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Monday 10am - 3pm Tuesday 10am - 3pm Wednesday 10am - 3pm Thursday 10am - 3pm Friday 10am - 3pm Sunday 10am - 3pm

Wooden Boat Centre Tasmania

Name: Wooden Boat Centre Tasmania
Address: 3333 Huon Highway, Franklin, TAS, 7113, AU
Telephone: +61362663586
Price range: $$

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Wooden Boat Centre Tasmania

OUR MISSION: TO ENSURE THE TRADITIONAL CRAFT OF WOODEN BOATBUILDING ENDURES AND REMAINS A RELEVANT PART OF CONTEMPORARY MARITIME CULTURE.

We are a community owned, member led organisation creating awareness and appreciation of wooden boat building methods by showcasing the craft at festivals and events in partnership with similar organisations. And we are progressing the historic boat building heritage of the township of Franklin and supporting and promoting the Tasmanian wooden boat building community to the world.

16/06/2026

The WBC is extremely excited to be a recipient of this scheme, and the students are really looking forward to a great hands on experience at the ANMM.
Thanks to Liam at the museum and our hard working Sirpa here at the centre. It wouldn't have happened without you!

08/06/2026

Today's the day we decide on the colour for Sea Breeze, the little blue boat. I've tallied all of your responses from Facebook and Instagram and this evening on ABC Radio, evenings with Helen Shield, we will let you know. Stay tuned for 8.30 tonight.

On a house keeping note, the Wooden Boat Centre shop will be closed on Wednesdays and Saturdays over winter. The workshop will still be running and courses will run as normal.

04/06/2026

Seabreeze is turning blue, and which hue, is up to you!
Now that our exceptional team has almost completed 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.
Now we have an opportunity to get her as close as to how you remember her, and to help with that I've put together a board with different hues labeled A to G, and yes C and B are very similar, I know! It was late...
Our friends at International paints donated a lot of paint to get her back into shape, and the base colour is Bondi Blue labeled "A". "G" is a mixture of 50:50 Bondi Blue and White, the rest are a range of mixtures.
Which do you feel is the right one?
Please feel free to leave us a comment below and lets see what you all choose, maybe I should give Antony Green a call for help when Australia decides....
Thanks to John at International Paints for all the coatings and fillers, we couldn't have done it without you.

31/05/2026

Something new and something blue...
Here is a quick update on two of the current projects at the WBC amongst all the other action taking place.
Firstly the one year students are busy constructing the clinker Foster 10, having completed the backbone, inner and outer stem and transom on Friday. This week will see us fit the station molds and begin planking the hull as students are tested on their skills and patience! The transom is King William Pine, the keel and inner stem are in Celery Top Pine and the outer stem is a beautifully curved live grown piece of Huon Pine. The planking stock will be all Huon Pine except for the King Billy Sheer plank. This little sailing Foster 10 will be up for raffle at the AWBF next year and be sure to get your tickets!
Downstairs in the restoration department, 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. 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.
I'll keep you posted on our expected launch date, and I'd like to say a big thank you to all our donors who have made it possible to get Seabreeze to where she is now, Thanks!

17/05/2026

It's time for an update on the progress of the one-year course students and they have been ever so busy. They are currently putting the final touches on the composite boat that they have designed and built, based on the Cadet dinghy, designed by AC Barber. The rig will be exactly as the original plans call for and she is going to look smart! I think she will make a great little Raid boat for the AWBF Raid next year, and if you need a boat we might have what you are after.
With the beginning of a new term, the students are preparing to build their next project, which is a clinker Foster 10 Dinghy. Designed by Bill Foster she is a lovely little tender and we will be constructing her from King William and Huon Pine. The boat will be up for grabs after, as she will be raffled, drawing some time after the next AWBF. We are really grateful to Jimmy, from Jimmy's Sail and Canvas who will be donating the sail for this particular boat, cheers mate!
To prepare for the clinker build, we visited the Maritime museum in Hobart which houses two excellent examples of the Foster 10 built by renowned boat builder (and my old teacher) Ned Trewartha. They are impeccable and the students were able to see the degree of finesse in the construction and finish we will be aiming for.... no pressure.
While in Hobart we also paid a visit to the amazing Sentinel Boats and APCO engineering, where we make an annual pilgrimage. Sentinel Boats represent one of the more unusual maritime industries in Hobart that build HDPE (plastic) boats for domestic and military purposes. Sally gave us a great tour and showed us just how similar their boats are built when compared to a wooden composite boat.
APCO engineering is a powerhouse of engineering and foundry works in Hobart, that have cast and machined items for many of our boats. Andrew and Oliver Perkins gave us a great tour and also let us make a mold from a pattern we brought along for a lead keel we will be casting in the near future. Such a great end to the week!, thank you all for your time.

11/05/2026

Our most recent launching was a 12ft Percy. Built by Jerome and his team for Steven who was also a student on the course. There were 3 students overall that knuckled down and built the little clinker boat, which was constructed over a 10 week period.
"Tilly Ruby" as she is now known, is constructed from Huon Pine planking, thwarts, ribs, transom and knees, with Celery Top keel and stern knee. Her rig is carved from Oregon/Douglass Fir, and her sails where made by our mate Jimmy, of Jimmy's Sail and Canvas. She is copper roved, with silicone bronze fastenings and fittings.
She is finished in International Goldspar and Toplac plus.
Steve plans to enjoy her on the sheltered waters of Queensland around Noosa, where I am sure he will gain much pleasure.
Great work team, she is a credit to all that built her.

10/05/2026

Hi all, just to let you know, surprisingly... we don't make watches. Or for that matter, know any one that does from a boat shed in the Franklin area.

There is currently an online page advertising watches purportedly made from recycled wooden boats. That's not us, or anyone here in Franklin.

Please be careful shopping online and look out for those pesky AI pages.

We just make boats.

04/05/2026

As a community owned not for profit we really appreciate donations in any form and today I want to thank those who have donated maritime tools, fittings and timber to the school.
David from Newcastle, on the mainland, sent a mate down with a car load of goodies for us, including over 50 clamps and a great array of long series drill bits. One can never have enough clamps in boat building!
Grant from Whanganui, North Island NZ found an opportunity to send a bucket load of bronze fittings and copper nails to the WBC, when the Auckland Boat show hosted a container display from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival. Our friends at the AWBF assisted in getting it over here and we are so grateful to both them and Grant for their efforts. It was like receiving an IKEA package to build a boat, just add wood.
Wil from Hobart recently brought us a mast to suit a 20ft boat, his generosity was very kindly received.
Finally I'd like to thank Sustainable Timber Tasmania for donating a new blue gum keel for the Little Blue Boat. We did a shout out for assistance and David White from STT kindly donated the particularly big stick to replace the older ballast and keel that was deemed unusable.
Thank you to everyone who has donated in the past, I know there are many more I could have included. Your generosity will help us ensure the craft of wooden boat building ensures!

27/02/2026

It's not every day that Hollywood comes knocking on your door, but when it does, be ready for lots of work and no sleep. As was the case back in 2024 when we were asked to build a number of boats for a movie.
That movie, "The Bluff" has just come out on Prime video and are proud to announce our involvement in that production. We were tasked with building 3 boats in three weeks and that was quite the whirlwind of activity! All staff, our students of 2024 and our volunteers ripped into it, as we built 3 modified St Ayles skiffs, which are an Iain Oughtred design.
We even got to test row one of them before it left Tassie for North Queensland where it was filmed.
It was a really exciting time and it gave us a chance to get our pirate face on!
The fun was spread around, as Cygnet Boat Yard got in on the action as well, building another three boats for the film.
It looks like a fun movie, but the fun for us was in the dust and noise of the workshop when the boats were being built. Arrr!

09/02/2026

And were back! I hope you all had a great Christmas/ New Year break. The WBC was only closed for a few of the more important days, and our volunteers in the shopfront did a great job keeping things going. Staff have been back now for a about a month, but the most exciting thing is that the new students for the 2026 One-year course have started and are seeing the forest for the trees.
After a great welcome BBQ and an afternoon of sailing, we headed straight to the forest the following day to see where our local Huon and King William Pine trees grow in the valley. Sirpa led us to a secret stand of amazing Huon's and it's so good to see them still standing untouched. We visited the airwalk and saw more juvenile Huon's on the river bank. Finally we went to the mill at Sustainable Timber Tasmania where Chris and Ben showed us the horizontal bandsaw in action.
For the next week and a half the students will be put through their paces as Tim and Sarah steer them through some fine wood working projects, making typical boat joints, tools and finally a tool caddy.
It's going to be a great year, and I look forward to watching Andrew, Jess, Ollie and Tilly develop their skills.

Address

3333 Huon Highway
Franklin, TAS
7113

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 3pm
Tuesday	10am - 3pm
Wednesday	10am - 3pm
Thursday	10am - 3pm
Friday	10am - 3pm
Sunday	10am - 3pm

Telephone

+61362663586

Website

http://www.woodenboatcentre.com/

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