to present the Australian Register of Historic Vessels certificate and flag, for Undine. Peter had spent several weeks gathering the historical information behind Undine, to apply for the ARHV. A big thank you to Peter for completing that process. View the ARHV listing here.
Cody was given the honours to shake up and spray a lovely bottle of Tassie bubbles across the bow of Undine, then she was lowered into the water, with a huge round of applause to follow.
The relaunched was witnessed by previous owner Hugh Garnham who shared some old photos, and Don Colbourn’s son, Ian, who had fond memories of the little boat his Dad built in his backyard in New Town.
Although her rigging wasn’t quite completed for the sailing events of the weekend, hundreds of people wandered out to view her in her berth at the Oyster Cove Marina, right next to the 8 other Derwent Class yachts regularly sailing in the fleet.
We are incredibly proud of how the relaunch went, and are excited for the future of Undine and her next custodian.
She could be yours! Check out her webpage for more information.
View below a gallery of images from the relaunch of Undine.
View below a gallery of images from the Kettering Wooden Boat Rally.
