Sessions and Sail heads to Tasmania aboard the iconic 45-metre brigantine Søren Larsen, bringing our unique combination of music sessions and tall-ship sailing to this extraordinary corner of the world for the first time.

We begin in Hobart during the Australian Wooden Boat Festival — the largest celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture in the Southern Hemisphere — sailing out onto the harbour and the Derwent River for dinner as the festival closes with a fireworks display overhead.

Over the following four days, we'll enjoy the unique Wooden Boat Festival atmosphere, w coupled with regular tune sessions aboard Søren Larsen!

We'll work our way around the stunning south-east coast under the expert guidance of Captain Marty Woods and his crew — learning to handle the ship, keeping watch, and holding our own onboard festival of music sessions led by our team of Scottish and Australian musicians. Anchorages take us to jaw-dropping spots in the lee of dolerite cliffs, with evening sessions drifting out across the water as the light goes down.

The exact route is at the Master's discretion, shaped by weather and tide. But this coastline offers a lifetime's worth of remarkable places — and we're guaranteed a perspective on Tasmania that very few people ever get.

You may already be familiar with Sessions and Sail's Scottish musical sailing voyages!

If not — we've been sailing the Scottish coast since 2018, from the north of Shetland to the Hebrides, Skye and Islay, with the occasional cheeky crossing to Donegal, bringing tunes and festival spirit to the islands and communities we visit. Since 2025 we've been bringing the experience to Australia, and we'd love you to join us for something truly special: our first-ever Tasmanian voyage, aboard the beautiful brigantine Søren Larsen.

Musicians of all abilities are welcome; no sailing experience is required. We'll be celebrating folk music of all kinds and origins — and we're particularly well placed to offer tuition and sessions in Scottish Traditional, Americana, and Songwriter styles.

So come along — join the shanties as we hoist Søren Larsen's mainsail in Hobart; play tunes on deck as we sail past the wild shores of Bruny Island; sit in on a session in the ship's saloon learning a Scottish march; pick up some Shetland music and sailing lore with Barry; and work alongside Marty and the crew as we set the sails and watch this extraordinary coastline unfold around us.

About the Ship — Brigantine Søren Larsen:

• Built in Denmark in 1949, the oak-hulled brigantine is now based in Sydney and sails Australian waters year-round.

• The ship has deep historical and musical significance within the Sessions and Sail story.

Experience & What's Included:

• All food, accommodation, sessions, and workshops are included in the price.

• Music: An encouraging environment for sessions at all levels, from first-timers to seasoned players.

• Sailing: Get hands-on with the crew — take the helm, work the lines, and haul on the sheets — or simply relax and let the scenery do its thing.

• Workshops & Sessions: Guided by experienced tutors who have sailed and played on Sessions and Sail voyages from Shetland to Sydney.

You will be allocated a berth in one of Soren Larsen's seven double cabins - or in one of her two four-berth cabins. For solo travellers, cabins will be allocated on a same-sex basis; if two people travelling together wish to share a cabin, we recommend booking early to ensure availability.

There are three shower/toilet rooms below decks; these are shared.

Cabin space is compact but cosy, and evocative of an earlier age of travel. if you like an adventure you'll love it.

Meals are prepared in the deck house galley; these are of a high standard and prepared by the ship's full-time cook. All meals, tea and coffee are included in the price of the trip.

The lower deck saloon is warm and evocative, providing an ideal place for everyone to eat together, and a great session space. In good weather, we will spend the bulk of our time on deck, eating and playing tunes in the open air.

Please note that the Soren Larsen is a ship built in 1949 - getting around the ship and above and below decks requires a degree of mobility and ability to negotiate stairs. Shore excursions may involve a dinghy ride and now and then a beach landing.

If you have mobility issues it is best to check your suitability for this voyage - please send us a message and we'll be happy to advise!

Sessions and Sail recognise that in voyaging in Tasmania and in Australia, we are visiting lands and waters that were the sovereign homelands of the First Peoples of this continent, and that this sovereignty was never ceded.

Sessions and Sail originated in Scotland, travelling to islands and coastal communities and playing music that is deeply connected to our own place and culture. In bringing our project to Australia, we are open and keen to collaborate and share with musical traditions from across this country and beyond.

On this voyage we are likely to sail through Country belonging to the Muwinina, Nuenonne, and Lyluequonny peoples — the original nations of the lands and waters of south-east Tasmania — whose connection to this coastline stretches back tens of thousands of years.

Sessions and Sail acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Country we will be visiting, and their continuing connection to land, sea, and community. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.

The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited (ABTOT) provides financial protection under The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 for Nisbet Marine Services/Sessions and Sail, Member Number 5533, and in the event of their insolvency,  protection is provided for:

 -  Non-flight packages

ABTOT  cover provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included in your package. Please note that bookings made outside the UK are only protected by ABTOT when purchased directly with Nisbet Marine Services/Sessions and Sail.

In the unlikely event that you require assistance whilst abroad due to our financial failure, please call our 24/7 helpline on 01702 811397 and advise you are a customer of an ABTOT protected travel company.

You can access The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 here

You can find out more about ABTOT here

Hobart is a wonderful city to spend time in before or after your voyage aboard Søren Larsen — and we'd encourage you to build in at least a day either side if you can.

If you're arriving on the Saturday before departure, Salamanca Market is unmissable — one of Australia's finest outdoor markets, right on the historic waterfront, with food, craft, and usually some live music. The surrounding Battery Point neighbourhood is perfect for a wander afterwards.

For a full day out, MONA — the Museum of Old and New Art — is unlike anything else in Australia. Built into a sandstone cliff on the Derwent by an eccentric gambling millionaire, it's provocative, spectacular, and genuinely surprising. Take the MONA ROMA ferry up the river rather than driving — it's part of the experience. Allow a full day.

kunanyi / Mount Wellington looms over the city and rewards the effort of getting up there — extraordinary views over Hobart, the Derwent, and the wider landscape you'll soon be sailing through. Accessible by bus or taxi.

For whisky, head to Lark Distillery on the waterfront — Tasmania has become a serious whisky region and Lark is where it started. For food, the Salamanca Place precinct has no shortage of good options.

A short drive out of the city, Richmond is a beautifully preserved colonial sandstone village with the oldest bridge in Australia — worth a half-day if you have a car or can join a tour.

We haven't personally explored every corner of Hobart — local knowledge is always best, and your ship's crew will have their own favourite recommendations once you're aboard.

All itineraries are suggestions only; the actual voyage, destinations, and anchorages used will be at the Skipper's discretion. Tall ships are at the mercy of wind and weather, and this unpredictability is part of the beauty of an adventurous holiday like Sessions and Sail. Your tutors and trip leaders will work closely with the Skipper to deliver the best possible trip, taking weather conditions into account and, above all, prioritising the safety of the voyage.


Today, you'll join the beautiful brigantine Søren Larsen in Hobart harbour mid-afternoon, having spent the day soaking up the spectacle and music of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival — of which your ship is very much a central part.

A cup of tea and a chat on deck, then you'll find your bunk and stow your gear before Captain Marty Woods gathers everyone together for a welcome aboard. After a safety briefing and introductions from the crew, we'll get Søren Larsen ready for sea, as the thrill of the Wooden Boat Festival goes on all around us.

We're joined by guests from the shore for this sail - they're with us for dinner and the fireworks. We sail out together as the festival's closing fireworks burst and bloom overhead. Once the last one fades, the tunes begin; we drop off our evening guests and head to a nearby anchorage.

We wake at the anchorage Captain Marty chose the night before, and watch the morning sun rise behind wooded hills.

There are morning workshops and a tune session delivered by our super tutors - Harry Bird, Pepita Emmerichs and Theo Barnard (Rain of Animals) and Barry Nisbet.

I'm the afternoon, we raise anchor and head back towards Hobart - we're part of the spectacular Admiral's Sail which concludes this amazing gathering of wooden boats. Join a parade of spectacular square-rig ships: One and All, Windeward Bound, Lady Nelson, and a fleet of smaller wooden boats, the atmosphere on the harbour will be electric!

(Søren Larsen is likely to feature the best music... Join a solid-going session led by Harry, Pepi, Theo and Barry as the fleet sails out and tunes cannonball across the water... this is going to be stirring and epic!)

Leaving Hobart behind, we sail out to a more isolated anchorage where we can draw breath, play a few more relaxed tunes, and process all we've seen.

Photograph used with the kind permission of Mark Chew Photography

We may sail south today, down the channel between North Bruny Island and the Tasmanian mainland.

Or, depending what the weather is dictating, we may need to get Søren Larsen across to the Tasman Peninsula today, which would instead see us headed towards Frederick Henry Bay, or Wedge Bay. Careful navigational decisions will always be made by our Skipper and tutors to ensure safety, and to deliver the most comfortable voyage we can.

Pitch in on halyards, sheets, clews and buntlines as we get Søren Larsen under sail, then watch the scenery slip by as our tutors coax the music into life.

Some of us will form the duty watch, helping steer the ship, keeping lookout, and making alterations to sails, braces and trim. If we need to tack or wear, this may require all hands.

Depending on the weather, tunes may be organised as we sail along - perhaps a small session on the foredeck, by the wheel, or a one-to-one with one of our tutors in the deckhouse or saloon. There's something for all musical tastes.

We may pause, or even choose an anchorage at the photogenic 'Neck' that connects North Bruny to South Bruny Island. A number of stunning anchorages surround the Tasmanian and Bruny Island coast here - or likewise the Tasman Peninsula coast if we've headed east; and we will choose one that offers good shelter, placing us in the best position to make tomorrow's rounding of Cape Raoul.

Today is the rounding of Cape Raoul. If conditions have been kind, we may be considering a passage across the ominously named Storm Bay.

Or, if we have chosen the more conservative path, we may need to work our way down the peninsula and around.

After breakfast, we raise anchor and set off. Heading East in a region of prevailing Westerlies, there's every chance of seeing Søren Larsen's sails full and pulling today. Be inspired by the open ocean to starboard; and the tree-cloaked slopes and white beaches of the Tasman Peninsula ahead.

Rounding Cape Raoul, we pull into the bay in the early to mid afternoon - anchoring potentially off the golden beach of Crescent bay, or the aptly named Safety Cove!

Tonight is our celebration — if we choose, we share a piece of music or a collaboration in an on-deck concert with our shipmates. Tunes, laughs, and a drink together as we raise a glass to the music, the coastline, and the voyage we've just made.

At our anchorage, we're able to enjoy some breakfast then a final tune and song session on Søren Larsen's deck. Then, in late morning, we pick up the anchor and head on in to berth the ship in this incredible, historical place.

This UNESCO World Heritage Site — listed for its role in Britain's convict transportation system — is a monument to a foundational chapter in Australian colonial history, in all its complex and grisly reality. The sandstone penitentiary buildings rise from the shoreline as we come to anchor; it's a sight that stays with you.

We have a final lunch together on deck, then at 1400 say our farewells to Søren Larsen and her crew. Hobart is two hours away by bus — but there's plenty to explore ashore on the Tasman Peninsula first, and no shortage of reasons to linger.

Image: "Port Arthur, Tasmania" by EurovisionNim is licensed under CC BY 4.0.