The moment of launch, blessed with champagne as per tradition.

Gosford, NSW. 1986.

Tekani is an Arends 33 model cruising yacht that was custom-built to order for my parents, according to my mother’s reconfigured interior design spec’s.

Tekani was transported from the shipyard to the wharf and launched in one day, on October 20th. The huge, overlength truck with the hull loaded aboard was an impressive sight passing gingerly through the small streets of Gosford and surrounds between the two points, complete with police escort. 

Designed by the famous Australian yacht designer Ron Swanson, the shipwright builder was John Arends, whose shipyard was in WoyWoy, nearby to Gosford. With a fibreglass hull, she was cast #40 of a limited production line of about 50 of these only. My father, an experienced seaman of 60+ years says “the Arends 33 was the best cruising boat Australia ever saw.”

This was the second vessel I launched publicly. As a child, my father had built a small, racing skiff that he and I sailed in regattas in Rabaul, PNG which I had launched at age 9. ‘Arsover’ was constructed from wood, had a single sail, a single centreboard, and was very fast. Loads of fun!

The brand new hull is lowered into the water before being fitted with her mast, under close supervision by John Arends.

My mother inside the workshop, with a late-stage (as yet unnamed) yacht.