• This excursion takes place on board the James Craig, one of the world’s last fully operational nineteenth-century sailing ships, as it remains safely moored at Wharf 7 in Pyrmont.
• Students gain hands-on experience of colonial sailor life on a working sailing ship, taking part in authentic historical activities like swabbing the deck, raising a sail, tying knots, loading the ship with cargo, and more*
• Students are guided through a behind-the-scenes tour of the James Craig with our expert crew, learning all about the ship and the life of a sailor on board.
• Students discover the importance of sailors and sailing ships to the development of Australian colonies—from carrying Australian cargo like wool, wheat, and meat around the world to importing consumer goods like tea and sugar, as well as providing passage to migrants from across the globe.

Historical Skills

• Sequence historical people and events (ACHHS098, ACHHS117)
• Use historical terms and concepts (ACHHS099, ACHHS118)

Syllabus Outcomes

• Students describe and explain the significance of people, groups, places and events to the development of Australia (HT3-1)
• Students apply a variety of skills of historical inquiry and communication (HT3-5)

Key Inquiry Questions

• What do we know about the lives of people in Australia’s colonial past and how do we know?
• How did an Australian colony develop over time and why?
• What were the significant events and who were the significant people that shaped Australian colonies?

Syllabus Content Addressed

• The nature of convict or colonial presence, including the factors that influenced patterns of development, aspects of the daily life of inhabitants (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) and how the environment changed (ACHHK094)
• The impact of a significant development or event on a colony (ACHHK095)
• The reasons people migrated to Australia from Europe and Asia, and the experiences and contributions of a particular migrant group within a colony (ACHHK096)

The James Craig was rescued and restored by Sydney Heritage Fleet volunteers over nearly forty years. She now stands proud as one of the world’s only restored nineteenth-century vessels that still regularly goes to sea.

James Craig youth and education programs allow kids a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sail into the past and learn and explore Australia’s maritime history on board an extraordinary authentic, working sailing ship.

Sydney Heritage Fleet is a community-based non-profit organisation comprising of ten historic vessels, 450 dedicated volunteers, and a mission: to build and maintain an internationally recognised centre of excellence in maritime heritage for the benefit of all Australians, and to present our continuing maritime history through research, acquisition, conservation, restoration, education and operation.