Tag: jeff cole

Old postcards: an ‘oil launch’ wins a 1910 regatta prize, Jellicoe and Burton Bradstock

Cause oil launch regatta trophy 1910 Jellicoe postcard

Burton Bradstock postcard

My thanks to regular intheboatshed reader and supporter Jeff Cole for sending over these scans of old postcards. As usual, click on the images for a much larger view.

The trophy is intriguing – who might Mr Cause have been, I wonder, and what would his oil launch have looked like in 1910? I wonder if it was anything like this launch?

If you don’t happen to know the story of Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable The Earl Jellicoe, read about his career here.

There’s an interesting page about fishing at Burton Bradstock including some great photos here, and maps of the area here. I’d guess the boats would be the local crab and lobster boats.

A dockside stroll at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Hobart

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Some more photos from Intheboatshed.net regular Jeff Cole’s disk of splendid photos from the Australian Wooden Boat Festival at Hobart, Tasmania.

Looking at Jeff’s shots of cruising yachts is rather like taking a stroll around the docks at any show of this kind where most of the time, the casual visitor has only a hazy idea of what he or she is looking at. Sometimes the boats in question are beautiful, sometimes they belong to a particular age, and sometimes they spark one’s curiosity.

Jeff seems to be off-line for the moment – I trust he’s ok – but if anyone out there can add any information about the boats in these photos, I’d be delighted to hear from them. Please use the comment link below!

PS – Jeff has kindly risen to the challenge and added some explanations. Click on the comments link below, where he has explained many things. Thanks again Jeff – and no apology needed!

Click on the thumbnails for some nice big photos!

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An oar in the Australian bush carpentry style

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Australian bush carpentry oar

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An oar, and a fine example of Australian bush carpentry, says Jeff Cole

Jeff Cole sails an Iain Oughtred MacGregor canoe and occasionally sends us photos from his wonderful and growing collection of yachting photos from the 19th and early 20th centuries. What’s less obvious is that he also has an interesting line in collecting items of old Australian bush carpentry.

Here’s what he says about the oar in the photo above:

‘This is a vernacular creation, bush carpentry at its most basic, an oar that seems old but it’s hard to tell – but very collectible.

‘I found it on the woodheap at a Mallee (sandy desert without water) clearing sale. The closest water is an irrigation channel, next to the Murray river. It’s six feet long, and made of wood, with iron spikes, some cotton sash cord, a little rubberised canvas, nails and red paint.

‘The roughly shaped triangular “blades” of the oar fixed by iron rod roughly peened over and in some cases using triangular galvanised “roves”. It’s absolutely out of balance, but a prize for my collection nevertheless!

‘Jeff’

Thanks Jeff – now that’ll give all those home boatbuilders something to think about!

For more of Jeff’s contributions, click here.