OFF had an emergency situation with the speaker at this meeting . Dr Jan Kreibich (OFF research grant recipient) who was to speak on “What happens to large floodplain wetlands when the floods they depend on become smaller, less frequent, and less seasonal?” called in sick at the last moment and unfortunately couldn’t speak on the night.
However, our resourceful Program Officer Adrian Polhill hastily arranged another speaker for the meeting, albeit on a vastly different topic. Adrian arranged for Greg Jackson from the Australian National Maritime Museum to speak and present on the topic, “Are Convict Ships Better?”. You must admit you had never contemplated this question. But as you may remember, Greg has presented to OFF before (Pleasure Grounds of the Georges River) and to the Oatley Heritage and Historical Society a number of times and is a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker, as he again proved to be on an interesting night.
Greg took the audience through research comparing the longevity of convict-built boats to those built commercially. This research indicated that in general the convict-built boats had a longer life, even though the convicts were not trained shipwrights. This may be, among other reasons, due to the use of superior timber not readily available to the commercial shipyards, eg, light and durable Huon Pine and heavy but strong Tasmanian Blue Gum. These convict shipyards were closed in the 1850s following commercial shipyards’ complaints.