Caravel ships changed the world in the 15th century.
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A lighter, more manoeuvrable ship than previous designs, the caravel allowed the Portugese to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa.
And in 2011 a “re-created” caravel, the Notorious, changed the lives of former Warrnambool couple Graeme Wylie and Felicite Scott forever.
After taking off from Port Fairy in 2012, the couple has now sailed more than 20,000 nautical miles.
Spending 11 months of the year the on board the Notorious, Graeme, 61, and Felicite, 62, have made five trips up and down the east coast of Australia, between Hobart and Port Douglas, stopping at “pretty well every port” along the way.
“Notorious is our home, because we live here,” Graeme said.
But the Notorious isn’t just Graeme and Felicite’s home; it’s also their livelihood.
They pull into ports on the east coast whenever they can and usually charge $5 for adults or a gold coin for small children to see what life is like on the ship.
However, Graeme and Felicite make sure to hide away all their 21st-century comforts – namely their computer and fridge – to ensure an authentic experience.
“It's a great attraction and we get a lot of attention being such an unusual vessel, and such a beautiful one,” Graeme said.
“We've been very welcome wherever we've gone.”
And it’s fair to say the 60-tonne Notorious has built up quite the following – the ship’s Facebook page has more than 11,000 likes, with a vibrant social media presence driven by Felicite.
“She draws a lot of media attention with television, radio and newspapers often getting in touch with us,” Graeme said.
“It’s a wonderful thing because she generates her own interest. We're constantly bombarded with questions asking us when we're coming back to such-and-such place.”
And while the ever-chipper Graeme answers this very question for The Standard with enthusiasm, there is also a note of frustration in his tone.
The Notorious has braved nine-metre swells while sailing through the Bass Strait from Port Fairy to Lakes Entrance.
And they regularly face the risk of carving up lightweight, expensive yachts when pulling into marinas, which is the “only thing” Graeme loses any sleep over.
But they’ve recently faced a new problem – stasis.
The Notorious left Cairns on December 3, with an eye to reaching the Gold Coast – a journey of roughly 1000 nautical miles – but has been repeatedly hampered by cyclones Penny and Owen, with only 180 miles completed.
“We've been held up before and been in wild weather before, but we certainly haven't been mucked up for this long before,” Graeme said.
Graeme and Felicite arrived in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island on January 10 after spending two weeks at Hinchinbrook Island, which he described as an “amazing labyrinth of mango estuaries”.
“It was a physically beautiful place to be, but not the most pleasant, because it’s absolutely riddled with sand flies,” Graeme said.
“But it was a very safe cyclone anchorage – the best one on the whole east coast. So we were forced to stay there until Cyclone Penny dissipated.
“We were a bit isolated...and Magnetic Island was the first time in a couple of weeks we made landfall where there’s actual people.”
And yet, still at the mercy of the cyclones, Graeme and Felicite are alone once more.
Having anchored at Cape Bowling Green – south-east of Townsville – on January 29, Graeme said he expected to stay put for a week, or until the “nuisance” monsoon trough decided to leave their vicinity.
With in between 100-200 mm of rain a day, often gale-force wind and poor visibility, Graeme hasn’t been able to do much maintenance work beyond keeping the ship’s batteries charged.
The conditions have also caused the ship’s reception to become a patchy affair, while more than 100 terns have joined the couple, finding some relative shelter on the ship’s poop deck.
But Felicite, who does the lion’s share of cooking on the Notorious, has enjoyed using the extra down-time to get stuck into Anna Proulx’ novel Barkskins.
And while the supplies are getting low, with the transition from fresh food to canned food well underway, Graeme said the transition to rationing beer was his most pressing concern.
“It’s amazing to look back and think it’s been weeks on the anchorage,” he said.
“You have to learn a bit of patience, like sailors always have, and to just be grateful that we're safe...it’s just windy and wet, all day, for weeks.”
Graeme, a former furniture-maker, built the Notorious over nine years using 300 tonnes of unwanted cypress logs he collected in the backyard, while Felicite went off to work as a nurse each day.
The design was inspired by the legendary story of the Mahogany ship, which was believed to have been wrecked off the south-west coast in between Warrnambool and Port Fairy in the early 16th century, and was last seen in 1886.
Construction began when Graeme laid the keel in April, 2002, and wasn’t completed until November, 2010, when he laid the final plank.
And while he conducted extensive research, Graeme said given the archaeological remains of a caravel have never been found, it is impossible to construct a carbon copy version.
Everything above water level, he said, was based off artwork from the time.
“We prefer to use the word ‘recreation’, because it's a recreation of the theme of thing – it's just not possible to build a replica of any caravel,” Graeme said.
Featuring a lateen rig, a shallow draught, and a wide and beamy hold, Felicite says the Notorious is an “interesting” vessel with “manoeuvrability” belied by her “ponderous appearance”.
“We're thinking about a foray into the Pacific if we can get out of here."
- Graeme Wylie
“Most people are astounded that the caravel was researched, designed and created by one person, with no financial assistance from any government body,” she said.
“Globally, in the maritime arena, Graeme’s achievement is unique.”
And Graeme believes the Notorious is more than capable of sailing into foreign waters.
“We’re thinking about a foray into the Pacific if we can get out of here,” he said.
“The ship would go absolutely anywhere. She's an easy vessel to handle, quite manageable with a short-handed crew.
“We've got the best of both worlds – we can make an income as well as stopping at the most beautiful places on the coast.
“So we think we're very fortunate.”