Oar
Grand Manan Museum
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| Object Name: | Oar |
|---|---|
| Alternative Object Name: | Long Boat Oar |
| Object Type: | Steering |
| Category: | Distribution and Transportation Artifacts |
| Sub-category: | Water Transportation Accessory |
| Material: | wood, spruce? |
| Technique: | carved, turned |
| Accession Number: | 2017.06.02 |
| Museum Collection: | local history |
| Origin-Province: | New Brunswick |
| Origin-Country: | Canada |
| Origin-Continent: | North America |
| Use-Province: | New Brunswick |
| Use-Country: | Canada |
| Culture: | Canadian |
| Latest Production Date: | c. 1909 |
| Description: | Long oar with round handle, flat paddle, painted grey. |
| Narrative: | It is believed that this oar was used by the Outer Wood Island Life Saving Station Crew. There is a photo in the Archives/Museum collection showing oars of this length being held upright by the life saving crew, alongside their boat. The Life Saving Station was an arm of the Marine & Fisheries Dept. established c. 1908-1909. It was set up to supervise safety and rescue operations and it was disassembled in the early 1950s. It faced Nova Scotia and ships in distress could be seen easily. They attended to shipwrecks and other distress calls on the water. Their boat was a open self-baler, and was also used to carry drinking water and supplies to Gannet Rock and Machias Seal Lighthouses. The last archive records for this station are from 1949. |
| History of Use: | Used along with 5 other long oars to propel a life saving boat servicing distress calls on the water. |
| Width: | 15 |
| Unit-Linear: | cm |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Additional Associations: | The Museum has many other nautical and boat-related artefacts. The Outer Wood Island Lifesaving Crew rescued the crew of the A.F. Davison in 1926 when she wrecked in a December gale off of White Head Island. This ship's name flag is in the Museum's collection as well as a photo of the wrecked four-masted schooner. |
| Institution: |
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| Institution City: | Grand Manan |
| Institution Province: | New Brunswick |