Boatsheds are generally lockable wooden sheds, often brightly colored, that were originally built to securely store small private boats and bathing materials directly on beaches. They are similar in appearance to beach huts (or "bathing boxes"), with the main difference being an integrated boat launching ramp directly to the beach (although some ramps have been replaced with steps, reflecting changes in usage). Many boatsheds also incorporate heavy-duty winches, which are used to winch a boat up from the water and back into the boatshed.
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles. The particles can also be biological in origin, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae.
A beach hut is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming costumes and for the safe storing of some personal belongings. Some beach huts incorporate simple facilities for preparing food and hot drinks by either bottled gas or occasionally mains electricity.
Boatsheds are typically around 6.2 m long × 3.0 m wide × 2.4 m high, which is somewhat larger than local bathing boxes (typically only 2.4 m long × 2.0 m wide × 2.0 m high). Boatsheds have a roof pitch of around 30°, which is somewhat shallower than the 35° roof pitch of local bathing boxes.
Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay in Victoria, Australia, are currently home to about 1860 boatsheds, bathing boxes and similar structures. [1]
Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, thus making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
