The Boat Shed

The boat shed was built by Ron Bruce and family in the early 90s.
It was built with plans approved by the Douglas Shire.
It is built on the Permit to Occupy 900Sq. M. waterfrontage
Also known as a jetty lease.

It is built with 75mm RHS steel frames set in the concrete slab
With 6” x 2” oregon rafters and battens and clad with colourbond
Corrugated iron. It is about 8.5 meters x 5 meters and 4 meters high.
There are 7 push out corr,iron shutters that let the breeze in .

The power is connected and a rain water tank collects water.
A permanent connection to the Pannikin Creek water line is available,
Mobile phones generally all work OK at the boatshed, while a Telstra in ground phone line is available by application. (the next door neighbours are all connected)

In the big flood of the early 90s the water did not enter the shed, bags of cement laying on the floor did not get wet.

The arrangement of the boatshed site gets good sea breezes by day and the and breezes in the evenings., so that biting bugs are not the problem that some l sites have.. The boat ramp was made in the 90s and several 20ton loads of round river gravel spread on the lower tidal areas, but this needs doing again due to siltation over the stones.
Otherwise boats can be launched and recovered on the remaining hard ground during high tides.
A jetty could be built to access the river, many neighbours have built their own over the years, some didn't’ survive the big 9os flood though.


The grassy areas have gone a bit feral due to lack of slashing over the past five years, regular slashing would see the return of the native grass which is still there below the weeds . The mission horses need to be fenced out as they spread the siclepod weed everywhere they go. The siclepodhas been mowed out a few times before, along with the lantana, but ill health has prevented me from regular slashing every 6 months as needed.
Currently there are a couple of local horses keeping the grass down, (a quieter option).
The grassy area is large enough to play a full size game of soccer or cricket , which was popular with my kids and their friends over the years.

The boatshed has been used as a fishing camp by myself and some old mates for 30 years and by my family while they were growing up on school holidays. The fishing in the river can be very good when all the planets are in alignment. Monsters can be caught (but not landed) on a setline overnight. Trolling for pelagic fish off the river mouth and around the inshore reefs can usually get you at least a feed and some times your quota.
Bottom fishing further out on the nearby reefs (some of which have been closed temporaily) is legendary, as is snorkling on a good day.

A permanent mooring was in place in the river out front of the boat ramp for many years and could be replaced if necessary.

A barbecue/fireplace sits at one side of the concrete slab under the awning and the long table
with deck chairs makes for sociable living, with as mod cons as you want to plug in.

There is quite a collection of usable and abandoned dinghys and tinnies drawn up on the grassy bank... all go with the propery.