THE BOAT BUILDING SHED

The Queenscliff Maritime Museum’s Boat Building Shed is designed in the same format as old time sheds used by many boatbuilding craftsmen in the 1800s and 1900s, it is 15 metres long by 14 metres wide giving a floor area of 210 square metres.  Murray Pine has been used in the support poles, trusses, rafters, glass panel doors and the wooden portion of the floor. This floor has plugged fastenings and caulked joints as in a ships deck.

The Boat Building Shed project was funded by the Museum, public donations of both money and material and 2000 hours of voluntary labour.  It took 9 months to build. Historical artefacts covering 100 years of our history and related to boat building are housed in the shed including memorabilia of the Queenscliff boat builders

THE COUTA BOAT

The couta boat is an integral part of our history having been developed over the years between 1885 and 1930 by boat builders from Queenscliff to Portland and probably beyond.  As a “barracouta” fishing boat in Bass strait, it proved to be a reliable and very seaworthy boat used on many occasions as a lifeboat and pilot boat,  It was built in various sizes ranging from 20 to 30 feet long and was used for fishing along the coast of Bass Strait and into Port Phillip.

The Barracouta is a large predatory fish which was found in great numbers in the area at the time, but in very much reduced numbers today.

The early couta boats had clinker or lapped planking. From the early 1900s most were being built with carvel (smooth) planking .They were partly decked with a large oval shaped cockpit starting behind the mast and had narrow side decks. The bow was fully decked over to make them seaworthy.

Worked by two men, couta boats were fitted with centre boards and originally Lug Rigged. From the early 1900s Gaff Rigging became more common. The couta boat had a large sail plan, set on a tall mast with a Gaff and Headsail that was hauled out on a long, downward curving, bowsprit.  They carried between one and two tons of ballast, with very long oars (or paddles as they were known).

The couta boat which is displayed in the Museum's grounds was built in the Boat Building Shed. A photo taken during construction is shown at left. It is 26 feet in length with a 10 foot beam and was designed in Queenscliff by boat builder Mitch Lacco in 1920 for local fisherman (and Geelong footballer at the time), Jocka Todd.

There are a large number of couta boat enthusiasts in different parts of Port Phillip and an active Couta Boat Association (CBA). Click here to visit the web site of the CBA.

As mentioned on our home page the picture at the top of the page is of couta boats under sail.