Maritime Museum

We try to see things that are a little off most people's radars and one of the things we like to do is "discover" museums.  It is easy to go to the big galleries and art museums, but we like trying to find the different things.  Recently we went to the Brisbane Museum, which is a very small museum with two levels, each one no more than about 25m2 (~ 230ft2).  One level was paintings of Brisbane from the past, with the upper level consisting of around 30 small "curiosity" exhibits, ranging from footage of the Russian ballerina Ana Pavlova dancing "The Dying Swan" in Brisbane in the early 1900s, to a taxidermied dog that was used in a court case.

The other great, but quiet museum that we have recently been to is the Maritime Museum.  This comes to mind because Jessica Watson, the girl who sailed solo and unsupported around the world a couple of years ago, has just lost her record to the young Dutch sailor Laura Dekker.  Regardless of the age of these girls, and it is overwhelming to think of a 16 year old handling a yacht on the open ocean by herself considering that most 16 year olds are just learning ot drive cars, it is a huge acheivement for anyone of any age.  The boats used in these solo trips are really amazing.  They are designed so that the sailor can close all the hatches in rough weather and take refuge inside the boat, which stays completely sealed and can roll over in the seas.  The mast might be lost, but the sailor inside stays safe (many apologies for using the wrong terms for boat and sailing in general!)

The tiny yacht sailed by Jessica Watson for 210 days on her circumnavigation

As impressive as the story is of the two young girls sailing around the world in their tiny yachts, we were much more impressed by a story about a Canadian sailor who travelled from Nova Scotia to Australia in a 9 foot boat.  That's right, 9 feet long!  This is a tiny, tiny boat.  We have no real idea about the person who sailed it, as the details on the plaque were a little vague.  It seems that the ship, Hope II, was held up by customs and the owner couldn't raise the funds to get it out of hock.  (We wonder if he was trying to make it a round trip in the worl's smallest boat?)  Whatever happened, the ship was eventually donated to the Museum and is now on display. 

Happy II...yes, someone sailed this across the Oceans!