Something Rare as Hen's Teeth...

[Sledge]

...cat feathers, or unicorn poo!  At least in the United States. 
Hello!  ¡Hola!  Marhaba!  Ni Hau!  And G'day!  I've got something especially uncommon to share today!
Ok, so I was rummaging through my storage yesterday, looking for some spares, and uncovered a long forgotten addition to my secret stash!  Ever heard of a Seamartin?!  The most typical reply would be; "What the hell is a 'Seamartin?'". But I bet a few of the brothers from Down Under know what I'm talking about. 😁
Back in 1959, an ingenious Aussie by the name of Cliff Martin made application to patent a new type of surf fishing reel.  Several prototypes were built by Mr. Martin, using whatever scraps he could get his hands on.  Then his new invention was marketed directly to his fellow fishermen along Victoria's 90-mile beach.
After a few years Cliff had come up with a solid design, to include a HUGE cedar wood spool, bronze bushings, and heavy brass gears.  Each one was hand build, with old time craftsmanship, and would remain so until he sold the patent right in 1970.
After that, the company changed hands more than once.  New materials and manufacturing technologies were incorporated.  But the simple, robust, and truly unique working design of the Seamartin reel remained largely unchanged.
As to the design, the line is cross wound on the spool, which is side mounted like a spinner, but turns like a conventional reel.  An oscillating arm is used to lay the line on in such a way that it cannot bite, or dig in, even under heavy load.  At the same time, it comes off without even slight resistance during the cast, as if falling toward the horizon. 
All of which contributes to an ability to cast a light payload an extremely long distance without much effort, and then retrieve the cast with no worry to manually laying the line with the supporting hand.  Add to all this another important feature, which is the use of neoprene seals on all shafts, and you have a closed system, impervious to salt, sand, and water!
I learned all this year's ago when searching, as a young man is often to do, for the "ultimate" solution to his problem.  That problem, for me at the time, was how to reach WAY over yonder with a hunk of bait to where I was convinced the big'uns must surely be laying in wait, just out of my reach.  At first I thought the solution was an Alvey reel, remembering the ads in the back of Saltwater Sportsman magazine, or some such, about how any man so equipped could cast a anchovy a country mile!  But after hunting far and wide, and finally procuring one of the magical machines of my very own...I was faced with the reality that they only work well when matched to a low mount rod.  And one of those was not to be had, except for a King's Ransom.
Anyway, I read a little about Clifford Martin, and his amazing invention, and went on the hunt.  His original cedar wood models went for crazy high prices...if you could find one.  The newer ones could still be found sometimes...in Australia...but we're out of production, and didn't come cheap, either.
Then I made an incredible find!  Oh wonderful Interweb, show me the world!  A tackle shop way down there on the bottom of the world just happened to have one.  Not a dirty, crusty, rusty, abused and scratched up mess, either...but one little used....in a box, even...with a spare spool and extras!  I was walking on clouds!  And, lucky me, I became the new owner.
Ok, enough of my blathering.  Here's some pictures to enjoy!  Oh, and expect a teardown and maintenance follow up in the near future...just for grins!

[Sledge]

More...

[Bryan Young]

That's cool

[Crow]

That's quite a machine !  Does it live up to the "hype" ?

[mo65]

Wow...different indeed!

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Sledge, there is one on a trade sight now for AU$250 with a box, I have service one for a mate about a month ago, I also brought one, about a month ago with a heap of other gear including a rod turner & about 6 other reels including two Mitchells a 489 & a 498, for AU$ 130, & yesterday I brought 8 rods & reels for AU$120.00, there is a Sea Martin with that lot, also a long beach 68 & a Diawa 600H, two modern overhead reels, 1 is a shimano, a another that is a Jarvis walker, not sure of the others, there still in the boot of the car, the sea Martin only have two cogs internally, when I get this one apart, I will send some pictures, it came with a full roller boat rod about 7 foot long, not sure what make the rod is till I look @ it in the morning, cheers Don.

[nelz]

Just when I thought I'd seen every reel design, from the wacky to the brilliant, this comes along! Definitely on the brilliant side of the spectrum. Awesome find!

[Robert Janssen]

Cool. I have a couple too.



https://reeltalk.orcaonline.org/viewtopic.php?t=7413

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Robert say me sending pics, cheers Don.