A strange craft was observed on Lake Bellfield in the Grampians in February.
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The boat, a St Ayles Skiff, was being rowed by a team of past and present staff from the Parks Victoria work centre at Halls Gap.
Team spokesperson Dave Handscombe said the St Ayles Skiff was a relatively recent design of boat that was developed by the Scottish Fisheries Museum to stimulate the art of wooden boat building and to reintroduce coastal rowing as a sport.
The reason this skiff was so far from the coast was the Parks Victoria team has entered the upcoming Victorian St Ayles Skiff and Whale Boat Championships in Warrnambool from March 4-5.
Members, some whom have never rowed before, needed a trial before the big day.
The team is called the Halls Gap Hotel Mountain Galaxiids, which is a native fish found in creeks within the Grampians.
The boat is named F.A.S.T Messenger, belongs to the Warrnambool St Ayles Skiff Community Rowing Club and was brought to Halls Gap for the weekend.
F.A.S.T. Messenger was built by the Rowing Club to highlight the awareness of the signs of a medical stroke.
The four steps to stroke recognition are;
- Ask the patient to smile, does the face look uneven?
- Ask them to raise both arms, does one arm drift down?
- Get them to answer a question, is their speech slurred?
- If the answer is yes to some or all of these then telephone for medical assistance..