Stories at the Lifeboat Shed on Queenscliff South Pier and Queenscliffe Maritime Museum
Queenscliff’s last lifeboat was preserved by the town and became the centrepiece of the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum. Wrecks, heroic rescues, and the lives of the lifeboat crews are part of the town’s maritime history, uncovered on short tours inside the iconic lifeboat shed perched on the pier.
The Lifeboat Shed standing on the end of Queenscliff’s South pier is a favourite landmark but it was closed for decades after the lifeboat was retired in 1976. Now restored, the shed is the perfect setting for short tours to uncover 170 years of the history of Queenscliff’s rescue lifeboats.
Since 1856 Queenscliff’s residents have answered the call to help rescue people on wrecks and in danger at the entrance to Port Phillip. This new event, Lifeboat Shed Stories, aims to bring to life the history of the early and motorised lifeboats, their crews, the lifeboat sheds, and the steamer ferry pier in the maritime heart of the town.
The 30-minute tours will be offered for this festival over four days, Thursday 20 & 27 April, or Saturday 22 & 29 April at 11.15am, 12 noon, 1.00pm and 1.30pm in the Lifeboat Shed on Queenscliff South Pier. The tour fee includes an entry voucher to Queenscliffe Maritime Museum nearby to view the Lifeboat Queenscliffe, rescue artefacts and other stories.