GUITAR BOAT

Singer-songwriter Josh Pyke might have considered playing an upbeat version of Handel’s Water Music as he sailed across Sydney Harbour - but he was too busy keeping his floating guitar under control.


Tourists stared in amazement as Josh steered the large guitar, complete with outboard motor, around the harbour, creating one of the strangest sights since the arrival of the First Fleet from England back in 1788.


Josh’s voyage on board the SS Maton - named after Australian guitar manufacturer Maton, who designed the curious vessel - was caught on film for the video that will be coming out with his new single Make You Happy.



It is a giant-sized replica of the acoustic instrument Josh uses in the video.
Dressed in ancient mariner’s clothes, Josh, a maritime history fan, did not even get his feet wet as he cruised among the yachts and the ferries crossing the harbour.
‘I remember thinking that whenever I would see videos that had huge props, I’d never get a chance to copy anything like that,’ he said.



Then someone asked if I wanted to drive around Sydney Harbour for a couple of days in a boat shaped as a huge guitar.
‘I jumped at the chance, even though it sounded quite absurd at first.’


To be fair, it wasn’t the first time a sailor had taken to sea in a guitar-shaped boat. US singer Lenny Kravitz did the same thing in 1990 - but he wasn’t on Sydney Harbour. ‘I also saw a picture on the internet from the 1960s of a man in a boat fashioned in the shape of a guitar but I suspect the one that I was provided with was a bit more sophisticated.’