At the 2017 Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Boating Downunder took a cruise on the Derwent River on the 1896 built steamyacht Preana. This was a gentlemans yacht that actually escorted Sir Douglas Mawson down the Derwent River on his departure to explore the Antarctic in 1911. This steamyacht has been lovingly restored by a very dedicated group of volunteers. Chief Engineer Jim Butterworth gives us some of the history of the boat and Gerald the engineer explains how the classic steam engine operates.
Climbing the tall mast of the James Craig, a fully rigged, square rigger built in 1874 is no mean feat. It is the equivalent of climbing 9 stories high and just to make it even more challenging than it already is, you have to climb upside down to get around the cross trees and fighting tops for each of the three stepped masts! Definitely not for the faint hearted!
