There was a lot more to the Rally than just sail boats, but whenever we got together, these old gaffers just seemed to meander around each other, like they were looking for family. Beachcomber and Queen Mary ( not the big one) above, sauntered back from the buoy in the non-race, finding the odd puff, but the trip back was made with cockpits alongside and conversation flowing between boats the whole way in.
QM has a feature which was common on Gippslander fishing boats. The hull is carvel up to the top two boards, which are lapstrake (clinker). The fishermen liked to approach the fish without the noise of strakes, but the top boards acted as spray rails. It is thought that this feature had it's origins in Norwegian boats and the idea came here with those people.
Owned by David Griffiths, she is 26ft by 9ft, with a 3'6" draft, and was built on Raymond Island (in the background of this pic) in 1898. Comparing her to Beachcomber (right) it can be seen that by the turn of the Century, the Gippslander type had evolved from British/European roots significantly. She is broad and shallow with a small transom and very capacious cockpit. If there is interest I can find more pics to illustrate the type. The above comparison is a bit dicey though, because one boat was always intended for carriage and cartage, while the other was designed specifically to fish.
Lovely boats and photos, Robert. Must us eager for Spring here in the northern half of the world. More please?
ReplyDeleteWonderful. You always have this uncanny knack of cheering me up just when I need it most Robert. What lovely boats, what a lovely way to spend a day
ReplyDeleteSteve
Thanks for the feed-back. I'll post more - just need to sort and order them.
ReplyDeleteMany of the pics I post are from other sources since I was at the helm. Tony Webster and others have shared their shots publicly in typical generous spirit.
The weather was very uplifting guys!