At the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival

Despite some dramatic weather on the preceding days, 

it was bright and fine for the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival at 

the Australian National Maritime Museum 

over the weekend of 13/14th October.

Marijke set up her easel on the wharf

and Jane was positioned high up on the HMAS 'Vampire'.

The members of the Australian Society of Marine Artists

exhibited their paintings inside the Museum, and

the Artists-In-Residence displayed some of their

preparatory sketches and paintings in a tent at the wharfside.

Marijke working on a painting of 'Carpentaria'

Christine sketches maintenance work on 'Endeavour' and 'James Craig'

The Australian National Maritime Museum has made us very welcome,
and one morning in August some of the women artists met at there and
sketched and painted around the wharves. It was a very windy day,
so I was happy to snuggle up on the deck of the tall ship 'Endeavour'
and sketch from there. I have never used so much red paint!

On 'Endeavour' there is always work to do, and Steve and Tony have a nice shady spot this morning.

 Over in the large building called 'Wharf 7', alongside the tall ship 'James Craig', 

is a workshop where one of her masts is currently laid out for work.  

It was a lovely scene of 'boaty' clutter, and I settled into 

the corner and sketched the guys at work.  

I think I will make a large watercolour painting of this scene - 

it is evocative of the Sydney Heritage Fleet's whole ethos.  

Here in the workshop of Wharf 7, the mizzen mast of 'James Craig' is laid our for a complete stripping of old varnish and white lead paint.  It's a tedious work, and Cody and the volunteers keep at it!