Taking their dogs for a row at Port Sorell's charming Panatana Rivulet is a long tradition for these boat-loving mates — a tradition which sits within the bigger history of ship-building in north-west Tasmania.

Panatana, the Aboriginal name for the area, has now been reinstated.

But for Brian Griffiths, 96, and Geoff Winspear, 88, this was always Muddy Creek — a place central to their lives and family history.

The rivulet itself is broad, eucalypt-lined and, at high tide, reminiscent of a classic bush river like the Murray.

Only here the sea is just around the corner and low tide drains it down to a few puddles, leaving old wooden boats to lay over gently in the mud.

A yacht lays over in the mud at Panatana Rivulet. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

The salty old cousins are both descended from some of the earliest ship-builders of this area.

An annual tradition has been to meet at 'Muddy' and row past the many boats and jetties, taking their dogs as crew.

Some of the boats are virtually family — built or restored by family and friends.

Others have been slowly flaking, rotting, groaning and rolling with the tide for many decades.

Geoff Winspear loves to take his dogs Namby (bow) and Piper (stern), for a row. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

"That one there — I watched the keel laid when I was young and she's still there," Geoff said.

"And that one, the Joan, she's about 100 years old."

A birthday tradition

It was the day after Brian's 96th birthday and Geoff — along with Namby the Jack Russel terrier (on bow watch) and the much older Piper (at the stern) — have been rowing in his honour.

Low tide at Panatana Rivulet has a very different feel to high tide. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

Until only a couple of years ago Brian would also have been out for a row but today it was down to Charles Richey, another local mate, and Geoff.

Well-known businessman, Peter Rockliffe of Petuna Seafoods, has also been part of this crusty armada.

Brian's father Claude had been an early fishing mentor to Mr Rockliffe.

Brian and Geoff's fathers also fished together out of Port Sorell for many years on a boat called the Sheenie.

Every Friday they would tow their catch to Devonport in a wooden fish 'coff' and sell them at Mussel Rock — almost opposite where the Spirit of Tasmania ferries dock today.

Tide fills in at Muddy Creek as Geoff Winspear goes for a row with his dogs. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

"Muddy Creek has got a lot of old men who spend time down there and the old boats are here too," Geoff said.

"They've got teredo worm in the keels, so after a while the boats sink and I suppose the old men will sink too when the teredo gets in their keels."

Brian has lived at Port Sorell for 95 of his 96 years.

His grandfather, Percy, was the son of the very enterprising Captain John Griffiths, a major figure in early Australian shipping and commerce.

The restful scene at low tide in Muddy Creek. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

Not just a shipbuilder

Captain Griffiths built ships from the 1820s onwards in a number of locations around south-eastern Australia, but primarily Port Fairy in Victoria, Launceston and later Port Sorell and Devonport.

His biggest ship, the 350-tonne Sidney Griffiths, did four successful trading voyages to England.

The first, in 1853, was for the first delivery of wool direct from Port Fairy to London.

Geoff, 88, and Brian, 96, have had a lifelong relationship with Muddy Creek. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

The ship was later lost, along with all hands, in the 1880s.

Captain Griffiths also built the Tamar Brewery in Launceston before moving to Port Sorell to build boats just around the corner from Panatana Rivulet, and also in the Mersey River where it was said he built the first five shops in Devonport's main street.

"Brian and I are first cousins and Captain George Williams, my great-grandfather, had the inn at Port Sorell," Mr Geoff said.

"The Griffithses were living in Launceston and two of their boys came down, and seeing as the man at the inn had 12 children — and a lot of girls — they came down and married two of the daughters.

"And as I have always said to Brian, that is how the Griffithses learnt to build boats — that's how they got ahead."

Boats lay at rest through the muddy low tide at Panatana Rivulet. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

Both men laughed at the jibe, but Captain Williams certainly was another capable man in his time.

Besides the inn, he built a jail, a bridge and a number of boats at Muddy Creek.

"Our shack at Port Sorell when I was a kid was next door to Brian's house," Geoff said.

"We used to buy fish off him. Sometimes they were undersized but we won't talk about that."

For many years Brian's cousin, Murray Griffiths, was something of an institution at Muddy Creek, doing repairs and restorations on boats and engines at his own little slipway.

Brian's cousin Murray Griffiths pictured in 1993. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

Like Brian and Geoff, Charles virtually grew up in the fluctuating waters of Panatana Rivulet.

"My father built a number of boats right here where we're standing," he said.

"He built one called the Hope and I still have that boat.

"I managed to get it back and restored her.

"Muddy Creek, to me, has been a playground — I learned to swim here, learnt to row a boat here, I even learned to sail in here.