A modern day boat yard with a passion for the restoration, preservation and building of classic wooden boats. 

The following text is a brief transcript of a recent interview on ABC Radio with James Frecheville of Frecheville Heaney Boat builders, Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes.

To listen to the complete interview, simply click on the MP3 icon or download the interview for future reference. 

James Frecheville is one of those lucky people who have managed to make their passion in life their day to day job. James calls himself a wooden boat nut. He's loved wooden boats since he first learned to sail in 1964 in a dinghy that his dad built from a kit.

He continued sailing throughout his youth and as a young adult travelled half way around the world in a wooden boat. "I've always been a sailor and always in wooden boats," James says.

From sailing boats, James quickly moved to fixing boats and eventually to building boats from scratch. "Basically I'm sort of self taught. I thoroughly enjoy the creative side of it and doing something with my hands and I suppose I'm just a wooden boat nut.

"He says wood is the most wonderful material to work with."You are working with something that's real, it's not plastic. A piece of wood has grain to consider, there's knots. There are all these or you can choose not to use. A wooden boat is a living thing, it's got history, it's got a story to tell, it's got a soul, whereas a plastic boat, I'm sorry, there's just nothing there," James says.

The latest thoroughbred from the Frecheville Heaney stable, Miss FHB, seen sprinting across the Bunga Arm Paynesville on her first day of sea trials with an understandably ecstatic Tim Heaney at the helm. The design brief for Miss FHB was hatched, shortly after the 2007 Hobart Wooden Boat Festival. The workmanship and style of Rosita, caught the eye of the discerning Peter Cavill from Brisbane. Peter also has an excellent pedigree in wooden boats, with his father Greg Cavill, they have restored and owned many of the most famous Classic Wooden Moreton Bay Cruisers. Peter had the use of the editors, marina pen at Paynesville for 6 months during 1998, when he sailed his magnificent wooden motor sailer down to the Lakes to participate in the early construction of Miss FHB. Miss FHB is based on the famous 1928 John Hacker Gold Cup Racer Miss APBA.

For the past twenty years James has been making his living building custom-made wooden boats and restoring boats from bygone eras from his workshop in Paynesville. 

He loves his job and considers himself a pretty lucky man. "It's very rewarding when you've done the business, got the boat in the water and it works. "It's very satisfying to see these old style craft out there doing it.

We've been very fortunate to have worked on vessels in excess of 100 years old that needed major restorations. To be able to do that and give them life for another 100 years is really quite something.

The way we look at it all of our boats will outlive us and that's probably the way it should be,"

James says.

By Catherine McAlhoun ABC Radio.

The editor of Classic Wooden Boat, Gary Plumley was present at the official launch of the first FH30, seen here rounding Point Montague into Paynesville, after an extensive day of sea trials. The new owner on the Mornington Peninsula has just assisted with delivery to Sorrento. Fuel consumption for the trip, cruising at 14-15 knots averaged 9 litres per hour, with a top speed of 18 -19 knots. Right on the design brief. Weighing just on 3 tonnes this boat is a fine example of the blend of traditional wooden boat building skills blending modern epoxy and wooden construction. A credit to James and Tim and the team at Frecheville Heaney boats. The new logos in the pictures above were designed by Classic Wooden Boat, and are incorporated into the signage on the boat, and as brass limited edition castings for fitment to all new and rebirthed FH Boats.