As Ratty said to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing… as messing about in boats.”

Brian is a retired primary school and TAFE teacher who is passionate about building boats and getting out on the water, be it sailing, steaming or paddling.

He has built dinghies, canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddleboards with men’s groups, youth at risk and TAFE, and primary and high school students.

He has seen the tremendous sense of pride and self-worth that building their own craft brings- for many students, it has been their first success at school. He has built stitch and glue canoes with students in high schools, TAFE, the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, the Wooden Boat Festivals in Hobart, Rhyll (Phillip Island), and Maleny in QLD.

He also builds boats for himself, including canoes and kayaks, sailing dinghies, a seven-metre steamboat, and a 1920s design speedboat. His aim is to show as many people as possible how easy it is to get afloat in a craft they have built themselves