Phil Marsh

Senior Sea Scout

 

I was a Cub and Scout at 1st Five Dock; a combination of white ants destroying the original hall at 2nd Abbotsford, and 1st Five Dock not having a Scout Leader brought the two scout troops together under Kevin Powell around the about the 1960-61 Australian Jamboree.

Subsequently becoming a Senior Sea Scout at Port Neptune I was introduced to overnight hikes in Blue Gum Forest with Vegemite always on the menu; sailing in the Groups 12 foot skiffs “Neptune” and “Squire”, on the river, in Sea Scout Regattas including Port Macquarie and at the 12 Footers next door. The skills I learnt at 2nd Abbotsford gave me the opportunity to race 12, 16 and 18 foot skiffs, and I am still competing in a Laser fifty-one years on.

I have much to be thankful to 2nd Abbotsford for: camaraderie, sailing and camping skills, examples of excellent dedicated leadership to look up to and lifelong friendships with a number of my fellow “Port Neptune Senior Sea Scouts”.

 

David Riley

Queen’s Scout Certificate

Derek Graff, Ronnie Bailey and myself (David Riley) all went through Port Neptune at the same time in the 60’s. We all got our Queen’s Scout Certificates at the same time in about 1967.  Our leaders were Kevin Powell and Peter Blakeney who were terrific men.

My years at 2nd Abbo were great and certainly changed my life in many ways.  The things I learned in those years [have] all been part of my life.  I loved the sailing, the surf boat camps on the Hawkesbury and all the other camps and Jamborees we did.  I can still do most of the knots and lashings we learned back then.

I’ve still got my Queen’s Scout Certificate framed and hanging on a wall in my house and I’ve even got my old uniform shirt with the badges on it.

 

Alan ‘Sandy’ Sandell

Pictured three Founding Members –

Alan, Ron and David Sandell

 

Ron, David, Lorna (mother), Fred (father) and Alan Sandell

From the Crowsnest –

This chat is written, chaps, firstly because it might sound a bit melodramatic if it were spoken and secondly because the next phase is going to be so important in the history of our Troop that mere words might be too easily forgotten.

In the past 18 months we have worked hard and played hard together at this scouting job of ours…and we may have asked ourselves occasionally: where is it leading us? What are we accomplishing? Is it worth the effort? Let us face a few facts together.

You remember 18 months back how we were all pulling wildly out of time…or not pulling at all.

Some stood up and rocked the boat. Everybody blamed everybody. Then one Saturday afternoon we got together and had a meeting. We decided to pull together…that was 18 months ago. Think for a moment all that has been accomplished since then. You have laid the foundations to something you can rightly be proud of. You ARE the foundations upon which our strong Troop rests.

Congratulations men. But we must see this last 18 months in its right perspective. It was vitally necessary to set for the coves coming after us, a standard. To make habits for the Troop that tomorrow will be traditions. To carve grooves for those coming on, to run smoothly in. You have accomplished these things…and more. But this effort has kept our heads down. Soon, with the inauguration of the ‘Swordfish’ Patrol we must lift our heads and look for the real meaning of scouting…INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP. Then and only then can we feel we are carrying out the job of scouting as ‘The Chief’ visualized it 30 years ago.

Sadly we watch another war sweep millions of the world’s finest young men into Eternity. It’s ghastly! It’s wrong. But it only strengthens our belief that the principles of scouting are right.

Nations grow up to themselves…intolerant…without trying to understand other peoples. Hatred is easily fostered. Wars can’t stop this hatred, they merely ferment it. But scouting can. If the youth of every nation served such a common ideal…met together often…wrote each other…understood each other…how would wars be possible? Could you kill your friends? This aim then, together with the smooth running of the Troop should be a challenge to the ‘Swordfish” Patrol. Towards these sacred ideals is scouting leading us.

What are we accomplishing? Besides having a lot of fun, sailing, camping, hiking and yarning together…what are we doing that shows immediate return for our efforts?

Firstly, we have in our Ship a potential training ground of which we can be tremendously proud. With our own hands we have made it as it is today…unique, efficient, comfortable and smart. A landmark of definite and increasing interest on one of the prettiest parts of Sydney’s waterfront.

Secondly, the ‘Wilfred Dunbar”, our boat, is a tribute to your care and attention. Up and down the river she’s known as a ‘smart boat’ whether she’s rowed or sailed.

Thirdly, we have a grand lot of youngsters under our care, who are responding well to our efforts to teach them what we know of scouting. Youngsters who will prove a credit to our methods and teachings. The character training they are receiving is obvious…if you will observe.

Fourthly…between ourselves, firm real friendships exist.

These tangible facts, plus a widening circle of public interest, are some definite, obvious returns for our efforts. But what of the future? Can’t you see Port Neptune just as we’ve planned? An efficient training centre with showers, baths, boat shed, boats, a carpentry room …a boys’ Paradise. One place we can always come back to and be sure of meeting real friends. A place where we can proudly croak when we’re 99 to our tenderfoot grandson “Yairs Johnny, I helped to build ‘er meself I did”.

It’s all possible if the foundations stand firm. If the cement of their friendship is strong enough. If the Swordfish will see it through.

I’m SURE it’s worth the effort.

Alan “Sandy’ Sandell

Retyped 3.9.2012 from original document.

 

PORT NEPTUNE TROOP SONG

Chorus

Cheer, Cheer, for old Port Neptune

Wake up the echoes sing all in tune,

Send the volley cheer on high

Shake down the thunder from the sky,

What tho’ the odds be great or small

Old Port Neptune will win over all

While her loyal sons are marching

Onward to victory!

Source: a book of songs created in the 1940’s by one of the founding Sandell brothers, David Sandell.

 

Far left Jack Ellis, next to Alan Sandell. Other three men unknown.

 

Peter ‘Fossil’ Blakeney

Venturer Leader
1st Iron Cove Venturers

Here is the story about the Abbotsford Scout ‘Hughes’.

Don Hughes is his father; I cannot remember the boy’s name. He was in church one morning when an elderly gentleman had a heart attack. The boy, who I think was twelve at the time, gave the gentleman CPR and revived him. Unfortunately, he passed away a week or two later. The boy was nominated and received an award from the Scouts for his action.

 

Robert Johnson

Ex-Scout Member

Years before I turned 8 y.o., I was already familiar with 2nd Abbotsford due to my cousin Kevin Powell being a member and the whole Powell family were active in the group.  I fondly remember the stall that the Mothers’ ran during the weekend of the Port Neptune Regattas.  It was an endless supply of yummy cakes, biscuits, toffees, etc.

At this time Andy Walker was the highly respected Scout Leader running a very competent troop.  He was in the Rovers and a popular activity was to launch the whaler, (an extremely heavily constructed boat designed for chasing whales at sea).  Andy and the Rovers would tie a kerosene lantern on top of the bow and row this heavy boat from Abbotsford Point to the Harbour Bridge and return on a Friday night.  No doubt these young men developed muscular bodies over the years and slept well on those nights.  Back then in the late 1940’s early ’50’s there was not the harbour or river traffic at night like there is now, and the authorities would absolutely spit the dummy at such an activity.

I join Cubs in May 1952 and Pete Bashford was the new Scout Leader.  I remember not long after he sold his 1928 Willys he acquired a 1948 Ford and he took some of the Cubs for a day to Balmoral Sea Scouts for their regatta.  I tell you, arriving in Balmoral in a 1948 Ford in those days was something as commodities were still in short supply due to World War 2, and industry was just getting into stride.

By 1955, Kevin Powell was already the Scout Leader when I was invested into Scouts at Camp Coutts, Waterfall.  Kevin found that when Pete had to leave the Group due to his occupation, there was no one willing to take on the job, so at 14 y.o. Kevin became Scout Leader, a position he held for many years, followed by Group Leader, District Leader and Branch roles.  For many years Kevin used to arrange camps and hikes, close to once a month.  Therefore the Troops camping skills were honed to a high degree.

Around the late 1950’s early ’60’s we participated in the annual Drummoyne District Camps.  2nd Abbotsford had won 2 of these camps in a row and the third camp was held at Camp Coutts.  We trained it to Waterfall and hiked to the campsite carrying all our camp gear and food on the Friday night.  By mid Saturday morning we were hit with a howling Southerly and torrential rain.  I’ve never seen gum trees bend so far in the wind, before or since and the order was given to collect very large rocks and place them on top of the tent pegs now in rain sodden ground.  Deeper trenches were dug around the tents and drained away.  The tents were blown concave on one side like a full sail on a boat, and the other side convexed like a spinnaker.  A couple of large fly’s were erected over the fire and galley area (can’t say kitchen in a sea scout group) and the fire was never allowed to go out the entire camp.  Dead fallen trees were searched for as these are usually dryish on the underside and were then cut and placed around the fire for drying prior to being used as firewood.  A  20 litre drum of hot cocoa was kept at one end of the fire 24 hours a day and accessible to anyone who felt like a hot drink in such miserable weather.  Sunday it just rained and rained with strong squalls, and the little creek upstream usually around 10 cm deep was now raging at 1.2 to 1.5 metres deep.  To our surprise we saw some Troops had tied ropes across the creek and were evacuating the camp.  It was amazing that nobody was swept down the creek that day.  The water was up to the necks on some of those boys.  We in contrast dug in and rode the weather out and were reasonably dry.  Monday morning a wind change from the west had cleared the sky to blue.  After breakfast we walked around the entire Camp Coutts and witness flattened tents, ripped tents flapping in the breeze and at the other end of the camp we came upon 1st Leichhardt Sea Scouts with Skip Roberts.  We were amazed that everybody had left, except the two Sea Scout Groups.  So we knew that we had won the district camping competition for the third time running, only to be told later by those land-lubbers that the camp was cancelled!

We had a camp at Narrabri west of Dubbo.  We caught a steam train, then railmotor to Dubbo, picked up by the local Scout Group on a truck and driven to Narrabri and way out some where in a paddock.  That night we had a wide game, where the Narrabri Scouts had to sneak in to our area and blow out our lantern.  We set up trip wires with rattling tins, and a ghost made from overalls and a billy for a head like Ned Kelly.  When somebody came close to the ghost which was connected to two pulleys between two trees, the ghost would swing across close to that person, a light would briefly flash onto the ghost and all sorts of haunting noises would ring out.  The effect on those boys was far greater than we ever envisaged.  On the way home the trains were late and the first thing most of us knew, were our parents frantically trying to wake us up, 10:00 o’clock at Central Station.  That’s proof of a high activity fun camp.

Running a Sea Scout Group costs money to cover building maintenance, renovations, camping gear, and ongoing boat repairs.  A source of income back then was the collecting of mainly beer bottles which was sold to bottle collection yards.  This involved the Group door knocking an entire weekend and some occasions two weekends to raise sufficient funds.  This was hard tiring work which was really a huge effort for a small gain.  My Father, Jack Johnson who went on to be Group President, had an idea.  Why not tap into the known local drinkers and collect their beer bottles on a regular basis and store them in people’s backyards as depots, until tens of thousands of bottles had been acquired.  Then trucks (Bruce Sheldrick had one of those trucks) were organised and we shifted the lot and with agreement with the Rowing Club to use their area as storage for the Bottle Yards to collect the next week.  This increased our income ten fold and in comparison, the benefit for effort was so pleasing.

We bought an old surf boat from Bondi Surf Club in the early 1960’s, a renovators delight so to speak.  This was so that at regattas particularly we would not have any members left on shore who did not want to be there.  The idea was successful, and a few years later we heard of 3 new surf boats that were up for sale due to the design being not so compatible in surf conditions.  Once purchased these were ideal for us and were used for sailing and rowing.

The old original hall was becoming infested with white ants and eventually Drummoyne Council advised that the hall will be condemned.  I remember one night Gordon Bailey playing humpo bumpo, and on one hop his foot went clean through the floor up to his knee.  President Jack Johnson had discussions with the Mayor Charlie Halliday and it was arranged that a Council work building would be transported to the Abbotsford site.  Vandals became a persistent problem, so Jack had discussions with Rotary who arranged for a manproof fence enclosing the hall and the volunteered built boat shed.

By 1968 all my mates had girlfriends and were not attending meetings and so after 16 years I pulled out to.  Later when my two sons were Cub age from 1989, I later become Cub Leader at Tambourine Bay Sea Scouts for 17 years.

Yours in Scouting, Robert Johnson

Original Boat Shed (provided by Ron and Sue Sandell).

 

Andrew Durran

Ex-Scout Member

My scouting years are some of my fondest, and set me up for a life long love of the environment, an active lifestyle, an invaluable set of skills (including how to tie a sheep-shank and butterfly knot), a spirit of adventure and a quest for travel and new experiences.

I will never forget the fear of learning to sail in a sabot at Port Neptune, as a relatively tall boy (now a 6’4″ adult) I’ve a life-long dread of small spaces which I’m sure stemmed from this boat.  I still remember the terror of the razor-sharp hi-field lever for a small bailer boy on the surfboat Neptune, screaming (literally) down the river and petrified of the apocalypse that capsizing meant to an inexperienced sailor.

Over the years, this developed into the joy of capsizing and bailing out the old girl on more than one occasion, often wondering whether the buckets were gaining or not. Eventually this turned into the shear bliss of flying past Searles Monument with the main sheet in one hand, out on the trapeze, at one with the wind – the dulcet tone of the trapeze wire humming, the always unexpected twang as it snaps, and the spa-bath indulgence as you see the gunwhale disappear above you (sound in the knowledge that you’re still holding the main sheet).

Of course, our experiences were not just at Port Neptune, and ranged from sailing, canoeing, rowing, camping, hiking, abseiling, caving, mapping, navigating, and all manner of other “ings”. For a boy-turned-young-man from a household which did not know what a tent peg was, and didn’t like the feel of the sand on a beach, this opened a world of opportunity and provided a compass for life.

I cannot thank my leaders, in both Sea Scouts (Geoff Moxon) and Venturers (Peter Blakeney) enough for their effort, dedication, experience, spirit, and wisdom. That was all more than 20 years ago – now on the right side (older side) of 40, I often wonder where I would be without their invaluable mentoring which comes at what is a critical time in any child’s development.

I hope the opportunities that I had will continue to be available for the next 80 years as they have been in the last 80, It seems even more important in todays break-neck world than it was back then.

Congratulations to Port Neptune and all of the people who have helped build it over the years.

Cheers, Andrew.

Keith Bashford

Ex-Scout Member

 

When I joined 2^nd Abbotsford, in about 1945 or 1946, the scout hall, or “The Ship” as it was known, consisted of two buildings remaining of the old Abbotsford tidal swimming pool which was built around 1907. By the mid 40’s the pool enclosure had been demolished, leaving just the impressive sandstone sea-wall and two ageing weatherboard buildings.

 

The area, to the West of the main hall and at the foot of the steps down from the park was, at that time, a flat grassed area with a tall flag pole at its centre. Parades, team games and other outdoor activities were regularly held on that ground.

 

As things recovered after the war and materials became more readily available it was decided to build a boatshed. My father, John Bashford, undertook to design, gain Council approval and build a boatshed roughly where the current boat shed now stands. Subsequently a slipway was also built from the boat shed to the water. This slipway was always too steep for easy handling of boats.

 

When I first joined the Troop; which was only shortly after the end of WW2, literally everything was in short supply. Building materials were very restricted and one had to line up early for the few non-essentials that came on the market. I well remember lining up from about 6am at Paddie Pallen’s camping gear shop near Wynyard, to buy a sleeping bag.

 

The Scouts had three boats at that time – a very old rowing boat about 18 ft long, an old but serviceable 16ft sailing skiff, and a dilapidated ancient 12ft sailing skiff. Storage of boats was a problem as two of them were kept

in the main hall and had to be moved outside for every meeting then brought back in again!

 

Parramatta River

Continued by Keith Bashford

Throughout the time that I was a Sea Scout, about 1947 to 1956, the river was still an important route for commercial shipping:-

• Colliers brought coal from Newcastle mines to the Australian Gas Light Company’s plant at Mortlake, now the modern residential area known as Breakfast Point.
• There was a large wire works, and Nestle’s Chocolate factory on the shores of Abbotsford Bay; – both areas are now packed with home units.
• A paint factory in Hen & Chicken Bay, the State Abattoirs at Homebush, and many more factories still used the river as an important route to transport materials.
• The Halverson brothers were building their beautiful motor cruisers (now heritage boats) near the Ryde Bridge.

Three busy little wooden tugs, the Vim, the Van and the Valliant,

regularly delivered barges loaded with timber and other raw materials up the river. Recreational boating was slowly recovering after the war years. Several rowing clubs and sailing clubs were active in the area. Few people owned their own pleasure craft, hence there was an active business in hiring out small motor boats.

The roof of Bailey’s Boatshed and the weather shed (see above) on the old wharf can be seen in the first photograph. Baileys’ hired out little motor boats in addition to their main business of repairing and building wooden boats.

The second building (pictured below) was to the South of the main hall, running parallel to the

cliff face and was on land about 1m higher than the main hall. This building contained a kitchen, so the Scouts referred to it as “The Galley”. The following snap (see below) shows the entrance to this building with refreshments being brought down, probably for a social event attended by the Scouts’ parents and friends.

Extract from Keith Bashford’s memories of Scouts. See our Website for the full story and this newsletter.

www. seascouts.org.au

Further contributions are welcome.