Ben Tombs

I started sailing in Poole Harbour,UK, in the mid '60s, racing Fireflys and crewing on yachts.

Left school at 16 to study Ship's Joinery at Falmouth Polytech (now university), passing with a Diploma.

Traveled out to NZ (my dad was a kiwi), and spent a year at Percy Vos' boatyard in Auckland before travelling to Australia for a 3 month holiday which extended to 15 years, doing a multitude of jobs from driving taxis to Coopering in Adelaide. Finally returned to NZ in 1988 with my young family and have been busy ever since in the Bay of Islands Kayak-guiding, boatbuilding, homebuilding and a 2 year sojourn cutting granite for the NZ sculptor Chis Booth in The Netherlands.

Since 2010, I've been occupied building quirky buildings, fitting out yachts, and doing bespoke joinery.

This is in between sailing whenever I can, including a yacht delivery to Fiji in 1989, and multiple journeys to and from Auckland here in NZ on an array of different yachts.

I came to the festival last year with my wife and was quite overwhelmed by the size and scope of the event.

I decided that I'd return in 2025, and see if I could do something useful while I'm in Hobart. Last time while in Tasmania, I met up with an old friend Jay Lawry, who's working down Cygnet-way, rebuilding a Halverson Launch amongst other work. He suggested I write to you.

I'm a capable deckhand, and though I've had limited work aloft, I'm not spooked by height!

If it pleases you to have a steady hand on deck and I can be helpful, I'd be delighted to help out in any way.

• Play the baritone (mostly) ukulele
• Play flute and recorders
• I'm a reasonable conversationalist!
• A good team player
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• City and Guilds London Institute (Boat-building & Ship Joinery) Diploma
• Boatmaster Cert (NZ)
• Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP, NZ) now retired.