Preview: Piners’ Punt, A Boat for Tasmanian Loggers
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May 21, 2015
Email this Video to a FriendPiners’ Punts, a Tasmanian boat design, did rugged duty for Huon pine logging crews up Tasmania’s roaring rivers for better than a century. See what went into their construction to make them tough enough to stand up to the many challenges they faced.
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15 Responses So Far to “Piners’ Punt, A Boat for Tasmanian Loggers”
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Allan Horton says:
Wow – a fantastic article, doubly interesting to me because I am planning to visit the 2017 wooden boat show in Hobart, spend several days to a week following the show in Tasmania and then travel up the East Coast of the mainland to the Great Barrier Reef area, probably by rail. At 79 (by then), this is the last “big trip” on my bucket list as I race a potentially terminal cancer for primacy.
Allan Horton
Sarasota, Florida, USA
Robi Warden says:
Hey Allen, did you get to Tassie? Did you travel up the east coast of mainland Australia?
Peter Gossell says:
Great piece ! I love that my old mate Ross is an expert, good on ya Roscoe!
Stephen Conway says:
Great story. Terrific to watch the video and listen to Roscoe provide commentary on the history and construction of these simple but tough little boats.
Geoff Tyson says:
Hi
From 1999 to 2003 I worked as a professional wood turner at Strahan Woodworks. I mainly worked with Huon Pine making souvenirs for the tourists who came tour the river and ride the ABT railway. It was great to work with such a magnificent timber, with sharp chisels it cut easily even in cranky grain but
was occasionally difficult to get a fine sanded finish when the particular piece had a high oil content. It could be up to 7% by volume.
Geoff
Douglas A Lassey says:
These historic asides are one of the reasons I subscribe. There is nothing more interesting
than learning the founding of a beautiful laying of wood. Thank you, DAL
James Vitale says:
Congrats Robert. I was going to take a shot at the city of Franklin. There’s a new historic Wooden Boat Centre there….Love the videos
Chesapeake Jimmy
John Carlson says:
Great video and article. I love this place. Has anyone taken lines, and drafted a plan for this amazing boat?
Gary McDonald says:
Hi John – The Wooden Boat Guild Tasmania sells printed copies of the plans at the Wooden Boat Festival at Hobart. There’s some mor info about the punts and the replica they built on their website at http://www.woodenboatguildtas.org.au/piners_punt.php
Cheers Gary Mac
Steve Stone says:
Robert Edmonds has answered the question in our email correctly, first. Port Davey. Way to go, Robert… another year on your membership on us.
Peter Muras says:
Interesting video and article about this unique craft. It appears that they originated in Port Davey but were more common in Macquarie Harbour.
Shane O'Neill says:
Thanks for the great film. Port Davey, where the first punts are believed to have originated, is a truly beautiful place.
Timothy Daly says:
Port Davey was the original location they were made
Robert Edmonds says:
Port Davey
Steve Stone says:
Nice going Robert. We’ll be extending your current membership with another full year.
Steve