Donkey's Sawmill-Cygnet Wooden Boats

RESTORATION

14 Apr

This is *TE UIRA* (usually shortened in Australia to *UIRA*) She was built by C.& W. Bailey and launched on 17th October 1896 for Gidgeon Palmer of Melbourne as a 5 rater. She was taken across by the steamer *TARAWERA* with Chas. Bailey Jr going with her to settle her in. She was quite successful in Melbourne but came up against *SAYONARA*, the bigger Fife-designed cutter.She raced in Melbourne with the St. Kilda club for many years, converted to a Marconi rig in 1925.

(click images to enlarge)

As part of the Maritime Trail, conducted by the Australian Wooden Boat Festival last weekend, I had the pleasure of running a one day workshop on Maritime Photography.

I am confident in my photography skills, and also comfortable with my sailing credential, however the two rarely intersect and so it was a challenge for me as well as the participants. We pressed ahead and thankfully the feedback has been positive.

The practical component of the course involved letting the eight participants loose in the Sheds at Cygnet wooden Boats owned by master shipwright Jeremy Clowes. What a goldmine of subject matter to be unleashed upon!

The pictures in this article are my brief attempt to capture the essence of this wonderfully evocative piece of Tasmania’s wooden boat history.

I was keen to know more about the shed so I asked Colin Grazules, a Tasmanian local, wooden boat historian and author who was conducting tours of the shed, what he knew.

“Unfortunately little is known of the shed's early history.
When Jeremy was looking to rebuild the oldest part of the shed the council stated that there was an existing permit for a residence on the site that dated back to the 1880's and indeed we discovered what was most likely the original shingled roof under a covering of tin roofing.
There is also community information that says the original use for the shed was for Coach Building but this is not confirmed.
We do know that when Jeremy purchased the shed 10 years ago it had been used as a Sawmill with the large kiln at the rear of the property being used to burn the offcuts to create charcoal which was also sold along with the milled timber.
It’s known to the locals as Donkey's Sawmill. Donkey Gordon being the owner!”