1 2 3 … 15 Next »View by:lightboxlistTMA2021.00180.3; Photograph, "Miss Ampol" ; Franov, Tonci (Tony); Boat Builder; ‘’Miss Ampol’’ was built in 1964 in Black Wattle Bay by master boat builder Tonci (Tony) Franov, a Croatian by birth and one of many to move to Nelson Bay. Miss Ampol was sponsored by the Ampol Petrol Company on the condition that only Ampol diesel would be used in the vessel. ; 1964; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00172.5; Photograph, "Jan Era" ; Holbert, Trevor; Boat Builder; ‘’Jan Era’’ was built by Trevor Holbert with the help of his brother, Rod. Rod was 16 at the time and together they went into the bush with a chain saw and started cutting “knees” (a natural or cut curved piece of wood) to build a boat. They commenced building in Yacaaba Street, Nelson Bay and when it was about a quarter built they pulled it onto the back of a truck and transported it to Soldiers Point. At that stage the keel was about 30 foot long. Interrupted by National Service for three months, Trevor completed the 34-foot trawler with a 60 hp Perkins engine in 1954. She was named after Jan Asquith, another well known fishing family in Port Stephens. “Jan Era” was a general-purpose fishing boat for use in the harbour and the lakes, mashing and prawning. Four years later she was sold and Trevor Holbert purchased a fish shop. The Holberts eventually moved from fishing to oyster farming – Holberts Oyster is still in operation. ; 1954; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Port Stephens; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00169.3; Photograph, "Matador" ; Reg Hyde, Stockton Shipyard; Boat Builder; “Matador” A 60-foot steel boat designed by Ted McLeay and built from a timber model, made to Ted’s specifications by master boat builder Reg Hyde. Reg then completed all the woodwork in the wheelhouse and fo’c’sle. Rex Foster, a retired blacksmith, and Max Kellet also assisted with the building. She was launched at Little Beach in 1966. ‘’Matador’’ was fitted with a 671 GM diesel main drive, a 371 GM diesel to drive the winch gear and later a 371 GM to drive the onboard refrigeration and power plant. She was so powerful she was often called upon to rescue other boats in distress. The local police having no ocean going vessels at that time. After 2 years working in the local area, Ted took ‘’Matador’’ to Queensland for the winter prawn and scallop season. Whilst in Queensland Ted was asked to supply prawns to South Seas Fishing Company in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Ted readily accepted and replaced the current motor with a V12 diesel which was capable of 500 hp. One season Ted caught 20 tons of prawns in 1 day which were taken to Thursday Island prawn factory for processing. The ‘’Matador’’ returned to Port Stephens for another 3 years before she was sold to a man from Cairns who unfortunately wrecked her on the Halfway Reef, Torres Strait. ; 1966; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Stockton; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00163; Photograph, "Seal" ; Asquith, Bob; Boat Builder; “The Seal” built by Bob Asquith and launched in 1966, was skippered by his brother, Charlie, as part of the Port Stephens fishing fleet. The near sinking of the “Seal” In 1972, after a long dry summer on the slip “Seal” was once again back in the water. Unfortunately, due to the harsh conditions that summer the tuck (the underwater part of the stern where the sides, bottom and transom all merge together) had shrunk in the heat. Only a fortnight later, at the request of the Shoal Bay crew, “Seal” was loaded with 14 tons of mullet to take to the Fishermen’s Co-Op. This heavy weight caused the tuck to crack leaving about a 10 feet long and ½ inch wide gap. Water was pouring in. Unfortunately, there was a paint chip caught in the bilge pump which stopped it from working and, as the deck was knee deep in mullet, there was no way to get aft to clean it. The “Seal” was sinking fast and as it was high tide the only way to save her was to run her up onto the beach. Once on the beach an auxiliary motor was brought in by the Co-Op, then the Fire Brigade and lastly the Water Police but to no avail, none of the motors would start. All the mullet was thrown overboard to reduce the weight and the water was bailed manually. The “Seal” was saved but the catch was lost, although the local community enjoyed barbequed mullet for many days. ; 1966; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Port Stephens, Nelson Bay; CruiserTMA2021.00161.5; Photograph, "Duncan E. McBryde/Duncan" ; Unknown; Boat Builder; ‘’Duncan E. McBride’’ was a 50-foot steam driven boat purchased by Sam Thompson in 1931. The boat had a clipper bow with a counter stern and was used to ferry the BHP Steelwork bosses to and from Newcastle Steelworks. In 1933 to boat was sold and became registered as Licensed Fishing Boat 1 (LFB1). She was converted to diesel in 1935 and was renamed ‘’The Duncan’’. With an oil Ruston Diesel 35 hp engine. ‘’Duncan’’ was requisitioned by the Americans in November 1942. The son-in-law of the original purchaser, James (Jimmy) Thurston Hill, travelled with the ‘’Duncan’’ as an engineer serving with the United States Army Services and the vessel was renamed again – ‘’U.S.A. Duncan’’. Unfortunately, she never reached the islands of the South West Pacific, her intended destination, and was left to rot on the mud flats at Walsh Bay. Jimmy returned to Nelson Bay and built a 52-foot trawler again named ‘’Duncan’’ which had a distinctive feature – a cabin in the stern. She was transported with a trolley under the hull and hauled by 6 trucks along Magnus Street to Fly Point for the launching. ; 1943; Unknown; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00156.5; Photograph, "Eileen Sylvia" ; Mitchell, Nelson and Alf; Boat Builder; ‘‘Eileen Sylvia’’ was built at Sandy Point by Nelson and Alf Mitchell and used in the fishing and prawning industry. The vessel had a spare seine (fishing) net which hung over the rail and an 8hp Lister diesel drove the seine winch and rope coiler, made by Holmes in Sydney. The mast was a ships derrick (crane) which had washed up in Boulder Bay, towed into the Port and later reduced to a 9 inch diameter by Alf and Nelson Mitchell. Likewise, the boom was found washed up on Kingsley Beach by Mr Blanch who was paid 5 boxes of salmon in return for the boom. (It is conjectured that the old mast and derek may well have come off the “Pappinbarra”, a 518-ton steam ship which sank off the gantry on the northern side of Fingal Island in 1929). ‘‘Eileen Sylvia’’ often worked in conjunction with another vessel, “Girl Pat” a trawler owned by Nelson Mitchell’s son, Colin. “Girl Pat” having no cooking facilities relied on “Eileen Sylvia” to cook the prawns for resale in Newcastle Harbour. A dinghy was rowed to ‘‘Eileen Sylvia’’ from “Girl Pat” with 5 or 6 six baskets of raw prawns to be cooked. The fishing trawler also participated in the Annual Picnic Day taking children and parents from the Co-op, Nelson Bay to Banks’ Farm (Taylors Beach) and the annual Prawners Picnic running from Stockton up the Hunter River (image attached). Also, together with another boat “Girl Pat” she rescued a yacht that was beached on the Fingal Spit only to find some time later that the sailor, Sam Luxford, an alias, was wanted for bank robbery. He was eventually arrested but never forgot the assistance given to him by the fisherman of Port Stephens, writing to them from his cell in “B” Division, Pentridge, Coburg “When you are sailing past the light house will you kindly think of me”. Eventually sold to a Vietnamese crew and renamed ‘’Harvest Moon’’ she was unfortunately run down by a ship in Princess Charlotte Bay, Far North Queensland. ; 1943; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Port Stephens, Corlette; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00151.5; Photograph "Aurora"; Lund, Harry; Boat Builder; "Aurora" - the second "Aurora" a trawler built by Jack and his son, Harry in Jimmy Hill's yard in Magnus Street, Nelson Bay in 1946. The boat was 59 foot 6 inches owning to the fact that any boat built at that time in excess of 60 feet required an engineer. The "Aurora" was launched in 1948 at Little Beach, Nelson Bay and played a significant part in the history of the fishing industry in Port Stephens and the community. She took part in the Annual Picnic Day, a highlight of the year for children and their parents, sailing with other local fishing trawlers from the Co-op wharf in Nelson Bay to Taylors Beach. In 1963 when Harry built another trawler "Una", "Aurora" was sold to an Italian crew based in Ulladulla on the south coast of New South Wales. ; 1963; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Taree; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00143; "Dawn" ; Archie and Sam Thompson; Boat Builder; "Dawn" built circa 1938 and owned by Sam and Archie Thompson, Tilligerry. "Dawn" was a 57 foot launch driven by a 3 cylinder Crosley diesel engine. Built in the Top Harbour , Tilligerry Creek, by the Thompson brothers. In 1943 “Dawn” was commandeered for the war effort and served as a Naval Auxiliary Patrol (NAP) and Air/Sear Rescue (ASR) vessel. Archie Thompson, her owner, joined the Navy and remained the skipper although she was renamed “Mowong”. The Royal Australian Navy Lists confirmed the following: • “Mowong”: was commissioned 8 Sept 1943 as a tender to HMAS Penguin. Ref: Navy List October 1943. • In four entries, January 1944/April 1944/July 1944/Oct 1944, Royal Australian Navy Lists the skipper is shown as Archibald. S. Thompson (seniority 10 Nov 1943) and of note “Mowong” was now a tender to Ladava (HMAS Ladava, Milne Bay, New Guinea, commissioned on 1st October 1943 and decommissioned on 30th October 1945). • In the January 1945 Navy Lists details are the same but the skipper’s rank is noted as SBLT RANVR. • In the April 1945 Navy Lists SBLT Thompson is still listed as skipper of the “Mowong” but is now tender to HMAS Rushcutter. • July 45 – subsequently returned to owners 26 July 1945 when she was again renamed “Dawn”. After her war effort Archie sailed “Dawn” to Sydney to be fitted with a 671 GM Diesel and returned to fishing and prawning until the late 1950s. In 1957 Archie decided to take a break and came to an arrangement with a young Dutch migrant, John Plooy, aged only 19. John had come from a fishing family in Holland and soon learnt the ropes as a trawlerman and skipper. John’s association with Archie and the “Dawn” lasted over 20 years, even after Archie’s return in 1959. Apart from fishing and prawning, the boat was called upon for work outside the harbour, servicing the Karuah and Tea Gardens punts. “Dawn” towed the punts to Newcastle as well as the barge used to build the Tuncurry Bridge from Sydney to Forster. The mighty old boat was eventually sold to private owners and has been converted to a pleasure launch cruising the waterways of Port Stephens. ; 1938; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Port Stephens, Tilligerry CreekTMA2021.00186.2; Photograph, "Pop's Last" "Popsa" ; Thompson, Sam; Boat Builder; ‘’Pops Last’’ also known as ‘’Popsa’’ was owned by Crofton Spoule One of Port Stephens longest serving and well-known boats, “Popsa” because she was to be the last of many boats built by Sammy ‘Pop’ Thompson. She still sits today in the Nelson Bay Marina. Popsa was purchased as a 45-foot tug that was being built for the war effort at Slazengers Boat Builders at Stockton. When the war finished the partly completed boat was purchased by the original crew of Crofton Sproule, Jack Evans and Bernie Thompson. Sam Thompson completed the work in Jimmy Hill’s back yard, added a 40hp Southern Cross Diesel below deck, and launched off Nelson Bay Beach in 1948. Athol and Crofton Sproule worked on ‘’Popsa’’ for the next 30 years from 1948. On one occasion close to Seal Rocks they lifted 44 traps for 176 dozen lobsters. ; 1964; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Port Stephens, Nelson Bay; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00182.2; Photograph, "Kristine Clyde" ; Unknown; Boat Builder; The “Kristine Clyde” started life as a tug boat in Sydney harbour. She was bought by Norman Archard usually known as “Skeeta” who so named it after his children, Clyde and Kristine. Skeeta, together with his brother Teddy, rebuilt the 46 ft tugboat from the waterline up, making it one of the best trap boats on the coast. The boat was driven by a Volvo Penta, a powerful motor which resulted in the crew winning the annual trawler race up the harbour – the ‘Cock of the Walk’. This tug boat opened up the waters outside the heads for lobsters and fish trapping. ; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00181.2; Photograph, "Anna E" ; Franov, Tonci (Tony); Boat Builder; “Anna E” was built in Adelaide by Tony Franov, who also built Miss Ampol in Sydney. She was sailed to Nelson Bay entering the Port in 1971. Shortly thereafter she returned to Port Lincoln, South Australia for a short stint tuna fishing where she was likely fitted with a radar system. On her return to Nelson Bay “Anna E” became the first boat to use radar to work the Port Stephens waters. In 1972 the “Anna E” was washed ashore on Shoal Bay beach during a fierce storm. She was towed into deep water by Ron McLean on board the “Shamrock”. ; 1964; Oceania, Australia, South Australia, Adelaide; Fishing VesselTMA2021.00172.2; Photograph, "Que Sera" ; McLeay, Ted and Keith; Boat Builder; “Que Sera” Ted McLeay, a welder by trade, also repaired and sod boats before he built ‘’Que Sera’’, a 40-foot timber trawler, at Thornton. She was so named because of a popular song of the era ‘’What Ever Will Be, Will Be’’. Because the locals could not pronounce the name, she became known as ‘’Queer Sarah’’. She did however catch her fair share of fish and prawns. At the suggestion of Sandy Mitchell, Ted installed a depth sounder, only one of four in the port at the time. He also put twin gear (double nets) onto the trawler being the first trawler to use twin gear on the NSW coast. ; 1956; Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Newcastle; Fishing Vessel
