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Kauri Chief
Kauri Chief is a traditional timber gaff rigged Couta Boat These boats were built to fish for barracuda in the stormy waters of Bass Strait, so they are very seaworthy They are also fast because whoever was back first got the best spot on the dock and the best price for his catch The reason all the masts are painted white at the top is so the fishermen could see each other in the ocean swells When barracuda lost its popularity, the boats were mostly dumped or scuttled. However Tim Phillips made them popular again by restoring and building boats of superior quality at the Wooden Boat Shop in Sorrento where he employs a team of 25, including apprentices. Couta Boats are now a major status symbol in the Melbourne social scene
Picture Venice You are already seeing yourself meandering through the canals in a gondola, aren't you?
Picture Sorrento
You should see yourself sailing on a Couta Boat Sorrento is home to the world famous Couta Boat fleet. Originally used by the fisherman of Port Phillip and beyond, these boats are the fisherman's equivalent of what the purpose bred Australian stock horse is to the man from Snowy River 'As the old wooden boat hums the tune of the sea, you clasp the weather rail and gaze out to the horizon. With the fresh ocean wind now blowing through your hair, sea birds dive, a dolphin slaps his tail, you realise you've had salt water pumping through your veins all along. The true sailing experience has aroused new senses you thought you never had'Kauri Chief was built by Alec Lacco in Mornington in the early 1960s for cray fishing. In the 1990s the boat was refitted for charter sailing. She is 30 feet long and gaff rigged, with a focs'le fitted with a head, small galley and bunks. The concept of the boat is to be open spacious and comfortable allowing guests to move freely around without being fenced in. Forget the plastic charter boats that litter the coastlines of the world, with their crampy little cockpits and great big wheel for ego seeking, shouting little men to spin around
For an experience that is unique, raw and comfortable; sail aboard the Couta Boat.
