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[Peter Fitness]

Bunkerbarge's post on the Kirklees Hall of Fame got me thinking, and after the headache subsided, I decided to post some photos of models by members of our club, the Ballina RSL Club Marine Modellers, in Ballina on the far north coast of NSW, Australia, which may be of interest to those of you on the top side of the world.
The paddle wheeler was scratch by the late Bill Stringer. Bailey Joseph and Burutu (both scratch), are by Peter Barlow. The fire tender (kit) is by one of our lady members, Christine Read. The corvette is from a Revell plastic kit, motorised and weathered by Barry Blaikie. Hawaiian Pilot is scratch built by Mike Marks, using a plasitc kit as reference. The launching trolley with Dick Francis's Amsterdam on it was built by Keith King, for those of us who are finding the water a little too far down! The steam drifter with the rescue frame is scratch built by Martin Whitehead - I don't know the owner of the broken down speed boat.
Peter.

[bigfella]

Hi Peter

A very nice collection of boats, and to think you are just down the road a piece (so to speak). I really love your rescue frame, a very good idea instead of having a specific boat that rescues any boat can rescue.

I must get my finger out and finish one of my boats so I can come down for a sail with you.

Regards David

[Peter Fitness]

Hi David,
We would love to have you visit us - get on with that model!! The rescue frame was made by Peter Barlow, long time club president, and a founding member of our club. It is quite simple really, made from PVC pipe with foam insulation for protection, and painted green. A strap strategically placed on the recovery vessel holds it in place. It tests your depth perception though, especially when the disabled model is on the far side of the lake; perhaps the mouth of the frame could be wider. We do have a 10 foot tinny with electric motor as well, although this is mainly used on regatta days when we have visitors, and more things happening on the lake, to recover disabled models quickly.
Peter.

[tigertiger]

I can only see one thing that spoils the realism. ???

Your water is TOO CLEAN 

[bigfella]

But we only have clean water in Australia   So to us Down Under it is realistic :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Regards David

[Peter Fitness]

Yes, Tigertiger, I thought that was normal . Our lake is salt water, tidal, fed through pipes from the Richmond River, with quite a few fish in it, so it is clean.
Here are some more photos of our club members' models, plus one of our venue - complete with sunshine, which is also normal .

[Peter Fitness]

Ooops - I hit the wrong button , I meant to add some more photos. Anyway, here they are.
The ex shipping container is our lakeside storage unit, and the mural on it, depicting maritime sceenes of early Ballina, was paid for by the local council.
The grey Amsterdam, as well as the paddle boat in my first post, were built by Bill Stringer, who sadly passed away only a few weeks ago. An excellent modeller, at 87, he was our oldest member, and until a short time before his death, a very active one, always at meetings and ready to lend a hand at any time. He is sadly missed by all of us.
Peter.

[Bunkerbarge]

Peter, absolutely superb shots and so interesting to see that on the other side of the world we are doing pretty much the same thing.  We even use an old container as well for our storage hut!!

You do have a particularly nice stretch of water and good access for launching and recovery.  The rescue raft is also an excellent idea and well worth putting together for those odd occasions when it may be needed.  We tend to end up pushing the dead boat with another but there is always the slight danger of damage if yoyu are not carefull.

Thanks for the pictures, really interesting to see the models compared with those from the Kirklees lads.

[Peter Fitness]

Bunkerbarge, thanks for the comments. My reference to the sunshine being normal has been made a mockery of by the current weather. Thanks to a deep depression off the coast, we are experiencing gale force winds and heavy rain, over 6" so far, and still falling.  It is actually welcome though, (the rain, not the wind) as dam levels are dropping, and summer and the tourist season are not far away. The population of the Ballina / Lennox Head area goes from about 25000 to upwards of 40000 during the Christmas (our summer) school holidays, so pressure on the infrastructure of the region intensifies.
Peter.

[Peter Fitness]

Some more recent photos of boats at our lake, including the new container, complete with mural.

The 3 small boys are my youngest grandsons sailing some of my boats on a freshwater lake only 200 metres from our house. We don't normally use it as it's usually far too busy, but this photo was taken in winter (May this year), when there were few people about.

Peter.