Paul Willison - A life of tall ship sailing, teaching & catamaran cruising

Paul Willison spent his early days as an outdoor education teacher and quickly migrated to working on a square rig sailing ship teaching high school kids to sail. He then set off to travel around the world and sailed on lots of different boats in unusual locations. On his return to Australia he bought the hull and decks for an Imp 33 catamaran and spent the next 3 years fitting it out in his spare time. Next came a maritime training centre with feet of six 15 foot boats, then offshore again doing coastal and blue water deliveries. Paul tells of his 20-year love affair with his Wharram Cat, modelled on a Polynesian voyaging canoe, which he sailed the West and East coast of Australia, through Papua New Guinea and to Indonesia. His tall ship adventures saw sail as Mate on the STS Leeuwin II, a 55m long, 500-ton steel 3-masted sail training ship, voyaging from the South Australian border to Darwin and across to Indonesia, hitting speeds of 16 knots in 35 knots of breeze. Next came the role of Mate on the Batavia, a replica of the 1628 Dutch East Indies ship. Paul has recently bought a 45 Kurt Hughes performance catamaran 'Queimarla' and has set up his own sailing school on West Coast of Australia. Visit Ocean Sailing Podcast for offshore sailing opportunities and podcast extras and follow us on Facebook.