Rough waters to smooth sailing: Exeter Men's Shed restores old surf boat

One such boat that slipped through the cracks of tradition is the Dell Luck.

The surf boat's owner, Michael Stevens, said for decades it had gathered dust underneath his parents' house.

Mr Stevens said that after pondering how to find the effort and skills needed to restore the boat, he approached the Exeter Men's Shed for help.

"Michael came here and asked if we were interested, so I put it to the guys," member David Gray said.

"We thought it'd be a bit of a challenge, certainly the biggest thing we've taken on," he said.

"We decided we would take it on, probably didn't quite know how much we were biting off."

Restorations of the dilapidated boat began in September 2022 and the boat is now weeks away from being finished, where it will be sent to the Devonport Surf Life Saving Club (DSLSC).

Mr Gray said the restoration process was extensive and time consuming with thousands of hours being put in.

"The boat came to us in relatively poor condition, and completely painted; it'd been painted inside and out," he said.

"Obviously, we had to wash it as it'd been under a house for about 30 years, and then we had to commence stripping all paint, and that was a major undertaking and took quite some time.

"Every piece of timber on every surface in the boat has been sanded and brought back to a relatively original condition."

Mr Gray and a few other shed members worked on the project on and off, usually on a schedule of around three days a week.

"If it became too much of a chore, we left it alone for a while. And we just slowly progressed with it like that," Mr Gray said.

"I think it's a fantastic project for this men's shed - and also for men's sheds in general - because it shows they aren't just about making chopping boards and wood turning.

"We actually have a great depth of skills all within the men's shed movement in Tasmania and Australia-wide."

Mr Gray said that despite the repairs, the boat is still fragile and will "never go back into surf".

"I think it'll probably do a ceremonial row down the Mersey," he said.

"We've done it. And we're very pleased with the outcome."

The boat was built in 1975 in New South Wales by a second-generation boat builder Robert Humphries, whose boats raced successfully at Australian Surf Life Saving Championships for many years.

Dell Luck was the most winning boat the DSLSC had owned.

In the past it was customary for timber surfboats - at the end of their useful life - to be stood on their stern and burnt, resembling a pagan ritual from the middle ages.

As a result, there aren't many timber surf boats left.

"I always felt that the boat deserved to be restored. In itself it's a beautiful thing, built by craftsmen," Mr Stevens said.

The boat is about to turn 50 years old, and not long after the DSLSC club will turn 100 years old.

"Its restoration is more than the story of saving an old wooden boat," Mr Stevens said.

"It's about telling the story of Devonport's life by the sea, and the people who helped make the city a great place to live."