The Marion

A piece of Lorne’s surf and fishing history has arrived at the Men’s Shed, via some exceptional organisation from the Men’s Shed founding father and stalwart, Allan Walls.  Over the next year or so, a superbly built little craft, the Marion, will slowly emerge from its near-forgotten and lonely obscurity on the lower level of Babington’s old sawmill at Wymbooliel on the Benwerrin-Mt Sabine Road.  Just like the ugly duckling became a beautiful swan, it will regain its grace through the largest renovation program the Shedders have yet undertaken.

‘Ado’ and the ‘Marion’

In late 2021, the Lorne Historical Society arranged a mill site visit with its current owner, Adrian Elliott, to learn more about the 19th- and 20th-century Otway timber industry.  Always a sucker for boats, I couldn’t help but notice a dusty maritime relic tucked away on a lower level of the mill.  I remember thinking “… that’s interesting … I wonder what it is?”  … then promptly forgot about it.

A year or two later, when the Co-op discussions were in full swing, and the LHS suggested that a couta boat might serve as a fitting focus for a historical display, I recalled the old boat at the mill.

Thinking it might be an option and knowing that Allan—the human equivalent of a British bulldog who pursues his ideas with grim determination [ref: the Shedders bin lid project, or the Shed itself]—was seeking a renovation project for the Shedders to sink their teeth into, I suggested the old boat might be worth a look.  That was all it took.  Allan was off and running.

After a site meeting with ‘Ado’, and once the provenance of the old girl had been established, Stewart and Tony Stribling … the family had been original owners of the Marion [as we now knew her to be] … were contacted.  Their individual insights follow—each a golden memory of Lorne’s simpler times.  I hope they will forgive my light editing of their responses.

Stewart Stribling wrote the following:

“I went with my father, Hector, to a boat exhibition where he purchased the Marion.  I think he paid about £50 for it.  Hector already had two other wooden boats in Lorne.

I remember when a huge shoal of salmon or mullet were running, and Hector took out the Marion from the main beach.  He strung a large net at the back of the Marion—probably 100 yards long—and he caught about 40 boxes of fish, which he then gave to the Lorne locals.  I remember Roy Harris being with him in Marion on this occasion.

Hector loaned the Marion to the Lorne Surf Club for a couple of seasons, when Don Stewart was in charge of the Surf Club.

I remember when the Surf Club held a mini surf carnival at Lorne Beach.  Don took up the microphone and told the spectators to watch the Marion shoot the waves.  This occurred before Frank Beaurepaire donated the first surfboat to the Lorne club.  I remember Don explaining to the crowd that the club could not afford a surf boat and the Marion was the best they could do.

When Don took the Marion out, he was the sweep oarsman while there were two rowers—Roy Harris was one, but I cannot recall the other.  Don handled her well in the surf, and she was a very stable boat.

Hector also loaned the Marion to several of Lorne’s fishermen, as they liked shoaling nets from her.

I am not sure why my father bought the Marion—perhaps he just liked boats and fishing.

Tony Stribling’s “Marion Memories” add further provenance:

The “Marion” was British Seagull Outboard’s demonstration boat at the 1948 Melbourne Exhibition Buildings Boat Show when it slid down the stairs, damaging the rear of the keel.  Henry Love and his friends used it as the Surf Club’s first surf boat—though obviously [only] in small waves—with a 3-person crew. [Author’s note: Don Stewart’s use would likely have preceded Henry’s].

In my time [1960 onwards], it had a 5hp Seagull motor.  This could be tricky to manage, but I soon learnt that when going over a steep wave and the bow lifted, the exposed spark plug at the stern would dip underwater, cutting the motor.  I had to be ready to call to my two oarsmen to quickly extend the oars so we could get out past the front beach break.  At this time, it lived in my father’s pier-side boatshed along with his larger inboard clinker. 

When Paddy Love retired [Paddy was Bill’s brother and Henry’s uncle], I would give him the boatshed key and the use of the Marion for his trips to the back of Point Grey.  He loved being back out to sea and looked after the dinghy as if it were his own.  After periods of low use, the hull would need to be filled with water for several days to swell its planking and make it water-tight.

I remember that Barry Morton and I would cover the floorboards with large flathead at the George mouth in quick time, though we would have thrown back today’s size fish.  This must have been about 1964, before Barry tragically killed himself when speeding on the Deans Marsh Road.

The Marion then sat unused on a trailer in the back shed at “Yuruga” [Author’s note: Yuruga was the Stribling home next door to the Pacific Hotel, now just a fallow building site], as its 5-knot speed became an embarrassment in the speedboat era.  When my brothers sold “Yuruga” and its sheds in 2001, I was left with the task of clearing out any assets and removing the rest.  Adrian [Ado] Elliott—who was involved with the Myer family at Benwerrin—bought the Marion, intending to recondition her for use on a dam at the Myers’ short-lived Benwerrin retreat.  As that never eventuated, she was stored at Ado’s old sawmill site. 

As she is a classic-style dinghy with a significant history at the surf club, it would be great to prevent her from rotting away in a shed.

When GORCAPA showed no interest or foresight in incorporating the renovated Marion in the ‘new’ Co-op building—the first proposal—Allan turned to Heath Armstrong, the current President of the Lorne Surf Lifesaving Club.  Heath had no hesitation and promised the support of the club, pledging to fund the Men’s Shed restoration project and proudly showcasing the finished Marion at the club as Lorne’s first surf boat.

The Shedders, the town, and the Stribling family are all profoundly grateful to Heath and the LSLC committee for their willing support and for providing a permanent future home for this exquisite craft.

John Agar

Feature Writer

A word from the chairman

Hello

Well, quite a start to the year it has been thus far!  As well as our normal challenges of dealing with a huge influx of visitors (whom we love!), we have had to deal with bushfire threat, then flooding (minor in Lorne) and then bushfire threat again.  Thankfully no locusts or toads just yet!  But now we face an equally destructive threat to our businesses and our local economy, the misreporting and over catastrophising by mainstream media of the weather events which have recently impacted Surf Coast communities.

I am in no way downplaying the severity of the bushfires and the floods, the destruction and pain felt by our inland and coastal communities, nor the personal loss and suffering of many. What I am criticising is the misreporting of the situation by mainstream media.  When incidents in the Otways are reported, invariably the towns of Lorne and Apollo Bay are rolled in even though there has been no direct (or indirect) impact to our communities.

While the vision of a helicopter hauling battered cars and caravans out of the surf makes for good television, it also sends a signal to viewers that the whole Surf Coast is a disaster zone and to stay away.  When cub reporters, keen to make their mark, talk about the devastation in the region, do they or their bosses think about the impact their catastrophic reporting is having on our local businesses.

For example, in Lorne the only ongoing impact of the bushfires and floods this summer is that one of our four caravan parks is closed.  Yet our local businesses are seeing substantial drops in patronage and revenue (in some cases more than 50%).  Many of these businesses rely on this time of year to fund them through the quiet times of the year ahead.

I urge all media outlets to get their information from credible local sources.  I also urge the government to consider a voucher scheme to encourage visitors to visit and spend on the Surf Coast.  A modest amount of $10 million could provide 1,000 x $100 vouchers to be spent on the Surf Coast.  That would be a good start and would hardly dent our Federal and State budgets.

And let’s get the message out there “LORNE AND APOLLO BAY AND THE OTHER COASTAL COMMUNITIES ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS.  WE WANT YOU AND NEED YOU TO VISIT.  LOVE LORNE”!

*****

Our cricketers had a resounding 161 run win against City United last Saturday at Stribling Reserve with stellar bowling performances from our young guns Zavier Hollmer (5/18) and Jack Heathcote (2/10).  Having secured their place in the finals with three games to go, the Dolphins are looking forward to a top of the table clash with Apollo Bay on Saturday February 14 for the Coastal Cup and annual Pink Stumps Day.  This special event is to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation.  It will be a great day for a great cause.  Tickets can be purchased through – https://tinyurl.com/pink-stumps.

Cheers

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

February

15 Deans Marsh Vintage & Pre-loved Market, 10am – 2pm at Deans Marsh Reserve

March

22 Deans Marsh Festival, Live music, local harvest, market stalls, dog jumping, kids events and much more. 10am – 3pm at Deans Marsh Reserve.