Noah's Pride

VU's Advanced Boatbuilding hobby class brings depth of experience to a classic craft.

The middle-aged men who meet at Victoria University's Newport Campus every Tuesday night spend their days in routine jobs like accountants, computer specialists and pharmacists.

But once a week, they don tradesmen's overalls to learn the painstaking skills of traditional wooden boatbuilding, and in so doing help preserve an ancient craft.

The teacher they come to learn from is 80-year-old Bill Pride, a man with a never-ending source of nautical knowledge acquired from a lifetime of living and working around ports and boats. Known widely for his distinguished community work in Melbourne's west - especially in his beloved Williamstown - the grandfather of three was bestowed a Medal of the Order of Australia as part of this year's Australia Day celebrations for his service to sailing, particularly the development and promotion of the sport, to Australian Rules football and to the community of Hobsons Bay.

"It's a great honour, but I'm still embarrassed by all that," he says. Bill retired in 1988 after 30 years as a shipbuilder and manager with the Port of Melbourne Authority, but remains young-at-heart with his active schedule. As Williamstown Sailing Club Commodore from 1966 to 1981, Bill introduced a popular learn-to-sail program in 1974, now taught Victoria-wide. After 48 years as a member, the club has become his second home. His other home - a bay-side cottage he has lived in
since 1958 - came with his job when he first moved to Melbourne. Bill still visits the club almost daily. He assists other members with boat repairs, has helped his grandchildren each build their own boat, and gets on the bay to fish as often as he can.

It was natural that a man so highly knowledgeable with boats and respected in the port business would be invited to teach VU's Advanced Boatbuilding hobby class, his labour of love for the past 12 years. Students come from as far away as Barwon Heads on Victoria's south coast.

"A lot of the people in my classes have had no experience using their hands and no idea what boat they want to build," he says.

Everything is done by hand, from drawing up plans on giant sheets of paper to softening timber planks in a steam box and hand-planing oars. Most choose to build a version of a round-bottom skiff, constructing it from hoop pine with traditional clinker construction and copper nails. A few build canoes, dingys, speedboats or more elaborate coota boats - a broad, 19th Century open sailing boat. All boats are shorter than 14 feet.

The average student takes three years to complete their course, given they have only a few hours a week to work on their project. Williamstown accountant Rod Page has been in Bill's class for 11 years, and is now working on his second boat.

"Most of us have never built anything in our lives," Rod says. "There are good nights and bad nights, but patience is your greatest attribute in here."

Bill jokes about those few students who are "utterly hopeless with their hands", and gets them to build model boats before they start on the real thing. He has also been known to come early to class to fix up mistakes before his students arrive.

Word has spread about Bill's course. He can only teach 16 at a time, so his waiting list of hopefuls must wait about two years. "Boatbuilding is a craft that has been around as long as Noah," Bill says. "It's important that someone helps pass these skills along."

ANN MARIE ANGEBRANDT (from VU Connections Winter 2008)