This sign was on the iceworks building at the Fishermans Wharf in Paynesville

Speedboat racing was very popular at Paynesville from the 1930s onward and continues to this day

Photograph of speedboats racing

The annual regatta circuit of the Gippsland Lakes was very popular with holiday makers and racing would typically attract 3000 spectators to watch. Races were held for both sail and power boats

Advertising poster on thick paper

The drawing board was used to prepare drawings of the parts of the boat so the boat-builders knew what to make.

Wooden drawing board, tee square and instruments

Boat-builders use the irons to push caulking cotton ito the seams between the planks of the hull to prevent water leaking in

Set of steel caulking irons

Typical of the small toolbox that boat-builders took to the confined areas when working on boats

Wooden toolbox containing boat building tools

At Paynesville the local craftsmen built fishing boats, steamers and workboats and (later) pleasure boats using traditional methods.

Photograph of boat-builder standing beside newly completed pleasure boat

This bench has been reconstructed using materials from a local boat-builders bench.

Boat-builders workbench and tools

The fishing boats of Paynesville were small to be able to get into the shallow water where the fish would be located. Upwards of 50 boats were fishing from Paynesville circa 1900

Photo shows a fishing boat circa 1910

The half model is the traditional way for boat-builders to shape a boat before starting construction.

Half model of fishing boat mounted on backing board

On the Gippsland Lakes fish were caught from small (7m) boats and packed into baskets or boxes on the jetty before shipment to Melbourne.

Photo shows fishermen and boats at a local jetty.

This fish box is as taken from a Paynesville fishing boat circa 1960.

Wooden fish box containing fishing net and a lamp

Peter Tierney built the SS Gippsland at the Paynesville Slip to the design of Victor Gotch in 1908. Photo shows the shipwrights standing on the scaffold in front of the ship.

Photograph of SS Gippsland in build.

The SS Gippsland was built at Paynesville in 1908 for the Gippsland Lakes trade and was capable of carrying 450 passengers on the tourist journey from Bairnsdale to Lakes Entrance.

Photograph of steamer "Gippsland"

Photo shows the steamer "JCD" deteriorating on the MacMillan Strait foreshore somewhere around 1960. It was later removed and burnt.

Photographic image

This model of the steamer "JCD" was locally made to record the type.

Model of steamship, in glass case

This bollard is from the steamer "JCD" and served both to tie mooring lines and to feed them through. It was recovered from the MacMillan Strait some years after the "JCD" was removed from the water and burned.

Cast iron bollard

Photo shows fish baskets being unloaded from the Gippsland Lakes steamer "JCD" at Sale after trans-shipment from Paynesville for the Sale train.

Fish were transported tot he Melbourne market in these wicker baskets with layers of bracken fern between the fish. The last known shipment opf fish in baskets from Paynesville was around 1900 as after that the woodedn fish box was introduced.

Regional fishermen supplied fish to the Melbourne market in these cane baskets. The basket had a flat lid (we are searching for a lid) and bracken fern was packed between the fish as ice was not available at the time. Photos show that fish boxes were introduced in 1900 and no post 1900 photos of baskets in use have been found.

The baskets were mainly destroyed once boxes were introduced and only two baskets have been found. .

Oval shaped large wicker work basket