If you can't wait for your ship to come in, the Western Australian Maritime Museum should be your next port of call.  It explores our rich maritime history, by hanging an abundance of famous water craft from the ceiling.  You look up at boats, across at boats, and even down at boats.  If you look out the window you'll see working boats in the harbour.  In fact, the museum building itself, is designed to look like an over turned boat stranded on the shore.  Now that's a lot of boats.

Two of the more famous boats on display did their best work far from our shores.  Check out  Australia II, the racing yacht that won the America's Cup from the USA in 1983.  It's mysterious winged keel is exposed for all those game enough to look.  Marvel at the adventure of the Parry Endeavour, which took lone sailor Jon Sanders an amazing three times around the world.

There are so many boats suspended in the gallery, you'll get sea sick just looking at them.   Steady your sea legs at the window, and you'll observe an enormous submarine on the adjacent slipway.

It's a big one alright, and under the guidance of the official tour you can climb all over it.  You go up and down ladders, squeeze through tight places, and step over bulkheads.  At the same time a former submariner explains what life was like below the waves.  It takes over an hour to move from one end of the HMAS Ovens to the other.  With space an issue, only nine people are allowed in each tour group.

The Maritime Museum is not all about boats on ropes.  It examines other important aspects of our maritime heritage.  Find out about the thousands of migrants who entered Australia through the Port of Fremantle.  Perth now enjoys a rich cultural diversity, and pays tribute to our migrants by listing their names on the "Welcome Walls" outside the museum.  Many of these migrants helped to develop our fishing industry, and the museum tells this story through many exciting exhibits.  Discover facts about international sea trading, and the different cargoes that arrive in the port.  Take a sentimental journey up the Swan River, by checking out some of the actual boats that commuted along this water highway, years before you were even born.