Presidents April

Report 2011

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of being part of the unveiling of a new display at the Spring Bay Mari-time and Discovery Centre. This progressive East Coast not-for-profit organization has managed to secure some historic artifacts on permanent loan from the Parks and Wildlife Service and has built an impressive permanent display at its location at Triabunna.

The artifacts are several pieces of a convict-era wooden boat – probably a barge. They are dis-played on a purpose-built exhibit com-plete with ripple lighting and a video. The planks and other pieces are being conserved and feature trunnels (tree nails of wood), some of which are still in place.

WBGT member David Gatenby has a steadily growing display of dinghies in the Restoration and Recovery Centre and there were plenty of other interesting dis-plays and activities at the quarterly Open Day. Con-

gratulations to Noel Burnell, Sue Evans, Jim Playstead and the others in-volved in this enterprise. It deserves our support.

Whilst at the Open Day I was alerted to a couple of

Fazackerly dinghies used as an attractor at a local fish and chip shop. Sure enough they seem to be Fazacker-lys and one could be restored.

Our April Rowing Day was an adventure for those who made the effort on a less than perfect day. The Derwent Valley Autumn Festival was well supported by locals

Editor: Peter Higgs Volume 14 Number 11 13th April 2011

Graeme Hunt addressing the Spring Bay Maritime

& Discovery Centre gathering

Ph

oto

pro

vid

ed

by G

rae

me

and visitors alike although it may have been a couple of weeks early for the usual magnificent display of autumn colours. Read all about it in the Trip leader‟s report.

Graeme Hunt

President

Secretary’s April Report 2011

Not a lot to report this month, the days are getting shorter

and the nights are getting longer.....but more impor-

tantly....last month‟s Secretaries trivia question was cor-

rectly answered by....Mark Hosking from the Maritime Mu-

seum of Tasmania. Well done Mark, you go to the top of

the class!

The Guild is still looking for premises (other than the Cot-

tage) to store their gear, their boats (all four of them, not

counting the Terra Linna) and also for an alternate venue

for their meetings. If anyone out there has any ideas, just

let one of the committee members know and we will follow

it up.

After all the painting I have done on Maori Lass over the

last twelve months, and I must say she is looking pretty

good, I have just had another call from the bloody Cormo-

rants....I‟ve got old CD‟s hanging all over her and so far

they have been very effective as a bird scare, but I had

my back turned for a moment or so, and they have now

managed to foul the cockpit. Bugger!

Has anybody out there got a solution to prevent the

bloody things from making such a mess and ruining the

paintwork?

The 2010 Kettering Wooden Boat Rally committee have

just recently had a meeting and it was unanimously de-

cided that the previous Rally was so successful and that

there had been numerous enquiries to date, that a 2012

Rally is to be organised. This will again be hosted by both

the Wooden Boat Guild of Tasmania and the Kettering

Yacht Club over the long week-end in February 2012. In-

formation for KWBR2 will be available on the WBGT and

KYC websites soon.

Don‟t forget, our next general meeting will be on Monday

April 18th

starting at 7:30 pm at the Mariners Cottage.

One of the Fazackerly‟s

Photo

Gra

em

e H

unt

2

next one to be held on Sunday 8th May.

Peter Higgs

From the Editors Desk

The continuing Piner’s Punt Story!

What are the origins of the Tasmanian Piner‟s Punt? For some time there have been opinions that it was used in the Huon whilst others claim it was designed and built by Doherty and his sons in Port Davey, Strahan, and subse-quently became the Piner‟s Punt of the West Coast Pin-ers.

Recently, Brian Marriott circulated the following article which he came across from research Eva was undertak-ing. It was in an old souvenir paper published in 1936 (cover below). In Brian‟s words, “The description of the boats used in the 1840's-1860's and their mode of use provides an interesting historical reference and back-ground for what we know about more recent use of punts on the west coast.”

The article follows;

Which originated in:

The next rowing day will be on Sunday May 22nd

at Tin-

derbox Beach; this will be a BIG and Small boat day.

The Trip Leaders for this rowing day will be Roscoe and

Cheryl, BYOG&F. There will be further information on

this and other events on the Calendar page of this issue

of the Skeg.

Last month’s question was: A „sheepshank‟ is a knot used to 1) shorten a rope temporarily 2) secure a rope to the ring of an anchor 3) encircle and haul a load with-out tightening around the object.

This question courtesy Jim Broadside from AFLOAT

And the correct answer is: 1) to shorten a rope tempo-

rarily

This month’s question: Inland seas have, 1) stronger than usual tides 2) virtually no tides 3) moderate tides

No, no, no Cheryl....you don‟t „cook‟ a sheepshank.... you „tie‟ it....

Roscoe

Roscoe, have you

tried a snake! I use a rubber snake on the cabin top and

it seams to do the trick! It‟s eyes peer up at the cormo-

rants and other birds and they do not nest or crap too

long! Signed the Editor.

Terra Linna Report

The Terra Linna working bee was held on Sunday the 10th of April, not the 13th as in the last Skeg! Apologies. The following is a summary of what was completed on Sunday.

Work is still progressing with deck hardware, including the rowlocks, still being fitted. The rudder has been lofted and the timber is being prepared for its making.

Suitable timber has been removed from the Nyrstar stack for the centre board. This has to be cut and machined and then assembled with a lead ballast plug in the base.

The crew also sorted amongst the spars to find one suit-able for the bow sprit and then commenced the process of preparing the same.

Finally, the Nyrstar stack of timber was sorted and placed back in its temporary shelter with Graeme Hunt getting a new Tarpaulin for the same.

Mid tasks there was much discussion around Noel and Noelene‟s computer and all of the Terra Linna photos blown up to the max, again about rigging, spar fittings etc. This has developed into a really competitive sparring match, pun intended.

Many thanks to Noel, Noelene, Tony, Graeme and David.

So all in all it was a very productive working bee. The

3

This stirred up some older research I had been delving into regarding the Piner‟s Punt in Tasmania. It has al-ways struck me that although the Piners Punt is known to be indigenous to Tasmania it still remains that it was designed and built by either a convict or free settler who had an insight to its design from their home of ori-gin.

Either would have been pre informed by boat building or sea faring experiences from their homeland. This has always been one of my theories and with my inter-est being reignited I started again researching the fol-lowing books;

“The Huon Pine Story” by Garry Kerr and Harry McDermott, ISBN 0-95779170-4

“The Huon Piners” by David Hopkins and Gordon Abel, ISBN 0-9587092-5-4

From page 19 “The Huon Piners” by David Hopkins

and Gordon Abel there is mention made of, “The Do-

herty sons of John Patrick from Port Davey, the Grin-

ing, the Finn, Morrison and Abel families were promi-

nent family clans of brothers and sons all working the

Macquarie Harbour pine for almost 80 years”. It went

on to state, “Legend has it, that the five sons of Patrick

Doherty rowed an open whale boat from Port Davey

along the treacherous Western coast line of the open

seas to Macquarie Harbour, to recommence pine op-

erations in the Gordon River.

The “The Huon Piners” also states that “the piners

started venturing further and further upstream in the

rivers that emptied into the Macquarie Harbour.”

To achieve this it mentions “The special 18 foot piners

punt was originally designed by Tom Doherty [this is a

lot later than the report above from the Huon Valley],

with its blunt bow, built of either Huon or King Billy

Pine. The construction out of half inch planks, seven to

a side from the keel was extremely durable and sea

worthy. Very stable in the water, so much so that a

person can stand up and comfortably manoeuvre logs

with out fear of capsizing.”

From page 245 “ The Huon Pine Story” it is confirmed

that Thomas O‟Dougherty, a convict who used several

differing ways of spelling his surname was born in

County Tyrone Ireland in 1826. Thomas did not take

kindly to being sentenced to transportation for seven

years. He was transported to Tasmania on the ship

North Briton arriving in April 1843 as a convict. Due to

several other escapades Thomas did not gain his free-

dom, unlike other convicts, until 1849. Soon after this

Thomas O‟Dougherty disappeared for several years

until he went to Port Davey to commence logging

Huon Pine.

“The Huon Pine Story” confirms that the Thomas Do-

herty (note the different way of spelling the surname)

family continued making the piners punt, in Strahan,

that served them so well in Port Davey. Page 139 of “The

Huon Pine Story” states “Mrs McCallum, a sometime resi-

dent of the southern district, and a

recorder of history in the area, is

quoted as having said, The piners

built their own boats, they built

them short without a keel so that

they turned easily. They were very

manoeuverable.”

What is starting to emerge is that

the Piners Punt was designed spe-

cifically to work in fast flowing riv-

ers, including the Huon, Port

Davey and Strahan, that were sub-

ject to shoals and rapids requiring

manoeuverability and stability, to

negotiate the same.

Given that Thomas O‟Dougherty

came from County Tyrone, Ireland

I decided I should re-

search Irish boats. To

do so I opened my

book “ Traditional

Boats of Ireland” Ed-

ited by Criostoir Mac-

Cathaigh, from the

Traditional Boats of

Ireland Project, ISBN

13 : 9781905172399,

and gifted to me by

Hal Sisk. In “ Tradi-

tional Boats of Ire-

land” I discovered the

Waterford Prong and

the salmon and mus-

sel boats of Morning-

ton, in the Boyne Es-

tuary, both on the Irish

South East coast. Nei-

ther are

closely

associated

with

County

Tyrone,

Northern

Ireland,

other than

the rivers

and lakes

of County

Tyrone

were fished for Salmon and at the estuaries for mussels

and the rivers in County Tyrone also have shoals and rap-

ids to encounter. Refer to the photos and line drawings for

An Irish Waterford Prong (lwr)

“ Tra

ditio

nal B

oats

of Ire

land” IS

BN

13 : 9

781905172399

Salmon (L) and Mussel boats (R) of

Mornington

Tasmanian Piners Punts at Strahan Piners Festival

Photo

Dalla

s M

annin

g

4

similarities to meet their environment.

The resemblance of the Piner Punts in these Irish

boats is incredible to almost surreal. The salmon boat

has 7 planks per side. The Waterford Prong, Salmon

and Mussel boats of Mornington were built for stability

and manoeuverability. All 3 are keel-less and capable

of being manoeuvered over shoals and rapids whilst

fishing for salmon or mussels.

It is interesting to note the building of the Irish Prong

and the Tasmanian Piner‟s Punt is very similar. Nei-

ther, have a keel and both are built in a way to enable

ease of build while maintaining manouverability and

stability in the craft. The comparative photos and line

drawings demonstrate similarities.

I am not claiming this as conclusive evidence that the

Piner‟s Punt was derived from the Irish Waterford

Prong or the salmon and mussel boats of Mornington,

in the Boyne Estuary, but there are similarities that

can‟t be denied. The most obvious difference is the

forward high rise in the keel, from station 3, in the Irish

boats compared to the Piners Punt.

So what are the origins of the Piners Punt? Were they

first built and used in the Huon and Picton Rivers?

The extracts from the souvenir paper published in

1936 above do confirm this. It and other references

confirms that there are similarities between the Irish Water-

ford Prong, Salmon and Mussel boats of Mornington when

compared to the Tasmanian Piners Punt! Particularly given

the high Irish convict influence in many Tasmanian heritage

examples. The Tasmanian references could also infer that

the Piner‟s Punt design from the Huon District was trans-

ferred firstly to Port Davey and then subsequently, Strahan

given that it was the Doherty‟s who introduced it to Strahan.

This does not take away from the Tasmanian Piner‟s Punt

individuality and origins but may confirm that the design

and building of boats is an evolution. The Irish and Scot

boats evolved from the Norse boats proving the evolution

is not only time based but also due to knowledge transfer

from one country to another through the mobility of fisher-

men and seafarers and their boats.

REFERENCES

1936 Souvenir paper Centenary of the Settlement of the

Huon,, published in 1936

The Huon Pine Story, Garry Kerr & Harry Mc Dermott ISBN

o-95779170-4

The Huon Piners, David Hopkins and Gordon Abel ISBN 0-

9587092-5-4

Traditional Boats of Ireland, edited Criostoir MacCarthaigh

ISBN978-1-905172-39-9

Roving Event Report– Sunday 3rd + 4th April

2011 for some!

New Norfolk Autumn Fest 2011 – Approximately

40 nautical miles at 3.75 hours each way.

We, Seaspray and Farewell, were due to depart MYCT at

0715 hours but due to some miscalculations did not get

away until 0745 hours. Noel and Noelene had spent the

night on mooring D099 in Lindisfarne Bay. On departure

Graeme Hunt, David and Sally Long and Charles rowed

Seaspray Too (AKA Pearl) out to Farewell and then when

Seaspray was under way they rendezvoused with Farewell

to allow Seaspray to collect the tender Seaspray Too. From

here both boats motored on to Austins Ferry to collect Dal-

las‟s nephew Geoffrey, his two sons, Jordan and Nathan,

together with Maree and Henry.

“ Tra

ditio

nal B

oa

ts o

f Irela

nd

” ISB

N 1

3 : 9

78

19

05

17

239

9

Plans for an Irish Prong

Plans of a Harry Grinning Piners Punt built in 1935, The

Huon Pine Story, Gary Kerr and Harry McDermott

The Huon Pine Story, Garry Kerr & Harry

Mc Dermott

5

By the time we arrived at Austins Ferry, 0900 hours, the

wind had picked up to about 5 knots.

We had booked the

Bridgewater Bridge

to open for us at

0945 hours. We

confirmed our arrival

as being slightly late

to be told the wind

was blowing very

strongly, we passed

though the bridge at

0950 hours and I

would estimate

the wind to be at

25 – 30 knots.

What became

apparent soon

after was that

this was the last

time the bridge

opened that

week end!

Due to the wind

gusts Farewell

made better

way with Sea-

spray bringing

up the rear. Ap-

proaching the

Port Marker 21

it became ap-

parent that

Farewell had become grounded! She was listing to port

and was stirring up mud as she attempted to reverse off.

So not only do we have “Ainesley‟s Spit” in the Duck-

pond but we now have “Noel‟s Grounding” in the Der-

went!

On approaching it became evident that yes, Farewell was

certainly grounded and after 2 attempts a line was at-

tached to Seaspray‟s stern tree cleat and as this was a

last minute achievement the tension on the line was sud-

den and in no

time Farewell

was lurched

off, free again!

From here we

motored on

and rendez-

voused with

the steam

launches at

approximately

1150 hours

adjacent to Milbrook Rise. It added a certain ambiance to

proceed on to New Norfolk in the company of the steam

boats. We arrived at New Norfolk at 1230 hours and tied

up to the

landing just

south of the

New Norfolk

Caravan

Park.

Jordan and

Nathan were

eagerly wel-

comed by

their mother

and grand

parent‟s and

they talked for

some time

about their voy-

age on the Sea-

spray. Geoffrey

was also in awe

about the ex-

perience of visit-

ing old ground

but this time

from the water.

He often talked to his sons about the land marks along the

way. These included the jetty at Brighton where Nathan

caught his first fish, the old lime kilns prior to Boyer, the

cliffs of Millbrook Rise and the final entrance into New

Norfolk with the colours struggling out despite the over-

cast day.

Mean time Noel had made Farewell fast to the New Nor-

folk jetty and Graeme assisted me to make Seaspray fast

to her berth.

Soon after berthing we were informed by WBGT member

Lew Garnham that the Bridgewater Bridge had not been

able to open for the next Flotilla of boats including the

Austins Ferry way point

Photo

Mare

e M

annin

g

Seaspray (above) approaches the bridge and

Farewell (below passes under the Bridge.

Photo

s D

alla

s H

iggs

Farewell grounded near Port Marker 21 in the Derwent at Granton.

Now known as “Noels Grounding”. Photo Dallas Higgs

Farewell free again!

Ph

oto

Dallas H

iggs

Steam Boat rendezvous near Milbrook Rise.

Photo

Gra

em

e H

unt

Peter at the helm of Seaspray

Photo

Gra

em

e H

unt

6

Cartela, due to

high winds. He

added that we

would probably

have to spend

an extra night

in New Norfolk.

This was later

confirmed on

ringing the

bridge opera-

tor.

So both boats crews and passengers went off to the New

Norfolk Autumn Fest to enjoy the entertainment, stalls,

food and drinks. It was also obvious that there was a re-

cord crowd at the Autumn Fest. Soon after arrival we

discovered that Roscoe and Cheryl were there so we all

gathered around

one table to

enjoy the ambi-

ence of the

Fest!

Soon, thanks to

the ingenuity of

Charles, David

and Sally Long

together with

Charles would

be picked up by

Charles wife to

return to Hobart. Roscoe had offered a return trip to

Graeme and Noel, Noelene and Peter and Dallas had

resolved they would spend the night aboard their boats

in New Norfolk together with Lew and Liz Garnham their

son and friends who now own Latura. Even though we

could lower Seasprays mast getting under the bridge

would be difficult given the high tide on the 3rd

.

All boats were kitted out for an overnight stay except for

Seaspray. We had enough food but had to borrow bed-

ding from Noel and Noelene. We all settled in for a cosy

night with plenty of food, cards and metho heating work-

ing a charm despite the bridge incident. Needless to say,

I lost every game of crib to Dallas!

Several calls to the bridge revealed that repairs could not

be completed until Monday but they were hoping it could

be completed by late morning.

There was some angst amongst boaters about the bridge

breakdown. However, we need to keep in context that it is

available for recreational use and as such we can not

expect it to be open at our beckon call!

Monday dawned a beautiful day with sunshine and plenty

of early morning colours and reflections on the river. The

very reason we made the voyage.

At approximately 0920 hours we had Seaspray‟s mast

laid down ready to navigate under the bridge without it

lifting. Another call to the bridge revealed that it would

not be opening until approximately 1400 hours.

We motored up to Noel and Noelene and bid them Fare-

well and set off

down river. The

voyage down-

stream was ab-

solutely beautiful

with the sun out,

bringing with it

the beautiful Au-

tumn colours

whilst the water

was just like

glass.

We made it to the bridge at 1100 hours and could see

the repair gang still busily working. As we motored

closer we debated wether we would get under or not.

With confi-

dence I pro-

ceeded and

passed un-

der the

bridge with

a clearance

of approxi-

mately

450mm.

We contin-

ued down-

stream and

as we approached the Cadbury bend at Windermere

with Dallas at the helm she was concerned about the

approaching yacht. We kept clear of the no. 2 starboard

marker and headed for Windermere Bay and then

turned inside the no. 1 port marker leaving plenty of

Continued on page 8.

Seaspray berthed adjacent to the boat ramp

Photo

Dalla

s H

iggs

Farewell, Minerva and Latura on the New Norfolk

jetty where the Cartela was to berth

Photo

Dalla

s H

iggs

A new day dawns at New Norfolk, photo Dallas Higgs

Photo

Dalla

s H

iggs

Farewell Noel and Noelene

Morning colours worth the trip for

Photo

Dalla

s H

iggs

7

General Meetings are on the

3rd

Monday of each month, inc. public holidays ex-cept in the month of December.

The next general meeting of the

Wooden Boat Guild of Tasmania Inc. will be held at the Mariners’ Cottage,

Napoleon Street, Battery Point commencing

at 7.30 pm Monday 18 th April 2011

There will be a committee meeting held

prior to the General Meeting at 6.00pm, at which members are welcome

http://www.woodenboatguildtas.org.au/

Guest Speaker, 18th April, 2011

April Guest speaker will be Roscoe talking about a 30

minute National Parks DVD about Port Davey/Bathurst

Harbour plus some of my photos plus the Emeritus II blog

re Van Diemans Land Circumnavigation.

Jim Tayton offered to continue his ―Couta Crossing‖ video ( we do

need a tape video player for this) and Peter Higgs has some re-

serve items if needed

Presenter/s or practical demonstration required for future meet-

ings.

Skeg articles by the 1st Monday of each month please . If the dead-

lines can’t be kept the SKEG will be published without late submis-

sions!

1. Skeg photographs by the 1st Monday of each month.

2. Speaker/demonstration ( it can be a demonstration of a

wooden boat building activity or problem solving activity)

for next month are always needed so get your name and

topic in to the Editor.

Officers of the Guild contact list

President Graeme Hunt 0408146752

Sen.Vice President Brian Marriott 0419877684

Vice President Jim Tayton 03 62674051

Secretary Ross Barnett Home 6227 1720 or

mobile 0438 300 229

Treasurer David Barnes 03 62441302

Flag Officers Peter Higgs 62491695 0419803317

& Brian Marriott

Mess Officers Vacant

Committee David Gatonby 0428391432

Noel Hall 03 62445583

Peter Higgs 0419803317

David Morton 0400560330

Calendar 2011

Friday, April 15th Peter Higgs reporting on the

Terra Linna restoration to TMAG

Monday April 18th WBGT Committee and General

meetings

May 7th Kettering Yacht Club Maritime Market

9.00am—4.00pm

May 8th Terra Linna working bee

Monday May 16th WBGT Committee and General

meetings

Sunday May 22nd Tinderbox big and small boat

day Roscoe trip leader BYOG&F

June 11, 12 & 13th Port Sorrell wooden boat event. Trip Leader Graeme Hunt possibly Education Camp or Shearwater Country Club. Possible Julie

Burgess visit.

Monday June 20th WBGT Committee and General

meetings

Sunday June 26th Terra Linna working bee

Sunday July 10th Terra Linna working bee

July 24th, Morton’s Home, Geeveston, Model Boat

event BYO model boats and food + grog. David

Morton Trip Leader.

August 21st Cygnet Yacht Club Big and small

boats BYOF. Trip Leaders Robin and Cherelle.

September 25th, Jordon River Rowing Day

BYOG&F. Trip Leader Peter and Dallas Higgs.

October MYCT Expo, Bellerive Seafarers Festival—

Terra Linna to be sailed to venues

Huon Show November

Christmas in the park December

Cockle Creek Feb 2012 Trip Leader David Morton

Maritime and Maritime Heritage lunch box talks 12 noon till 1.00pm — 1st Tuesday of each month at TMAG Royal Society Room organised by the Mari-

time Museum.

Trip Leaders responsibilities; the Trip Leader is to confirm meeting paces and

times (including maps) for the Skeg edition prior to the event. Skeg closing time

is 1st Monday for text and 1st Monday for photos every month. Following the

event the Trip Leader is to provide a short story and up to 5 of their own photos,

sized and titled (as file name) appropriately, of the event for inclusion in the

following Skeg. Members wishing to submit photos from the rowing days are

required to provide a maximum of five to the Trip Leader so that we do not get

same/similar contributions. All must be sized as below with a title as the file

name.

Members wishing to submit articles & photos: All members articles and

photos are most welcome as contributions for the Skeg or other publications.

For the Skeg, articles are preferred to be in MS Word with no formatting. Mem-

bers are asked to restrict their photographic submissions to 5 In total per month

and to have resized the photos to the following specs. No PDF‟s please!

400 Pixels wide X 300 Pixels high, or

5.7 cm wide X 4.2 cm high, with a resolution of

180 pixels per inch

If you can not size a photo submit it with a title as a file name and the editor will

size It for you.

All SKEG articles must be with the editor in a digital form by the 1st Mon-

day of the month.

8

room and a wave to the other crafts crew. Not until after

our return did we find out we were waving to Des Hut-

chins and his son.

Continuing on we reached the MYCT at 1300 hours to be

greeted by Graeme Hunt who helped us moor Seaspray

Too (AKA Pearl) at the MYCT boat ramp and then

tossed the lines to tie up Seaspray in her pen and finally

stand up her mast again.

What a great trip despite the bridge, it is a worthwhile trip

and I encourage other WBGT members to consider it

when it is on the Calendar again.

Without boring members too much I can show a short

video of the voyage if members are interested.

Report by Peter and Dallas

Next Roving and Rowing Day,

May 22nd Tinderbox big and small Boat day. Trip Leader Roscoe BYOG&F. Unless otherwise advised meet at the

Tinderbox boat ramp 1000.

Trip Leader Roscoe

Last meetings presentation precis

Rob Nolan spoke about Jo and his ventures North to

sail the Whitsundays, Northern NSW and the

Hawkesbury in their NIS Boat. A mix of both camping

and boating in extraordinary waters.

For Sale:

Eltin Ronan - I offer Eltin Ronan for sale. She‟s been

a big/little restoration job for a boat with a lot of history.

Looking for a mad keen wooden boater to take her on

and maintain her as part of Tasmania‟s Maritime history.

Great rowing boat and prepared to negotiate the price.

Contact Peter on 0419803317

FOR SALE....12ft King Billy clinker rowing boat, sound

and well built but needs refurbishing. Plenty of time to

get it ready for the 2013 Wooden Boat Festival. Ring

Roscoe on 0438 300 229

Eltin Ronan beached at Spectacle Is-

land, Dodges Ferry

Early morning New Norfolk with Seaspray Too (AKA Pearl) in the for-

ground. Photo Dallas Higgs.