By KATH GANNAWAY
A FORMER sea captain from Warburton has delivered a replica of a Gallipoli lifeboat to the Shrine of Remembrance.
Captain John Larsen, a master boat model builder, crafted the Devanha boat from timber reclaimed from a descendant of an original Gallipoli Lone Pine.
The pine stood for decades at the Shrine in Melbourne before it died about two years ago and returned as the model on Thursday 14 April.
The timber was rescued by Tim Kennedy at the former Bowerbird Timber at Millgrove and has been used for a number of relevant projects.
Launching the boat on Wednesday at the Warburton Men’s Shed, Captain Larsen said the scale model of the last remaining Devanha boat was modelled on an original boat that has been rebuilt and is on display at the Shrine.
The one-tonne lifeboats from the troopship Devanha were about 10 metres long and took around 30 men and their packs.
They were used to ferry troops between ships and Gallipoli’s beaches.
The merchant navy captain is a regular at the men’s shed and he thanked the members who he said had helped during the project.
Mr Kennedy said the model, which took more than 18 months to complete, was a tribute to Capt Larsen’s exceptional boat-building skills.
“Projects like this allow groups such as the men’s shed to get directly involved with maintaining our history and our heritage,” he said.
He said the ongoing use of timber from heritage trees and maintaining traditional skills was tremendously important and the boat was a great example of that collaboration.
“Pine is not normally a timber that you would build boats out of, it doesn’t bend very well,” he said.
“But this is a great example of the kind of skills John has.”
Following the tradition of a woman breaking champagne over the bow of a new boat to bring luck, Warburton business woman Liz Rogers poured champagne over the bow.
She said it was a great honour.
“It is a privilege to be asked to take part in a ritual that is about the luck of the boat,” Ms Rogers said.
“John’s workmanship is amazing and for this to be going to the Shrine to be on display is just wonderful.”
For more on the story of the Devanha lifeboats visit the Australian War Memorial page at http://bit.ly/261min0.
