Model boats back at last

Sheila Brittain of Greymont writes:

I read with great nostalgia that the Model Boat Club has returned to Emmarentia Dam at last.

My father, Norman Brittain, was a founder member of the original Johannesburg Model Power Boat Club some 70 plus years ago.

In those initial days, the boats were not radio controlled – they were rowed out to a pole in the middle of the dam, to which they were attached and gaily sailed around and around.

My Dad made his various boats from scratch, cutting out the pieces on the fret saw, assembling and painting them, and turning out the most amazing and wonderful works of nautical

art.

He built a model boat in three months, which had the strongest engine in a model ship in the then Union. It could tow my Dad and three children in a rowing boat.

They then became radio controlled, which made them much more fun to watch as their operators displayed their navigational skills.

What fun we had as kids helping him make and sail his master pieces. May the new generation have as much joy and fun as we did!