Page 31 - Port Douglas Magazine 39

When they’re not working, Tess and Syd and
their daughters Pearl, 8, and Nella, 6, love to
spend time on and in the water, whether it’s
a quick sprint out to the Low Isles to snorkel
with the turtles, or a longer trip to the sand
cay at Undine Reef, or the Tongue and Batt

outer reefs on a calm day. They’re currently
planning a camping holiday further north
to Lizard and Hope islands. But it’s not
purely time out. Each trip they take, they’re
gathering inspiration for new designs, taking
photos for marketing campaigns, and testing
new products in person, to work out what
works and what doesn’t.
“Everything gets trialled and tested before it
goes on sale — especially by the kids,” laughs

Tess. “We like them to flog everything before
we try to sell it to anyone else!”
And it’s not just the immediate family that’s
putting the merchandise through its paces.

“We’re very lucky with the support that we’ve had locally,” says Syd.
“Extended friends and family are such great advocates for the brand.

There was a group of people who went up to Cape York recently

and they sent us a photo from The Tip of 13 of them all wearing
our shirts.”
If you think Tess and Syd are living the dream, well, they kind of are.

Except for all the hard work of course. The range has now expanded

to include UPF50 neck buffs, caps, bags and cotton T-shirts,
screen-printed with hand-drawn mud crabs, box jellyfish and the

ornate crayfish that has become Anchorline’s signature design. The

immediate plans are to expand into a few more retailers around the
country to further broaden the range. But the couple are determined
not to lose sight of the core values of the brand.
“Our vision isn’t ever to become a big commercial operation,” says
Tess. “I want to always keep it true to us. But one day it would be
great to be able to just create the content and have a team to do
everything else.”
“Our ultimate dream is to be out there living the lifestyle that we’re
selling.”

Sustainability is important at Anchorline.
All packaging, mailers and tags are proudly plastic free.
$1 from every shirt sold is donated to GBR Legacy
to support their work improving the health of our reef.

The Anchorline range is available in Port
Douglas at the Croc & Barra Shack at the
Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina, from
Winter & Mann in Yungaburra and online at
anchorlineaustralia.com