Strategic plan 2010

 

The draft 2010 Living Boat Trust Strategic Plan


To be submitted to the 2010 AGM at Franklin August 2010



Executive Summary


The Living Boat Trust Inc is a not For Profit Community association based in the riverside village of Franklin in southern Tasmania on the dark and mysterious Huon River.  It was founded in 1988 by a student of the Wooden Boat School, Chris Burke. Its purpose is to celebrate Tasmania’s maritime heritage through research, preservation of documents and artefacts, and the restoration, construction, and practical use of wooden boats by the local community, including school students, parents, trust members and visitors. It also contributes to community development through regular use of its workshop for these purposes, by staging regular community events and by co-operating with other bodies such as the Franklin Progress Association, Local government, local schools and Yacht clubs and museums and the Australian Wooden Boat Festival.


The last “Strategic Plan” was created in April 2004. The Trust had completed the construction of its own community workshop, in 2003 in which it was now constructing a replica of Swiftsure, an 1860 Tasmanian whaleboat. It had also gained accreditation as a Yachting Australia Training Centre and more recently as a commercial boat hire operation.


It has increased its annual income from about $6000 to about $60,000, and has acquired a second whaleboat, Capricornia, by an extended loan agreement. It has received a Training Licence from Marine and Safety Tasmania for the operation of a now numerous fleet of Heritage vessels. It has an established web site, a publicly available Journal, and an increasing public profile. It has successfully conducted two major expeditions in small open wooden Boats in 2007 and 2009, which combined adventure with cultural experience and education, for which it gained support from Events Tasmania and the University of Tasmania. In 2009 it participated in a new and ambitious “On The Water” youth training scheme funded by the Federal Government and delivered sail and row training program to 300 students of the Huon Valley schools. More importantly it delivered positive messages about health, activity and nutrition and enjoying our environment in a manner safe for both the environment and ourselves. We have also created a boat hire business that will enable members of the public to appreciate our immediate and beautiful waterways.


These developments have created an opportunity, if not a responsibility, for the Trust to meet the expectations of its supporters and the Tasmanian community by maintaining these activities in the future. This strategic plan aims to enable the Trust to continue to be able to fulfil its promise by creating some part or full time employment opportunities, earning a profit from its activities and ensuring the sustainability of the organisation.


Vision


The Trust’s Vision for the future is, as it was from its foundation, “to become an effective financially independent organisation that is well connected to its community and able to reliably execute its aims and objectives”. Its immediate concern is to maximise the advantages it enjoys because of its property and location, its record of creativity and community development, the energy and talents of its membership, and the advantages presented to Community Associations by the multiple global crises of climate change, international economic dysfunction, and an energy crisis. We aim to be a vibrant advocate for a sustainable and ethical lifestyle that ensures our community members are valued as well as educated about issues relating to our maritime history, that of wooden boats and the safe and healthy use of our waterways.


Products and Services


The Trust provides training in small boat handling under sail and oar, and opportunities to take part in camping and cruising expeditions, both weekend and long term, thus enabling participants to gain the confidence to go exploring on their own. It provides a convivial, safe, but stimulating context both in its workshop and on the water for the development of skill and the creation of social capital. It provides local state schools with the resources, location and instruction needed to build self confidence in young people and to teach the specific skills to make them safe in small boats and the wider skills of teamwork with others and understanding the environment in which they live.

We also provide a boat hire business approved by both MAST and the Huon Valley Council with our magnificent fleet of traditional wooden boats, the 5 Grebes, the whale boats Swiftsure and Capricornia and the little Huon Rat.


The Trust invigorates the Franklin waterfront, thus re-establishing its maritime identity and making it an important tourist destination. We activley support the development of a North Franklin Marine Precinct which will promote tourism, accommodation under the banner of the coming Age of Sail.


Market Analysis


The market for Adult education classes in small boat seamanship seems to have stabilised at a demand for one class each year. Preferably in Autumn, but the market for more adventurous expeditions seems to be expanding, with numbers of participants in the last Raid in excess of 50 people. Many others have participated in shorter expeditions to the Southport and Hastings Regattas, and plans are being made for a similar expedition to Port Davey next year. Education through the On the Water program is now established as our major profit making activity. Past courses in boatbuilding, repairs and “Wood Technology”, (steaming riveting , splining, scarphing etc) have been popular in the past but cannot be offered until existing projects are completed.


Workshops are increasingly popular and are in danger of competing successfully with the pubs and churches, and becoming the biggest regular meeting of like-minded people in the village. They will need more prior organisation to achieve their potential in actual achievement. They could be used to enlarge or replace our fleet of vessels or to build a vessel for sale as we did successfully in 2006.


The Trust has found new markets in the film industry, and the advertising industry which have both recently used Swiftsure as an essential prop in both Cinema and advertising products. Private schools are a large and mostly un-used opportunity.


The energy crisis creates a new and timely opportunity for the operation of a commercial cargo and freight carrying vessel that could be built under LBT auspices as both a means of learning from past heritage and discovering the potential of solar energy via the direct and relatively cheap form of sail power, as well as making a substantial contribution to the local economy through local ownership of the vessel and its authenticity as a tourist attraction while under construction and thereafter. This project is being costed and an independent plan developed to be taken up by a local company yet to be formed. The Living Boat Trust would be a facilitator, not a direct agent, and would avoid risk of capital.


Swot Analysis


Strengths

  1. •Commitment to sustainability and building social capital

  2. •Committed and skilled volunteer workforce

  3. •Waterfront location with a deepwater site on a main road through an Historic town on a tourist route.

  4. •A Large Community workshop and verandah with kitchen and toilet facilities

  5. •Demonstrated axperience in delivering successful training operations as expeditions

  6. •Large verandah and internal shed developments approved for planning currently awaiting building approval

  7. •3 phase power

  8. •Floating pontoon moved to location closer to our shed

  9. •A good and improving working relationship with local schools other community groups, support of local press and politicians of all persuasions

  10. •Increasing membership and public interest

  11. •Marine and Safety Tasmania and Yachting Australia Accreditation

  12. •Donated craft of various descriptions

  13. •Good financial position at present

  14. •Set of Marine radios and MAST satisfaction with safety performance

  15. •Successful acquittal of grants: no insurance claims

  16. •Qualified instructors

  17. •Website

  18. •Synergistic aims and good relations with local community groups

  19. •Regular courses

  20. •Ladies Rowing Group

  21. •Energetic and ambitious leadership

  22. •Boat hire licence

  23. •Lease of mooring space for fleet and pontoon south of the marina

  24. •Attractiveness of membership and potential to build large numbers of members


Weaknesses

  1. •Irregular and unreliable sources of income other than those dependent on very demanding volunteer effort

  2. •Mostly volunteer staff with otherwise busy lives

  3. •Workshop overcrowded with unfinished projects

  4. •No cleaning or tidying staff

  5. •Large workshop which is not fully utilised

  6. •Unresolved occupational health and safety issues

  7. •Past record of short term membership

  8. •Failure to finalise appropriate signage and back-up organisation to fully exploit opportunities

  9. •Lack of capital to provide full time employment needed to remedy weaknesses and seize opportunities

  10. •Lack of assured access to open water

  11. •Pontoon is attached to WBC jetty

  12. •Underestimate cost of insurance, or worse be exposed to claims of negligence


Opportunities

  1. •Wooden Boat Centre is up for sale

  2. •Work with established RTOs to develop unique world class national training resource

  3. •Economic downturn for corporate sector creates opportunities for community sector

  4. •Franklin Evaporators no longer in factory operation: could create collaborative relationship to advantage of both parties via Franklin Sail TradingCo

  5. •Boat hire can be successful over summer

  6. •Focus on Franklin, Swiftsure regatta, Wooden Boat Festival as regular events

  7. •Under-utilised lease-hold land on waterfront

  8. •Riverside position beckons for a business oppportunity to feed and service an increasing tourist clientele

  9. •Past planning permission for Ketch construction. Offer of free design

  10. •Biennial raids could provide revenue and increase exposure

  11. •Good conduct of “On the Water” program will facilitate repetition of it

  12. •Verandah can become waterfront kitchen and socialising area, workshop can then be enlarged

  13. •Gretchen is being upgraded to an efficient day sailer

  14. •Realisation of a long held ambition to build a sail trader and operate her as a successful sustainable transport business


Threats

  1. •Volunteer Burnout

  2. •Wooden Boat Centre is sold to an group not interested in continuing present operation

  3. •Inability to implement any significant employment from existing revenue

  4. •Lack of forward planning

  5. •Public Liability Insurance levels and the CYA syndrome

  6. •Being underinsured or operating without due diligence or care

  7. •Membership numbers limited by fear of attracting increased public liability costs or membership fees do not reflect insurance costs


Overcoming Threats and Weaknesses. Optimising strengths and opportunities.


The main threat is that posed by insurance, either its escalating cost or becoming exposed to an action by an aggrieved entity. Volunteer burnout is also a threat and this increases as our achievements continue and the stakes get higher, so that if we collapse it hurts more people. Our immediate priority is therefore, while dealing with our major weaknesses, to satisfy our members by making their membership a fulfilling experience. This will place more demands on volunteer resources whether we like it or not.


Additional income in the form of running the On the Water program, providing more boat building courses, operating the boat hire business as a full time enterprise may yield enough money to provide employment and thus continue to generate income.


Efforts will continue to be made to secure the funds needed to build an efficient and strong trading ketch  which will then be operated as successful sustainable transport business


Conclusion


The Living Boat Trust has almost completely achieved the aims of its last strategic plan and it is well positioned to build on this solid foundation to forge a sustainable business based on boat hire, building more boats, conducting courses and continuing the rowing and sailing training. It looks as though we will have another opportunity to show that the OWP is an efficient way of improving health and fitness and opening pathways for future health and enjoyment in a sustainable way. This strategic plan will lead us to the next stage in our development, achieving financial independence and building and operating a sustainable sail trader as an example of responsible and sustainable economic development.


Chris Wilson and John Young

The 2004 Strategic plan can be seen here. The first meeting results can be seen here.