Wooden Boat Builder and Owner Steve Adler is enjoying his third Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong in 2020, launching his boat ‘Larrikin of Lyme’ at the 2016 festival.
Steve embarked on a boat building course in 2015 in the United Kingdom’s Lyme Regis, taking nine months to complete the course and five months to complete the build.
Given Steve was the only Australian completing the course in Lyme Regis, the Herreshoff 12 ½ sailing yacht was naturally named ‘Larrikin of Lyme’.
Steve began sailing in his mid-thirties and now with over 20 years of experience, Steve says, “Every day that you go out on the water is fun. There is nothing better than being powered solely by the wind.”
Learning how to sail while living in Washington State’s Seattle for work, Steve has travelled around the world taking his sailing expertise with him to places such as British Columbia, Puget Sound, The Solent in the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean.
The inspiration to build his own wooden boat came about after Steve visited the Centre for Wooden Boats in Seattle.
“This is where my love for boats started. The wooden boats there featured such nice lines and there is a real romanticism about them,” Steve said.
Coming back for a third time, Steve said the celebration of maritime history and wooden boats distilled at the Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong is what keeps him coming back.
“The festival is great in capturing the legacy of our maritime heritage,” Steve said. “My favourite part of the festival is meeting other boat owners and admiring the craftsmanship that goes into building and maintaining wooden boats.
“For boat owners, seeing what is available from the different exhibitors also gives you an understanding where to source or obtain the particular nautical knickknacks that one may need.”
With the current developments at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Steve said the addition of the new floating pontoons provided the “perfect opportunity to showcase these beautiful wooden boats”.
When reflecting on his sailing experience, Steve said, “My sailing highlight is to have spent over 10 years cruising the Mediterranean.
“As they say, a bad day on the water is always better than good day in the office,” he said.
To stay up to date with all the action from the 2020 Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong, please see http://bit.ly/2IrSMS2.
