Painting is his passion

High Seas

Have you ever read a cruising story and become so involved with the voyage that you almost felt you were on board? Well, this is what marine artist Jack Woods feels as he works on his paintings of cruising yachts. He talks about his passion.

My interest in the long-distance cruising yachtsman goes back to the late 1960s when I was planning to do a voyage from Melbourne to Lord Howe Island and beyond in the eight-metre ketch Rahna. In preparing for the voyage I read most of the cruising books of the time to ensure I understood all the challenges involved and the current strategies for handling severe weather. One of the main sources was Erik Hiscock’s two excellent books, Cruising Under Sail, and Voyaging Under Sail, but I also read many other books including those by Slocum, Smeeton and Moitessier.  

In 1971, on completion of the voyage that took us to Sydney, Lord Howe, Noumea, Norfolk Island and New Zealand, I returned to a routine career for the next 30 years, which meant no long-distance cruising, although I still sailed regularly on Port Phillip, while at the same time building models of yachts, developing my art work and continuing to read cruising stories.

Solo sailors

Many of my paintings are focused on the yachts that were sailed solo, or with minimal crew, over long distances and before the advent of all the latest technology.

Before commencing a painting, I search for sufficient details of the voyage — sea and weather conditions, particular rig and sail combinations — to enable me to envisage the scene and give a realistic portrayal. This may be Bernard Moitessier sailing Joshua through the high swell of the Southern Ocean as the sun rises; Eric and Susan Hiscock sailing Wanderer III at Moorea, which they described as one of their perfect harbours, or Mischief with Bill Tillman at the helm, threading her way through the ice floes off Sehested’s Fjord in Greenland. As a particular interest, I also look for some Australian connection such as the Spray leaving Port Phillip Heads for Launceston after a tow down the bay by the tug Racer.

Accuracy

In order to ensure accuracy with the yacht’s rig and fittings I look for pictures and specifications of the ships. These are not always easy to find, and sometimes I need to rely on the written descriptions in the books. Occasionally, for the early cruises, I have been fortunate enough to locate someone who was on board the ship at the time, as was the case when I painted Patanela, sailing off Heard Island in 1964/65, and obtained excellent information from Major Warwick Deacock, who had led the expedition. Jesse Martin was another skipper who assisted with information for my painting of Lionheart rounding Cape Horn. The models of the yachts also proved very useful in ensuring a realistic perspective of the yacht in the water.

Follow-up information

Even after the paintings are completed their stories can continue, as I post them on my website together with details about the voyages and cross references to the sources, as well as requests for any further information about the yachts. This has led to some interesting information, such as for Wanderer II, where I was fortunate to establish contact with Eric Hiscock’s niece, who said that the painting inspired her to try and recover at auction a half model of Wanderer II that Eric had built. Unfortunately she was not successful in getting it at that sale.

The painting of Ann Davidson’s Felicity Ann during sea trials, before she became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic in 1951/52, resulted in additional information on the whereabouts of this small seven-metre sloop, which I found had just been purchased by a magistrate in Skagway, Alaska and was apparently still in good condition.

It is also always pleasing when someone with an intimate knowledge of the voyage lets me know that they can relate to the painting. Jesse Martin graciously said about my painting of Lionheart: “I recently found the print you sent me along with your letter. Even though I have seen the painting at the yacht club I have never realised how much I like it until I sat it next to my computer and found myself be drawn into it. You have depicted the occasion beautifully. Thank you.”

Latest paintings

I have just finished a painting of the small lugger Spirit of Mystery, which replicated the voyage of the original Mystery from Cornwall to Melbourne in 1854 and by the end of the painting I felt like I was on deck with the four crew members with spray over the gunwales as the yacht sailed briskly in the Indian Ocean as the sun was setting.  

Although my initial goal was to concentrate on the voyages of the solo sailors, I kept finding too many interesting cruising stories which led to me diversifying to yachts that had travelled long distances.

It is always exciting to potter around secondhand book shops and find yet another cruising story.