Montagu Whaler	Era Surf-boat	Pedro	Warren
Plywood Canoe	Surf-ski	...	[Seabee]

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Montagu Whaler 1994.16 Double-ended  clinker wooden boat, with masts, sails and oars, circa 1945. Provenance In 1993 two RAN Montagu Whalers , #872 and #1107, were acquired from HMAS Platypus, Balmoral, Sydney, for the Museum's collection largely by the efforts of Vera Hatton who, with her husband John, was instrumental in the Museum's foundation and ongoing success. Whaler #872 was then reconstructed using parts from #1107 by students from the Vincentia Public School under the expert supervision of Alf Settree, whose family had been building wooden boats on the on the banks of Currambene Creek since 1828. The project was completed in 1994, assisted by staff from HMAS Creswell and co-ordinated by Rex Williams for the Lady Denman Maritime Museum. At some point, the original paint scheme was removed and replaced with Battleship Grey. Note that the stern is marked #1107, which can be misleading, and while the name is often given as Montague, the correct spelling is Montagu.

Description
Double-ended  clinker wooden boat, retractable centreboard, rudder, brass fittings.

Length:	8300 mm	Beam:	1850 mm	Depth:	1000 mm
	27 ft		6 ft		3 ft 3''

Main mast: timber and metal fittings,  5100 mm - 16ft 6''; Main sail: canvas, 13.2 sqm -142 sqft
Mizzen mast: 4000 mm - 13ft; Mizzen sail: canvas, 2.8 sqm - 30 sqft
Oars. timber, 5200 mm - 17ft.
Comments
The repainting of the boat in Battleship Grey was regrettable and, ideally, the original colours should be restored.

Local History Montagu whalers were part of the standard boat fit-out of RAN ships from 1911 to the mid-1960's, and this parallels the life of the Museum's centrepiece, the Lady Denman ferry built locally in 1913, both sharing the waters of Sydney Harbour for over half a century. They were also employed the waters of Jervis Bay in the operation of HMAS Franklin-Creswell; and were no doubt manned by some of the college's most famous graduates. These included Commodore Sir James Ramsay, later Lieutenant-Governor of Western Australia, Vice Admiral Sir John Collins,  commander of the cruiser HMAS Sydney in WW II and the RAN's representative at the Japanese surrender in 1945, and Harold Gatty. In 1931, Gatty and Wiley Post set a world record for circumnavigating the earth, in 8 days 16 hours, previously held by the Graf Zeppelin airship in 21 days.

Ex-RAN Whaler being restored for the Lady Denman Museum at Vincentia Public School, 1993.

Design History.
The history of the clinker, or lap-strake, double-ended boat dates back to the ancient Viking longboat, and the design was used widely for small pulling or sailing vessels well into the 20th century.
Apart from its specific application as the preferred design for the most extreme maritimel activity, the hunting of whales, it was also used a an all-purpose ship's boat.
With the introduction of steam powered ships the British Royal Navy determined that single multi-purpose boat was required and proposals relating to a suitable hull and rig by Rear Admiral Victor Alexander Montagu (1841-1915) saw the introduction of the Montagu Whaler as the standard design for the British Royal Navy in 1890.
For further information see JBMM Montagu Whaler

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Era Beach Surfboat-Fishing Boat
1994.39
Double-ended  clinker wooden boat, 1939.
Provenance
Built by T.H. Phillips 2 River Street Balmain in September 1937 for Walter Josland, Harry Josland and Dinnie McCauliffe to be used as a fishing boat  launched through the surf at  Era Beach in the Royal Nation Park south of Sydney.
Originally pulled by oars, it was later fitted with a 3.5 hp Tilley inboard motor.
It was sold to Alf Settree of Huskisson, who restored the boat and it was then installed on the upper deck of the Lady Denman as the ferry's tender.
Description
Double-ended  clinker wooden boatt, inboard engine mounts,.

Length:	4980 mm	Beam:	2000 mm	Depth:	1500 mm (est)
	16 ft 4''		6 ft  7''		4 ft 11''

Comments This unique vessel's current location as the Lady Denman's tender is questionable, if not inappropriate. It is oversized, all the known tenders had a transom, and as they were in regular use, they were not fitted with a cover. Design History Photocopies of the builder's accounts and photographs of the boat in use at Era beach are said to be held by the JBMM, however these are yet to be located. See Provenance, above.

Surf-boat, Era Beach circa 1950.

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Pedro
1994.14
Timber sailing skiff, 1960.
Provenance
Built in 1960 by La Perouse Shipwright, Peter Weber, using Queensland maple and cedar from the Nowra area, Pedro was sailed on the Shoalhaven River for eight years.
In 1984 it was found on a local farm by Trevor Fryar who restored the boat with the help from his son Shannon, and sailed the boat for another four years before donating it to the Lady Denman Heritage Complex in 1994.
Description
Queensland maple and Shoalhaven cedar skiff with rudder, centreboard, metal fittings, mast and rigging.

Length:	4360 mm	Beam:	1530 mm	Depth:	710 mm
	14 ft 4''		5 ft		2 ft 4''

Comments An extremely attractive boat, the Pedro is one of only two sailing boats held by the JBMM, the other being the Montague Whaler. Of major concern is the centreboard, which has had a 30 cm - 12'' section sawn off one end, which is fortunately still present. The rigging is in disarray, some of the shackles are missing, they have been replaced with synthetic twine and the rig needs considerable modification and/or adjustment. There are no sails. Design History Unfortunately, the actual design or class of the Pedro is yet to be identified.

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Warren 1994.38.1-8 Clinker skiff with oars and outboard motor, 1940. Provenance Built by Fisher Brothers of La Perose, Sydney in 1940 for L.R. Walton of Brighton Le Sands at a cost of 80 pounds. The Seagull outboard motor was added at a cost of 50 pounds. Used as a fishing boat between Coogee and Ulladulla and later as tender for Mr. Walton's 20ft half-cabin cruiser up to 1980. Sometime before 1994, it was sold to Toby Davis and then collected from his timber yard at South Nowra by Alf Settree of Huskisson and donated to the Lady Denman Maritime Museum.

Description
Timber clinker skiff, oars and row-locks, anchor, fishing gear, British Seagull outboard motor and accessories.

Length:	3120 mm	Beam:	1470 mm	Depth:	620 mm
	10 ft 3''		4 ft 10''		2 ft

Comments
A delightful little craft, its presentation has been significantly enhanced by the recent construction of a new dolly, allowing the outboard motor to be correctly mounted.

Several of the professional fishermen of 50 years ago had served their time as boat builders.
In slow fishing periods they were able to turn their hand to their craft.
The Fisher family, who owned and ran the ferries, built them at La Perouse.
They also towed a boatshed from Sydney Harbour on a punt and re-erected it adjacent to Silver Beach Road in the 1920s.
Bill Fisher built skiffs in this shed that has withstood all storms.
It has been used for a sailing club, for seaweed harvesting and for boat building.
Peter Bracken rented it and built his boats there before moving into his own shed in Ward Street.
Today it is owned by Pete McWilliams, a retired professional fisherman who bought it from Bill Fisher in 1960 and continues to build boats there.
http://www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/history/enterprises/fishing.htm

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Plywood Canoe
1988.615.1
Marine-plywood canoe and double bladed , circa 1960
Provenance
Acquired by the Mulligan family of Peakhurst, Sydney, around 1974 and then used mainly on the George's River.
Restored and donated to the Lady Denman Maritime Museum by Mrs. J. Mulligan in 1989.
Description
Plywood panels over a timber frame fixed with brass screws, splash guard, keel, rear bulkhead with metal bung, three metal cleats.

Length:	3380 mm	Beam:	702 mm	Depth:	330 mm
	11 ft 1''		2 ft 4.5''		1 ft 1''

Keel 80 mm - 3'' Double bladed paddle 2410 mm - 7ft 11.5'', blades 440 mm - 17'' x 150mm -6''. Comments There is some variation discernible in the quality of the finish, suggesting that it was possibly inexpertly re-vanished prior to its donation. Thus the screw-heads have not been properly sealed and they are susceptible to oxidisation.

Design History Dating back to antiquity, the dugout, bark or skin canoe was the basic vessel of aboriginal peoples around the world However, as a recreational craft the canoe captured the imagination of Europe following the publication of John MacGregor’s best-selling A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe in 1866. A clinker oak hull with a cedar deck, the original Rob Roy canoe, built in 1865 by Thames boatbuilders Searle & Sons of Lambeth for John MacGregor’s tour of Europe, is now preserved at the River and Rowing Museum, Mill Meadows, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire.

Rob Roy, 1865. http://canoeracing.org.uk/sprint/index.php/the-macgregor-paddle-challenge/

Around the turn of the 20th century canoe builders used standard plywood laminated between layers of painted canvas to produce a lighter craft, before the introduction of relatively inexpensive marine grade plywood following WW1.

Royal Lymington Yatch Club: Pottership Number 18, Summer 1997, pages 8-9. https://rlymyc.org.uk/Archive/PotterShip/RLymYC_75_Pottership-web.aspx

After the WW2, recreational plywood canoes were ubiquitous on the lakes, rivers and bays of Australia, often available from boat-hire services at resorts, before they were progressively replaced by fibreglass canoes during the 1970s.
With the coming of the 21st century, plastic moulded canoes dominate the recreational market.

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Double Surf-Ski 1993.120 Double Surf-ski : marine-plywood veneer, circa 1950. Provenance Said to be built in Sydney, but used locally for fishing trips to Bowen Island, off the southern point of Jervis Bay. Description Flat deck, chine hull, rounded bottom. Front leather foot-straps @ 4270 mm - 14ft, rear leather foot-straps @ 1221 mm - 10 ft 3'' (from the stern/tail). Four spaced cross panels on the deck, metal bung @ 250 mm - 10'' (from stem/nose), metal bracket at the stern, possibly for a rudder.

Length:	6990 mm	Beam:	650 @ + 709 mm	Depth:	175 mm
	22 ft 11''		2 ft 1.75'' @ + 31''		7''

Comments
Unfortunately, there are no paddles; these are usually about 2450 mm - 8ft long with off-set double blades.
The hull is in reasonable condition, but the varnish on the deck has badly deteriorated and it easily accumulates dust.
Plywood surf-skis were regularly reconditioned at the beginning of each summer, a sympathetic light sanding and re-varnishing of the surf-ski is definitely over-due.
Design History
The surf-ski is a unique Australian surf design, first constructed in timber by Harry McLaren, a Port Macquarie fisherman, to access his oyster beds, circa 1912-1913.
Later constructed of marine plywood, with other locals, he pioneered their use in the surf at Town Beach in the 1920s.
The design was enthusiastically adopted by Sydney lifesavers in the early 1930s, where it was often ridden while standing.
In the 1970s the design was replicated in fibreglass and the surf-ski remains a stalwart of surf lifesaving competition and is now used around the world as a recreational craft.
For further reading, see  A History of the Surf Ski.

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Seabee Runabout (not a small wooden boat).

By definition, the aluminium hulled Seabee, circa 1960, is strictly not part of the JBMM's Small Wooden Boat Fleet. Provenance - Description - Design History This boat has been included on the Australian Historic Vessels Register and the relevant details are available online at Seabee ARHV=HV000522 Comments The condition of the vessel is deteriorating, particularly the timber deck.which lacks any of the original varnish. The steering cables are in some disarray and the controls for the outboard motor have separated from the gunwale, and need remounting. Importantly, the boat requires a suitable dolly.

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Also see:

History: Whales, Men and Boats	Catalogue: JBMM Montagu Whaler #600
Jervis Bay Whaleboat Crew : Project 2015-2019	JBWC : Information for Members

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