The Wooden Boat Center of Tasmania

There is a fascinating place in Franklin, just of the road from us on the Huon river. The Wooden Boat Center of Tasmania offers a place to learn about wooden boat building by taking a tour as I did, or by enrolling in a course and building your own.

The boat above, made from huon pine, king billy pine and celery top pine (all of which are conifers, none of which are actual pines) is a thing of beauty. As you can see it is riveted together so that once the wood is wet and swells a bit, it'll be watertight.



I learned that it costs $4,000 to take the course to build such a boat. If you want to take the boat home with you at the end, you must but the materials. This is another $10,000. So, for the price of a used car, you can learn to build a boat and take it home for your very own.

This boat building space has three main areas: the one seen in the photo below where a similar boat is under construction, a larger area in the back for bigger boats where one is being repaired now, and a workshop off to the side with the power tools (saws and such) for shaping the wood.

Notice that unlike Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the boats are built rightside up. The frames for the hull are suspended from the ceiling while the outer hull is made and will be eventually removed.

Here is a viking, or clinker, style boat (symmetry front to back) that has had the outer hull finished and riveted and now awaiting the inside and top rail to be added.

In a larger space, a boat is being reclaimed from what we were told was a near death experience. Down below, you can see where the dragon head of (the viking boat?) is begin carved.

I don't know what this fellow is doing, but it is pretty.

Out by the river, a line of boats are moored awaiting the owners to take them away for a ride.

Walking a bit farther out the pier, we see the Huon River looking to the north east toward Hobart. Although you can see this from where we are staying (look carefully at the sunrise/set photos), it is easier seen here...in the center of the frame is a couple mountains that resemble a woman lying on her back (her chest is to the left).

I'm sure that the gender of the figure seen here was invented by men, probably sailors.