she’s back in the water!
Under the watchful eyes of the public, Seabreeze returned to where she belongs! Back in the water, the work isn’t done yet.
Final fit-out and mast restoration will continue while Sea Breeze is moored behind The Wooden Boat Centre on the Huon river, with the team working towards unveiling the fully restored vessel at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in February 2027. We invite everyone to be involved in this community effort. Donations are welcome and needed to get us to the finish line.
HELP US
To support this ambitious project, we have set up a donations page to help cover the costs of materials. Contributions can be made directly through the below button. All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible.
THE STORY
Sea Breeze, affectionately known as The Little Blue Boat, has been a beloved fixture on the River Derwent in Hobart’s northern suburbs for nearly 50 years. Moored alongside the busy Brooker Highway at Montrose Bay, Sea Breeze has captured the hearts of many Tasmanians since its creation by Robin Attrill in the early 1970s. She was ripped off her moorings and damaged in the storms at the end of August and footage of the boat weathering the winds was circulated widely on social media, with many expressing concerns over its condition.
THE RESCUE
The Wooden Boat Centre was delighted to announce the arrival of The Little Blue Boat on Monday, September 9th after the owner sold it for $1. This historic vessel’s arrival marks the beginning of a major restoration project, made possible by the generous support of Elliots Crane Hire, who have provided a favourable deal to transport the boat while keeping costs low.
Upon its arrival at The Wooden Boat Centre, a dedicated team of volunteers, under the expert guidance of shipwright Cody Horgan, will embark on the meticulous restoration process. Although the team is busy with many other projects, progress on Sea Breeze will be on display during the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in February 2025 where she will start to be painted blue again thanks to a donation of paint by AkzoNobel.
We are thrilled about the opportunity to restore this iconic vessel and return her to her natural element. While we have received a tremendous boost from Elliots Crane Hire, Sustainable Timbers and AkzoNobel, the real work begins now. We will keep the public updated on the progress of the restoration on Facebook and Instagram. Once restoration is complete we will be looking for a charity to be the next steward of the boat.
RECYCLE REWARDS
Exciting news! The Wooden Boat Centre and The Little Blue Boat are now an eligible charity through the Recycle Rewards program and you can now donate your rewards from recycling directly to us! Simply scan the barcode at any recycling centre or select us as your favourite charity on the app. Bottles for a Little Blue Boat!
For further information, visit the Recycle Rewards page.
THE RESTORATION IN HIGHLIGHTS
MAY 2025 - The Little Blue Boat team have been getting right amongst it, making a new stem, re-ribbing and refastening the hull. Every week they return Sea Breeze into the Little Blue Boat that she was.
June 2025 - The volunteers have done so much to push the boat along, from paint stripping, to rebuilding the cabin and putting in new ribs, creating the new outer stem and rebuilding the deck.
July 2025 - Full Year students cutting their teeth on carvel planking on the Little Blue Boat
August 2025 - Twice in her life, the little blue boat has come ashore in high winds and caused some damage, which has cracked a fair proportion of her ribs along the turn of the bilge. Working together in two teams, our apprentices and students are working along each side to refasten the new ribs fitted by our fab volunteers. The next step will be to plank up and spline in readiness to paint the hull.
September 2025 - Restoring The Little Blue Boat is a community effort with donations, support from local businesses, but a special shout-out here for the team of volunteers that have put in so many hours already!
November 2025 - The volunteers are busy fitting their plywood deck on the Little Blue Boat, and they're doing a great job. The original deck was removed because of damage and to allow new full length ribs to go in.
February 2026 - We're very proud of our volunteers and the great work they do. Of recent weeks the team have completed the sheathing of the deck. We've used Dynel because it's a good hard wearing surface and can handle abrasion better than glass. Also it doesn't make you itchy!
The volunteers stuck together, getting the deck covered in fabric and resin, making short work of it. While the apprentice Rohan who comes to us from a working at heights background, really elevated the work by glassing the cabin top.
We also had an opportunity to complete the planking of her hull and we are now left with a myriad of splines and small repairs to complete the work.
The next step will be to remove the ballast, to check the bolts holding it on. Robin Attrill, the original builder, told me that it is steel box full of old nuts and bolts plus concrete. I'm excited to see how it has faired all these years.
April 2026 - Our team of volunteers successfully removed the ballast from SeaBreeze/The Little Blue Boat, to look at how well it had faired over the years. The stainless bolts were still shiny but the steel case holding the concrete is looking a little worse for wear. It might be time to retire the old ballast and fit a full length Blue Gum keel with a bit of lead. Also on the little Blue boat, her topsides are again blue, but that's epoxy fairing, not the final colour. The team are hard at work torture boarding the topsides, to get her as fair as possible.
May 2026 - Our volunteers, Rob Nick, Genaro, Steve and Sasha aided by Jack and apprentice Rohan have been busy bringing the Little Blue Boat back from the brink. Now that the hull is fully repaired it's time to get her new coat of paint on, and she looks great in undercoat.
May 2026 - Things are ramping up! Kim our local stainless man fitted a new pulpit which adds some nice bling, and we are excited to say we have a new, old motor for her. Supplied by Hugh's Marine in Kettering, the little Buhk DV20 should really motivate her through the waters. A little red motor for a little blue boat.
June 2026 - We asked and you answered. Now that our exceptional team has made so much progress on her restoration, The Little Blue Boat is almost ready for her top coat.
During her life she has been a few different shades of blue, but which one do you remember her as? On her mooring in recent times she appeared as a light blue, perhaps even faded, but on her launch she was much darker.
And the answer is A: Bondi Blue
July 2026 - Blue Bluer Bluest.. The important paint job is progressing!
August 2026 - Back where she belongs, under the watchful eyes of the public she was relaunched on the 12th of August!
help us get Sea Breeze to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in February 2027
The finish line is in view, but we cannot do this on our own! It has been a community effort with hundreds of donations from the public, from the business community, from volunteers and so many others mentioned and unmentioned, but we are not there yet.
On our to do list:
Restore the mast
Do the internal fit-out
Painting the deck
Get her to the Australian Wooden Boat Festival
You can help by using the button and donate.
All proceedings will go towards Sea Breeze and her restoration.
