Swiftsure II is a traditional Tasmanian bay-whaler built by the Living Boat Trust, Tasmania. She is the flagship of the Living Boat Trust’s fleet and represents an important aspect of Tasmania’s maritime heritage. Her design is such that she is optimized for rowing offshore, chasing whales by oar and sail. Swiftsure II is different from most whaleboats as she is designed to be launched from the beach in Recherché Bay, long and narrow.
Swiftsure II was built in 2004 by the Living Boat Trust Inc. under the supervision of various people, including Peter Laidlaw, Arnus the Dane from Lune river, Adrian Phillips, and founder John Young. The boat was built using Huon Pine, the traditional wood of Tasmania.
The idea to build Swiftsure II came about when the Living Boat Trust Inc. wanted to organize a “Southern Ocean Challenge” to balance the French/American “Atlantic Challenge” pioneered by the Apprenticeshop in Maine, USA. To begin with, they needed a Tasmanian vessel and discovered that the only surviving vessel was the languishing Swiftsure in the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Swiftsure was built in 1860 by Liardet in Hobart and was used to harvest the Southern Right Whale in the Derwent estuary. She went to the Tory channel in 1863, retired, and donated to the museum in 1915. Grant Wilson, one of the boatbuilding students, went over to Christchurch and did detailed drawings of her thole pins, loggerhead, and special features, and the trust built a pretty accurate replica.
The project to build Swiftsure II began in 1998 before the Living Boat Trust Inc. had a shed to build her in. The boat was initially built in a temporary shed in the car park of the Wooden Boat Centre by some students from Geeveston High school. When STEPS bought the school from the Trust, they put the boat on a truck and managed to find a safe place in the building in Geeveston opposite Huon FM.
In 2003, the Living Boat Trust finished its shed, and Swiftsure II returned to Franklin, and they began to continue building under the supervision of various people. After completion, Swiftsure II raided 100 nautical miles of Southern Ocean from Recherché Bay to Hobart and then exhibited at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival.
Posted by Dale Simonson on 2023-03-14 02:35:28