Men’s Shed creating plaques for ships on maiden voyage to Bunbury

The team at Bunbury Men’s Shed has been providing a warm welcome to ships that dock in Bunbury by creating plaques to celebrate maiden voyages.

Men’s Shed grant officer Peter Finlayson said the group had been making the plaques for visiting ships for about three years.

“The harbour master makes a presentation of the plaque to the captain of any boat on its maiden voyage to Bunbury,” Mr Finlayson said.

It’s a special project for us to be a part of.

The plaques were previously made from old jarrah around the harbour, but now shed member Malcolm McAuley supplies the timber.

Southern Ports Authority orders the plaques from the Bunbury Men’s Shed.

Regional manager Lee Smith said it was great to involved with the project that helped both the men’s shed and Southern Ports.

“We’re thrilled to work with the men’s shed for this community initiative,” Mr Smith said.

It was quite a big deal originally to celebrate the vessels on their maiden voyage to Bunbury.

Shed member Tom Smith used his woodwork skills to make the plaques and said it takes about 1.5 hours to create before it is engraved.

“We changed to a lighter wood colour so the engraving now shows up better,” he said.