It was 'tinnies' to the fore at Mindil Beach recently as a host of part-time sailors - and seemingly full-time drinkers - participated in the annual Beer Can Regatta.
The rules of the regatta, which was first staged in 1974, are extremely simple - build a boat out of empty beer cans or plastic drink bottles and race them against other teams of aspiring seamen.
Crews head out to sea and round a buoy before attempt to return to dry land with their ships intact.
Many of the larger craft were several months in the making, but for some it is the collecting of the empty cans that is the event's main attraction.
"I'd say (it's been) a few years of drinking and we've finally got it together,” says one contestant in the regatta.
While many teams were only there to participate in a little nautical nonsense, which led to high spirits on the high seas, others took the event a little more seriously.
However, some were more successful than others.
"We came second with three people, but we didn't make it round the buoy."
While a few of the boats were seaworthy enough to carry large crews, one or two couldn't even get off the beach.
The day attracted a crowd of around 12-thousand, and even those spectators who missed the point of the event could see the funny side.
"I've never seen anything like it. I don't understand it, but it's hilarious,” says another contestant.
The origins of the first Beer Can Regatta are linked to Cyclone Tracy, which caused widespread damage when it struck Australia's Northern Territory in 1974.
The rebuilding of Darwin drew workers from the southern states, who weren't used to the area's intense humidity, which led to an increase in the consumption of canned and bottled beverages in the area.
An abundance of empty cans littered the many work sites around Darwin, but the creation of the Beer Can Regatta aided the clean-up process in the city, with the effects still felt 37 year later.
"You used to be able to find your way to Katherine by following the green cans. Not anymore. Now they all come down here and they build boats out of them,” says Des Gellert, Regatta organiser.
Amongst the more eye-catching craft in the fleet was one that was built to look like a giant sea turtle.
But unlike most sea turtles, this one was equipped with an outboard motor!
Another was shaped like a giant crocodile - the living version of which has been known to pay the occasional visit to Darwin's waterfront.
As with all good maritime adventures, there was a shipwreck or two washed up on the shore by the end of the day.
The Beer Can Regatta has sailed away for another year, but now the crews must batten down the hatches and prepare for the hangovers that will follow in its wake.