The Project began in 2013 with a plan to build a Replica of the RYS Wanderer-the 25 metre top-sail Schooner that Ben Boyd sailed to Australia. After 4 years work,the Wanderer Replica keel had been half laid but the volunteer workers had disbanded, there was no foreseeable finance and no sustainable Business Plan was in place.
In mid 2018,it was decided to abandon the building of the Replica in favour of a viable alternative-purchasing a top-sail Schooner to sail around Twofold Bay and out of Edens the Wanderer 2.
At the same time it was decided to incorporate the Boydtown Shipyard with the twin objectives of establishing the Benjamin Boyd History Centre and building wooden boats and reviving the Eden Regatta last held in 1912.