IN PICTURES: All aboard as families fill Albany Boatshed for Maritime Festival fun on All At Sea Saturday

The sun shone for All At Sea Saturday as families gathered at the Albany Boatshed for a fun time during the Maritime Festival. The festival runs throughout July and the Boatshed played host to dozens of stalls which gave out information on Albany’s myriad clubs and societies but also sold food and souvenirs. There was face painting, braiding and jigsaw making and, the star of the show, Eclipse the new skiff, recently launched, welcomed on board its first novice rowers. The skiff project started at the Albany Maritime Festival last year when volunteers came together and decided to build a boat and, for those interested in how Eclipse was built, the workshop was on view. All that meant was that probably the busiest exhibitor was the Albany Maritime Foundation which managed a long line of families keen to get out on the water in the rainbow-coloured vessel. On the Boatshed door were the TS Vancouver cadets led by Lt Ian Boocock. His 20 cadets were promoting their Friday-night parade nights while other organisations with stalls included the Museum of the Great Southern, the Department of Transport, the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation, Fishability and the Water Corporation. Providing the tunes were the Winston Brothers Acoustic. For those who fancied learning a new skill, and did not necessarily want to build a boat, there were art workshops, fish-filleting demonstrations and knot-tying lessons.