A Tasmanian experience

[Chivs]

Possibly more relevant for the Tasmanians who have been following this post and others that are aware of Launceston and the Gorge. Proof of the Tomboy on the Tamar, we launched at Gravelly Beach and cruised up to Launy on the Sunday, it was about 25 k's and took about an hour of dodging around etc. Its something I wanted to for sometime, as at one point in the Tomboy's history, she was left derelict in the mud on the Tamar before being purchased by the Elliots who transported her back to Hobart and restored her. Thankfully all went well, see you at Narrandera October 2011, cheers.

[Alan]

Chris,
I happened on Bruce putting the steam launch in the water a couple of years ago I think, for either it's first on second outing. We had a chat about it and I got plenty of pics, your right it's not quite the normal style club boat (and certainly not a V8) but I love it, the workman ship is fantastic.
Alan.

[Chivs]

Ahoy there Alan! Glad you liked the steam boat addition and you have also seen it in the flesh. Bruce Jessup's family has a history with racing power boats, in particular "Fury" which is owned by Alan Mansfield in Tasmania. Bruce would like to obtain it from Alan, but of course Alan is reluctant to let it go, where else will he be able to keep all the camping gear etc. (Last time I will mention that!)

Re the Telstar post, I have tried to enhance the photo of the story board without success, so this is what it says for those that may be interested in the correct detail;-
Telstar 25 ft beam 6' 9"
Chev based Daytona Scarab 7.9 ltr supercharged V8 600HP and Casale V drive
Cold moulded plywood built 1968 (England)
Vessel designer - Don Shead
Original owner - Tommy Sopwith (famous car driver)
Current owner - Rob Sherrard

Telstar was designed and built for offshore racing, specifically 1968 Cowes - Torquay race, Britains premier offshore event. She was commissioned by Tommy Sopwith, son of aviator and automobile magnate Sir Thomas Sopwith.
Telstar's innovative design adopted excellent power to weight ratio and followed racing car and aircraft design. Another feature was the driver and navigator stand in tandem with no seating.
The drive system was an untried innovation placing the rudder and prop aft of the transom. The drive was the forerunner to todays semi surfacing props.
Telstar won the Cowes race 31/8/68 in 6 hours and 1 minute. Distance 230miles, avg. speed 38 mph in conditions of strong S/W winds and rough seas. There were 54 starters with half either retiring or sinking!
Telstar was fully restored in the late 1990's and was offered for auction by Bonhams in Sussex in 2008 and sold to current owner and shipped to Tasmania.
Telstar has not been launched since restoration.

[Sunbeam11]

What a great read with excellent pics, thanks Chris. I lu ya work.
THe old Girl LESHELEN certainly puts the poop back into poop deck
What potential though, after seeing some of the beautiful cruisers and motoryachts at the festival, it triggers the mind with polished brass and brightwork on her, but golly.. a poo load of work (no pun intended)
cheers
Peter G

[Chivs]

Ahoy there Peter G, glad again you enjoyed the pics. When are you going to take time out to post some yourself on the epic restoration of Sunbeam? If I can do it, anyone can, Greg has gone to the trouble of explaining how to do it on the BB so get on it. As you know we all love a story with pictures, and after talking to you it sounds like you are doing something special. Hope to see something soon!
Cheers from a not so sunny Tasmainia. (14 and mountain snow, yeah!)

[Sunbeam11]

yeah I know Chris.....but Im slowly moving forward. Being my first resto Im glad I didnt rush in and just start ripping and tearing bits and peices off and stuffing it up, I still could do that....
Ive been in a dilemma from the start.....stiill am in some ways.
I assume a few of you have had similar........
When restoring something special, there comes a point (in the context of future use and longevity) when how much of the original has to be removed or replaced and you somehow feel your losing the originality and character and pettina, but necasary for it not to be a museum peice or trailer queen, otherwise I could have built a new Glen L design......know what I mean....
I could post a few photos of where Im at but I cant get my photos under 100mb???Ive tried but cant... A few tips on how would be great from anyone.
I dont want to hijack this thread if you think a new thread would be more approriate...for the tips
cheers
Peter G

[rayza1]

Don't know if this will help, but i get my photo size down by emailing the ones i want to post back to myself. My email progam automaticaly resizes the pics to a size that i can post. I am using outlook express. I know what you mean about history verses functionality, i'm looking at the way Taurus was built as a racer and if i restore her that way she will be very impactical and as i will sell my other boat she will have to perform as a general purpose runabout. Not sure what to do?

[Alan]

Guys,
I find the easiest way to adjust size is to open them with Microsoft office picture manager, go to edit pictures and then to compress pictures and select what size document you want.

Drop me a line if you want more info.
Alan.

[Chivs]

You are a bit of a wordsmith Pete! too bad you are not a camera/photo/computer smith! I do what Alan does. Hey Ray, now you are the ideas-smith! With the restoration of Taurus, at the end of the day its your boat mate, and most of us agree its great to see them restored and being used. If its going to replace the 'worry' then it should! But if like lots of others who have plenty of room and various boats then the other option, is an option.
I didn't hestitate to make Tomboy user friendly and a great social boat at the same time respecting her original lines as best we could. I'm sure it is getting used a lot more for this reason.
Anyway look forward to the result and the updates Ray, sounds like Brian is keen to give you a hand, don't turn your back on him, before you know it, he will hook Taurus up to his car and be off to the next swap meet. Cheers.

[cbsynboat]

Great photos guys, many great interesting boats, seems things are thriving in Tasmania!

Regards

Chris.