Steam Boat S.L. WEAR

Claire's uncle is an avid collector of steam powered cars, trains, tractors, in fact anything he can get his hands on. One of his more recent acquisitions is a steam powered boat. I don't know much about the boat, except that I believe he purchased it from the Port Stephens area (and I may even be wrong on that front!).

When we were visiting in May 2009 we did a good bit of investigating of the shed and we were quite taken with S.L. Wear. So as is my want...photo time...The only trouble taking photos was that with the shed jammed full of steam engines of all shapes, sizes and descriptions, it was hard to 1) get around the place, and 2) take any photos from outside the boat which actually showed it!

...the wheel, which I don't know if you can make out, with "S.L. Wear"" engraved on it...

...and a bit closer, so you can read it...

...a couple of shots looking from the bow to the stern...

  

...James trying to work out the controls...

...and listening intently to how it works...

...I have no idea really how it works, so I'm not going to try to explain exactly what we are looking at in the next two shots, except that it is the engine...

...a couple of shots looking toward the bow, the skipper's view - except picture a idealic beach location in the background instead of the inside of the shed...

...and finally, the stern...

As I was writing this I did a google search on S.L. Wear, just to see if anything came up. Well, I found a link to a model boat company, Float A Boat located in Ringwood, Victoria. They sell plans to build a model steam launch which appears to be the same SL Wear as above...

If it isn't the same SL Wear, it is very similar!

2010 Melbourne Wooden Boat Festival

Last weekend while we were enjoying a lazy Sunday morning, Claire came upon an advert in the newspaper for the Wooden Boat Festival, so we thought it was a lovely day, i like boats and the kids like an outing - so off to The Docklands we went!

It turned out that the Festival wasn't exactly where we thought, so a little walking was around The Docklands precinct was required...the first attraction was the black and white cow up the tree

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of "How much further?" and "Are we there yet?" the Festival came into view...

The Festival was a combination of boats displayed in the water, boats on trailers and marque stalls. There was also a combination of yachts and motor boats (here is where my bias shows - any photos of motor boats were purely accidental!).

The only preclusion to the no motor boat rule was the steam boat. This little beauty was 18ft in length if I remember correctly.

 

The main attraction of the little steam boat was due to the fact that Claire's uncle has a 28ft (i think) steam boat in his shed - which is apparently on the list of steam powered things which may one day be restored...Stay tuned for photos of Claire's uncle's steam boat.

I might just add, that this is more of a pictorial edition that all the in's and out's of the boats - some of the boats may feature in a story of their own at some stage.

We then came across this 14ft daysailer / camp sailer  from Tassy.

 

...Winwward II, a 54ft Bermudan Cutter...

...Sayonara, a lovely looking mid-50-something ft yacht...

...a 20ft, gaff rigged "Friendship Sloop", Hand of Friendship - out of Mordialloc (maybe just across the creek from work - i'll have to keep an eye out!) These are an lovely looking yacht from Maine (USA) with a similar story to the local Couta  Boats, in so much as they were working boats that became a recreational boat with the advent of power boats - I'll find out a little more in time...

...just some impressively bright brass, timber and stainless steel...

...Scimitar, another beautifully presented 50ish ft yacht...

...I don't really know much about this boat, except that it lives in Mordialloc Creek across the road from work...

...an Herreshoff H-28, a classic timber yacht...more about this design to come in the future...

...i just liked the look of this one, i don't even remember what it is...

...a Couta Boat under sail, i was amazed at the speed of these yachts...

...and now for a few that would comfortably fit in the garage at home...wink, wink...

...James thought the blue one needed closer attention...

It has been bought to my attention that the garage at home will not be home to a timber yacht (be it a new construction, complete re-build, renovation or a perfect specimen) until all the current list of projects at home have been completed...oh well, a boy can dream...

And the girls at the end of the day - and yes Emily is in there somewhere...