A Forgotten Boatshed
Sept 2011. by Owen Thompson.

Has anyone ever wondered what the old slab shed under the Crow’s Ash tree on the western bank of the Mary River is there for?
For almost one hundred years, this shed housed each of the ferry boats used by those who lived in the Mt Urah district on the western side of the river.
Because of the new high level bridge and modern transport, such as helicopters used in emergencies, the Emerys Bridge Boat Committee has been disbanded, but the shed was left in it’s present position for historical purposes.
The shed’s last resident boat is sadly now rotted away after being attacked by white ants during the long droughts of the late 1980’s when it’s services were not needed.

It was purchased by the residents of this area in the late 1950’s to replace a boat destroyed by a flash flood.
Built by Barney Meyers and designed for running water, it had provision for two oarsmen but only one was ever needed. That one man could safely row two people and 80 gallons of cream across the Mary on a 10 or 12 metre flood is a testament to the craftsmanship of Barney Meyers.
Since the beginning of the last century, there has been a ferry boat housed in that shed.

The boat was used often during the wet seasons to transport cream, milk and produce over the river and bring supplies and mail back. During floods residents would gather twice a week to “put the boat in”. There were some strange loads at times. If it would fit in the boat it came over. Dogs, stud pigs and machinery parts were common fare as was the occasional medical emergency. It also bore witness to the sadder side of life with more than one coffin being carried in and then returned bearing a sombre load.

Primary school children received their school lessons by boat when the river was in flood. High schoolers would be transported across the river on a Sunday afternoon, taken to Maryborough where they stayed for the week and then returned home on Friday afternoons to have the weekends at home.

The late Mr George James and the late Mr Joe Wade were the early residents who rowed the boat across the flooded river. Mr Wade then taught his grandson, Vivian Sleaford, the art of rowing in flooded streams and at the age of fifteen, Vivian took over as the one the residents depended on to get them across the river, many times in emergency situations.
Others who helped out with the oars were Brian Lamke and Fred Dawes and the late Mr Dunbar Lawson. In later years an outboard motor with Brian Lamke at the helm was used instead of oars. When the boat was no longer river worthy, Vivian Sleaford used his own boat and motor.