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Blog of Jack and Jude
explorers, authors, photographers & videographers
Changing Hats yet again
It may seem a simple chore to board a giant silver bird and fly thousands of kilometers away from an inert possession like a boat – but it takes weeks to adjust. Guess we miss our Lady and life afloat, where going on deck there’s always something interesting happening. Be it just a simple cloud drifting across a perfect sky, or a supertanker burrowing through the waves, or a work boat loudly taking workers to the farms, or maybe it’s a sail coming in from afar or just from the next bay, both give us a chance to scrutinize rig and set. There’s always something or someone to watch and engage our thoughts, even if only a faraway empty straight line.
Fortunately the shack has a charm of her own, nice lines, nice spot. Being outside helps. Jude’s been busy digging her garden, finding kilos of sweet potatoes, and has established her seedling nursery in rows of thin stalks following the sun
Back in the shack our priorities are realigned. Family first, and then health, house maintenance, a bit of camping and exploring – when we get a set of wheels, and lots of time at our workstations reliving and documenting our time afloat in the wilds.
Back in the shack, with our Lady safe and happy down south, we get to dream of times ahead, make plans and prepare for our next jump.
NEW PROJECT
Jack and Jude produced their first DVD in 2009 when standard definition 4:3 was the popular format. Back in those early days we generally shot from the hip using a tape cassette camera, giving our viewers a fast jittery running commentary of our wild exploits. Our first product was a three hour extravaganza showcasing the wilds of northern Australia, which was later re-edited and incorporated into a 90 minute DVD of our 2007/09 circumnavigation of Australia – Two’s a Crew – Fast and furious – and still a favorite after being shown nationwide at selected venues. From that start, while honing skills, upgrading our cameras and adding sound equipment, we have produced 6 DVDs – Off the Beaten Track in Australia. They can be streamed from our distributor, but until today, we only produced DVD discs.
Moving ahead with innovation
DVD is old technology, they’re cumbersome to make and package, expensive to mail, get scratched, degrade, and only store poor quality imagery. So, we’re moving ahead with technology and can now offer our six adventure destination videos, plus a selection of shorts, on one MEMORY STICK.
Simply insert the USB stick into a smart TV or computer and watch all our adventures on the big screen. Even better, something I’ve long wanted to do, we’re re-editing early videos to produce near HD quality widescreen files. And there’s a bonus, they’re easily posted WORLDWIDE.
Update on Matt and Gill
Many of you will remember our first meeting Matt and Gill when miles up a remote Kimberley River on our first voyage north in 2007. They were sailing up the west coast on their first voyage north on Wooshee. Good meet up, admired their spirit, we traded ideas then both went on to great adventures.
Banyandah sailed the Southern Ocean to Hell’s Gate the first time, and Wooshee to Japan, for a year of work, skiing, culture, then on to the Aleutians Alaska, all that coast with their first son. Settling in Dover, Tasmania brought another son while they were building a self designed straw bale whiz bang house.
That is living the dream – Hard work for sure, Goodonya.
Matt and Gill have launched a great new service to visitors of South East Tasmania –
Hiring out Canoes and Kayaks.
Wow! Having paddled the waters around where Matt and Gill live in Dover, we know it is some of the most spectacular calm water paddling of forested waters past a railway and jetties, both invigorating and fun, heaps of Nature, birdsong the background and peaks.
Drones on Board – first published in Deckee.com

This state of wild luxuriance prevailed until the fires of 2016
After those fires were extinguished, each time we sailed past those burnt hills we wondered what historical treasures might have been revealed. Other members of the Friends of Macquarie Harbour held a similar view, and so together we mounted an expedition to look for the farm that was last in use nearly 200 years ago.
Here’s the aerial footage on Vimeo
If you want to view the whole adventure, go here to see the complete video with the history of this amazing place.
You can see that drones are a powerful tool, great for enhancing story telling, and perfect to capture views otherwise not available to us mere mortals.
If we can be of any help, keeping in mind I’m a P-plate flyer, just drop us a line at info@jackandjude.com