A Polish ship, British children and caring Sydneysiders captured in concrete
22 Dec 2016
The Polish passenger liner MV Batory seems an odd ship to be commemorated at Sydney’s North Head Quarantine Station, as it never moored there.
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Discover stories behind the latest exhibitions, fascinating explorations into maritime science and archaeology, and the surprising details of what happens inside (and outside) a modern working museum.
BIG IS BETTER: 'Ovation of the Seas' comes to Australia.
20 Dec 2016
Look what’s outside my hotel window in Hobart: Ovation of the Seas, one of the biggest ocean cruise ships in the world.
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Waves of history: Inspecting a historic surf craft in Tathra
13 Dec 2016
Another MMAPSS vessel inspection has just been completed by the museum’s Historic Vessels curator David Payne. Down at Tathra on the NSW south coast of NSW is an early example of a surf craft, and perhaps the first surfboat used by the Tathra Surf Club.
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Wild Ocean Woman: Kay Cottee’s ‘First Lady’
25 Nov 2016
Imagine being thrown about in your small yacht surfing down a 20-metre wave. You’re in the Southern Indian Ocean, it’s freezing, you’re exhausted and soaked through. You’re days or weeks from land. You have no GPS. You’re alone.
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Of ships, stones and graves
21 Jul 2016
This is the last note in this series of Viking ‘journeys’. After nearly three months in Stockholm, it was time to see some of the famous museums, burial sites and stone arrangements across Scandinavia. And some not so famous.
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Boats in Sulawesi: An illustrated journey
19 Jul 2016
A glimpse of some traditional boats: Fifty-six days in Sulawesi, Indonesia, 2015
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Barbarism and brutality: surviving the Batavia shipwreck
04 Jun 2016
Almost 400 years ago, in the hours before dawn on 4 June 1629, a flagship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the Batavia was wrecked upon Morning Reef near Beacon Island, some 60 kilometres off the Western Australian coast.
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'Good housekeeping, you know. Economy, common-sense.'
16 May 2016
On 2 June 1949 a small advertisement appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald. It was for the sale of Hegarty’s Ferries, a family-owned service which at that time operated between Circular Quay, McMahons Point and Kirribilli.
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Putting the ‘classic’ into classic wooden boats: the Halvorsen dynasty
12 Apr 2016
Over four generations, Halvorsen boats have become revered collectors’ items. A Halvorsen craft is an example of master boatbuilding, and several of them will be in attendance at the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival 2016.
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Governor Phillip’s ‘Portsmouth Gig’
26 Feb 2016
In January 1788, life for people in Sydney was transformed dramatically and forever. The first inkling of change was the appearance of two ship’s boats in the harbour.
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