Junk for Code : Victor Harbor Council + Rambler

looking for something firm in a world of chaotic flux

Victor Harbor Council + Rambler « Previous | |Next »

May 26, 2011

Though junk for code is about our visual culture and photography I sometime blog about local issues at Victor Harbor. These have been about the impacts of rising sea levels on the coastline. See here and here.

Gary Sauer-Thompson, Rambler, rubbish dump, Victor Harbor, 2011

This post is about protecting heritage --or more specifically preserving South Australia's maritime heritage. In this case it is about the boat Rambler which was built by Peter Sharp at Cruickshanks Corner, Port Adelaide, in 1875 and is possibly Australia’s oldest racing yacht. That is something worth preserving.

When Searles Boatyard in Port Adelaide was shut down to make way for the now stalled Port Waterfront Redevelopment, people from the Victor Harbor Council offered to take Rambler as a restoration project. The Council, rather than working on a restoration project has dumped Rambler in its council dump unprotected even though the boat is part of SA's and Australia's maritime heritage.

See what I mean about not preserving SA's maritime heritage? My Flickr stream has more background on Rambler.

| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 3:11 PM | Permalink

| Comments (4)

Comments

Is the Rambler being restored, Gary?
I have wonderful memories of childhood holidays around Aldinga/Encounter Bay/Victor Harbor in the 1960s and 70s...sad to see the erosion.

Posted by: Faisal | May 26, 2011 5:58 PM

Faisal,
I'm not sure about the restoration. There is little sign of it happening.Rambler is more or less dumped. The Victor Harbor Council has not got back to me. So I don't know why they are not engaged in the promised restoration project.

Yes the erosion is becoming quite noticeable. Just the natural ebb and flow the locals say. Nature works in cycles. I inclined to believe that there is more going on here than the cyclical ebb and flow of nature.

Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson | May 26, 2011 6:23 PM

How come the whole of Victor Harbor can't get behind a restoration project? Whenever communities find the heart to, outcomes are fruitful.
There's more going on than any of us knows, and perhaps we've caused it all, putting money and power first.

Posted by: Faisal | May 27, 2011 8:56 PM

Faisal,
I don't know why the volunteer part of the restoration never got off the ground. Wrong Council is one guess. A much better council would have been the Alexandrina Council in Goowla which is situated on the river Murray near the mouth.

There are lots of boaties there and many of them are engaged in restoration.

Posted by: Gary Sauer-Thompson | May 28, 2011 3:32 PM