Member Spotlight: Oz Boatman

A Life Under Sail

For Oz Boatman, life on the water began long before he ever owned a yacht.

His early boating experiences came courtesy of the “stink boats” built by his father. Armed with a speedboat licence and an enthusiasm for going fast, Oz was already developing a strong connection with the water. But at sixteen, his boating journey took a different direction when he discovered sailing through the Naval Reserve Cadets.

There, Oz learned the traditional skills of seamanship aboard heavy wooden boats, working with natural-fibre lines and gaining the practical experience that would stay with him throughout his life. Within five years, he had progressed to PO Instructor/Quartermaster, seemingly destined for a career in the Navy.

But life had other ideas, and Oz unexpectedly found himself joining the Army instead.

Military service, however, did little to dampen his enthusiasm for sailing. Wednesdays were devoted to Hobie cats, while Fridays brought social racing. As one of the younger and fitter members of the crew, Oz often found himself in the bow, serving as the “bowman” or, as he describes it, the “monkey”.

For years, he sailed aboard OP, or “Other People’s”, boats before finally taking the plunge and buying his own vessel in 1991. His first boat was a 14-metre motor sailor which Oz affectionately remembers as something that “sailed like a bag of potatoes”. Despite her limitations, she proved well suited to exploring the Sandy Straits and became an important chapter in his sailing story.

Thirteen years later, the boat moved on. Oz briefly contemplated building a houseboat and, at the age of 51, even declared himself “too old for sailing”.

Fortunately, life had other plans.

In 2019, following a divorce and leaving his farm, Oz stepped aboard Bacchanalia, a magnificent 16.4-metre Ron Holland-designed steel ketch. The boat came equipped with an array of sailing gear and technology that was completely new to him, including Furler’s self-tailers, a radar plotter and spinnakers.

For Oz, it was a whole new world. Oceans were suddenly on the agenda.

Then COVID arrived.

With international cruising plans put on hold, Oz turned his attention to the Great Barrier Reef. What followed was five remarkable years of solo exploration, discovering the reef and its islands before eventually making Airlie Beach his home.

Along the way, the sailing community became an important part of his life. Beach fires, guitars, long conversations and the shared independence of cruising created friendships and connections that gradually transformed his outlook. His involvement with VMR/MRQ added another dimension to his time on the water.

For someone who had once considered himself a solitary person, the sailing community had become his tribe.

Today, Oz still describes every morning aboard his boat as a joy. Wind, rain, rolling seas and even cyclones are simply part of the adventure. Life afloat continues to offer the freedom and challenges that first drew him to the water all those years ago.

His life away from the helm has been just as varied. Over the years, Oz has worked as a draftsman, techy, systems engineer, businessman, academic and lecturer, while moving house no fewer than 17 times.

Yet through all those changes, the water has remained a constant.

And then there are the Shaggers.

For an introvert at heart, the lively, social chaos of the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club is something Oz looks forward to every year. The friendships, camaraderie and celebrations have become another treasured part of his cruising life.

Although, after all that excitement, he admits it can take about a week to recover!

Perhaps that is the perfect description of Oz’s journey: a life shaped by boats, adventure, independence and an ever-growing community of fellow sailors.

From his father’s “stink boats” to Naval Reserve Cadets, from racing Hobie cats to Bacchanalia and five years exploring the Great Barrier Reef, Oz Boatman has spent much of his life following the water wherever it leads.

And judging by his story, he is certainly not finished sailing yet.

VC Chatham Island — Mahesha Goleby