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Designed and built in 1946 by
Walter Wilson, a second generation
of famous shipwrights of Port
Cygnet, south of Hobart, Tasmania,
where Blue Gum, Tasmanian Oak,
Celery Top Pine and Huon Pine
grew within sight of the Wilson's
slip yard, by the waters edge
at Gardener Bay. These timbers
which are regarded as some of
the best ship building timbers
in the world, were cut and and
dragged by bullock train to the
slipway.
Many of Tasmania's fine sailing
trade vessels were commandeered
by the armed forces for the use
of coastal patrol and transport
in New Guinea during World War
II. The owner of the Derwent
Hunter, thinking that his new
vessel might suffer the same
fate, refitted the vessel for
lobster fishing and sent her
to Port Davey, a remote natural
harbour in Southern Tasmania.
Fishing was an exempt industry
and the Derwent Hunter was saved
from a fate that befell an entire
maritime heritage before her.
In 1950 the CSIRO purchased
the vessel and sent her to Sydney
for a refit into Australia's
first oceanographic research
vessel. For ten years she worked
under sail roving from Antarctic
waters in the Southern Ocean
and as far north as Noumea and
the Outer Pacific Basin. The
Derwent Hunter Sea Mount and
the Derwent Hunter Trench were
discovered and named after her.
She was responsible for research
and establishment of the fisheries
of: Gummy Shark, Tuna, Big Eye
Travella and Barracouta. During
her ten year service she had
many adventures, twice losing
her rudder in storms at sea and
successfully piloting safely
into port unaided under sail,
a tribute to her remarkable sailing
ability and the men who served
on her.
In 1960 she was sold to Paramount
Studios who used her photogenic
characteristics in a long running
TV series called "The Rovers" based
on the adventures of a seafaring
family. She was then called the "Pacific
Lady".
The Derwent Hunter then sailed
North and ran passengers from
Darwin to Timor and the Philippines.
Her exploits in the tropical
North reputedly involved some
gun running and smuggling. She
later later ended up laying in
a mud berth in Cairns, slowly
deteriorating through neglect.
In 1977 a Tasmanian fisherman
and marine enthusiast Bern Cuthbertson
spotted the Derwent Hunter on
a trip to Cairns. He purchased
her and in her forlorn condition,
sailed her back to Tasmania for
a major refit involving the replacement
of 40 planks below the waterline
and many months of painstaking
work restoring the vessel to
her former glory. Under the command
of Bern Cuthbertson the Derwent
Hunter ventured back into fishing
under sail. Unsuited to today's
type of fishing she was sold
to an abalone fishery in Tasmania.
After another major refit she
went into commercial survey and
ran passengers and cargo to Lord
Howe Island, still making a living
under sail in the eighties.
The Derwent Hunter was sold
at auction and prepared for the
Bicentennial Hobart to Sydney
Tall Ships Race. She represented
Australia and out performed many
of the hundred strong fleet.
From Sydney the Derwent Hunter
circumnavigated Australia and
in 1986 she was chartered in
Perth for the Americas Cup.
She was then sold to a Gold
Coast based development company
and was intended for use sail
training. A victim of the recession
of the eighties, she was sold
to the current owner in 1991.
A thirteen month restoration
project followed.
In 1998 she entered the Sydney
to Hobart Tall Ship Race and
was shown in the Australian Maritime
Museum. Whilst in Tasmanian waters
a complete refit of her accommodation
took place using local timbers
and tradesmen. Derwent Hunter
has been working in the Whitsundays
since 1993 and still turns heads
as she leaves many modern yachts
in her wake.
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