Portsea S.L.S.C.

From the time I was 15 until I was 18 I was a member at Portsea Surf Life Saving Club. I joined with my cousin Andrew, and most weekends we would finish school on a Friday and begin the long journey down there by public transport. For me this meant a train from Surrey Hills to Richmond, then another train from Richmond to Frankston, and finally a bus from Frankston to Portsea. The final 2.3km from the front beach to the surf club was done on foot. It would take literally hours to do.

The club in those days was different to how it is today, including the clubhouse itself. This is what the clubhouse looked like when I was a member.

The old clubhouse

Downstairs were toilets and a storage area for all the gear. Things like rescue tubes, boogy boards, and an inflatable rescue boat were all stored down there. Upstairs was dormitory like accommodation, loads of bunk beds, and on the other side was a large open space. At the top was a tower for patrols and keeping an eye on sharks (and yes, white pointers as well 😉).

Weekends at the club during summer were great. They’d often have a co-op style setup where you’d pay a few dollars into the kitty which would give you access to all the food, cereal for breakfast, and often a spit roast for lunch. Visits to the pub were frequent as well. The pub was a sponsor of the club, and the club president would get us in even though we were underage because he would act as our guardian.

When I first joined I spent a week there leading into summer and obtained my Bronze Medallion. This meant I could do patrols. These were scheduled/rostered events and so every few weeks I’d need to spend a day on patrol. The rest of the time we could just use the accommodation at the club as part of our membership. From memory the dues were around $20 a year, which was pretty good value for year round surf beach frontage accommodation!

A typical Portsea patrol

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent being a member, but as I got a little older (turned 18) my priorities changed and I no longer had the time to spend down at the club.