It wasn’t what I was expecting from the event, but I enjoyed myself immensely all the same.

Australia has very few old, rich families, but I’m proudly one of them. We made our living in the 1800s, building ships that would transport the rabble back and forth across the great oceans. My greatest regret is that we were partially responsible for infesting Australia with Irish people, but that’s a burden our family has been glad to bear. Being so prestigious and respected, we were of course invited to Australia’s greatest shipwright conference/gala down in Melbourne. Outboard motor repairs and services in that particular city are supposed to be some of the best in the world- owned by the Clanceys, family friends of ours, I would expect nothing less- but I was surprised when, after the starters and first course, the talk on the future of anchor winch technology was taken by what seemed to be a layman. I certainly didn’t recognise him, and I’m VERY knowledgeable about the big players in the industry.

The talk began, and though at the start I would’ve sworn he’d been drafted in yesterday, he seemed to find his stride. I found his ground-level wisdom charming, and I realised that despite coordinating the company business up in Sydney, I wasn’t overly familiar with how the grunts did their work.

The next fellow seemingly had nothing to share- his entire talk was a rambling tale about how he moved to Melbourne and his outboard motor servicing skills are now ‘perfect’- though I found his story a fascinating glimpse into a world I had not considered. And then, a young lady who said that she didn’t really know much about anchor winches, but had looked them up online half and hour before and had plenty of interesting facts about their history and usage. And you know…it was.

They weren’t the talks we were expecting but…you know, I think we all might have actually learned something!

-Anthea Crimley