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Posted by David Sexton
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03 Sep, 2026
PLANS are afoot for the next major sailing of the schooner Alma Doepel, the vessel set to brave the waters of Bass Strait early next year and sail south to the Hobart Wooden Boat Festival.
Restoration committee member Peter van Duyn said attending the festival would be a significant milestone for the Melbourne-based tall ship.
“She was left out of commission as a hulk in Tasmania about 50 years ago so it will be nice to say ‘here she is again’, fully restored carrying people and crew,” he said.
“The Wooden Boat Festival always attracts a lot of similar ships so it is quite significant that we can actually go there.”
Mr van Duyn agreed it might be a challenging voyage out Port Phillip Heads and across Bass Strait.
“It is going to be in summer so typically better conditions, but we are going to do some trial voyages beforehand to make sure everything is in order,” he said.
“We did a voyage down the bay to Queenscliff (Victoria) so that has given us confidence.”
Works to fully restore the Alma Doepel have been ongoing for a decade and will need to be completed after the voyage.
Mr van Duyn said they would have space for 18 crew and 12 paying passengers on the voyage, seeking to raise more money to complete restoration. “We still have to build some bunks but the ‘bones’ are there, the engines are working and we have some new sails on order,” he said.
The ship still needs to pass a survey with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
The Alma Doepel is a three masted topsail schooner and was built in 1903 in Bellingen, New South Wales, by Frederik Doepel, and named after his youngest daughter Alma.
Alma Doepel previously sailed mainly around the coast of Australia, carrying goods such as timber, wheat and jam.
She was also used in World War II as a supply vessel in PNG, before returning to commercial service around Tasmania in 1946.
From 1961 to 1975 she was stripped of her rigging and used to carry limestone, before being sold, for the scrap value of her engines.
The Alma Doepel committee is also looking for volunteers to help when the vessel is in Hobart and possibly in Melbourne as well.
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