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That would be the first shark fishing boat I ever went to sea on in Bass Straight out of Port Albert in Victoria ,in please do not quote me but would be mid 70,s her stern has been changed a little but bow lines and all still the same , would be the most stable sea worthy boat for her size I ever worked on .
Was owned by and skippered by Arn Ingvarsen , a true gentleman from Iceland who seen the Bismark sink as Iceland was neutral in the war , was hard to get stories out of but once one got his trust was amazing , mending nets , hold them up and soon be frozen and could be easily fixed .
His wife was just as amazing , was German and cannot remember from what side but remember the day vividly she told me about living in swamps crossing from one side to the other and all she had for money was a silver cigarette holder with little money in , she later gave that to me that I still have and cherish
Elizabeth Mary was often referred to as the banana boat for her sea lines and " Mine Got" because when asked over 2 way radio how did you go Arn would always reply mine got maybe 1 ,maybe 2 boxes .
She had the old whale pumps on deck for fosckil , ice room and engine room , had 5 LW Gardner motor that purred , sadly when I was skippering in later years for Arn was returning home from fishing trip and still working on deck the motor ceased , let cool , all was good but what had happened was rubber hose between the motor and going through hull had perished on inside lining stopped water flow
Have been on the old girl in force 7 -8 gales , just drop her back one notch on throttle and she will get you home every time , was guilty of cracking the new paint work once
A mighty old sea boat with many stories to tell and brag about but sadly keeping these old girls alive is getting to costly and be like us gone forever
Please give her mast a hug from me and was told there is a penny at the bottom of her mast the year she was built , one will never know the truth on that one
May you see many happy cruising days old girl
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There was a penny at the base of her mast.
She was an awesome fishing vessel. Looks like the wheelhouse has been moved forward from the stern. Was maybe a couple of foot between the stern railing and wheelhouse before. Also, looks like the foxhole entrance is on the port side, but was on the starboard side of the mast originally. All the shark fishing gear has been removed. There was a big cleaning box on the starboard side.
Originally, there was the freezer and a water "well" between the wheelhouse and mast. Don't remember what the water "well" was used for, maybe storing shark temporarily before it was put in the freezer. I remember the well could be filled and emptied whilst the engine was running. Remember jumping from the cleaning box into the well as kid. The freezer was filled with ice behind wooden slats on either side, food was stored on top of the ice and shark was put in the freezer after each catch. He later got an electric fiberglass, electric freezer unit installed at Queenscliff. That's when he got the new wheelhouse installed too (as pictured).
I remember the old bilge pumps. There was one next to the wheelhouse, on the port side and one next to the foxhole, in front of the mast. You'd put the long, steel handle in the tube, pour a bucket of water in the top of the pump to get it started, and go for it. Really hard work.
I remember the motor going on the net winch one day, and us turning it by hand. Luckily there was only a small swell and it was a relatively warm day, just north of the Hogan Group. That took all afternoon and into the night.
Arni's big secret was he used to pour whale oil over the net as it went out over the stern. It seemed to work because on average he did fairly well over his fishing career. Unfortunately, with the increasing pressures relating to mercury in fish stock, in particular shark, and concerns around over fishing saw the industry start to decline. I think Arni got out about the right time.
It's sad to see that the shark fishing industry is gone from Port Albert now. I only saw the Margaret Goulding last time I was down there.
Remember the old wharf building with the two, black "milk bottle" water coolers on the pub side and the big pile of wooden fish boxes on the lifeboat shed side. The thick steel door on the old freezer room and the huge rectangles of ice stacked up inside. The old steel tongs that were used to slide the ice and then lift it into the crusher and the crushed ice going down the steel slide and into the freezer.
She was an awesome fishing vessel. Looks like the wheelhouse has been moved forward from the stern. Was maybe a couple of foot between the stern railing and wheelhouse before. Also, looks like the foxhole entrance is on the port side, but was on the starboard side of the mast originally. All the shark fishing gear has been removed. There was a big cleaning box on the starboard side.
Originally, there was the freezer and a water "well" between the wheelhouse and mast. Don't remember what the water "well" was used for, maybe storing shark temporarily before it was put in the freezer. I remember the well could be filled and emptied whilst the engine was running. Remember jumping from the cleaning box into the well as kid. The freezer was filled with ice behind wooden slats on either side, food was stored on top of the ice and shark was put in the freezer after each catch. He later got an electric fiberglass, electric freezer unit installed at Queenscliff. That's when he got the new wheelhouse installed too (as pictured).
I remember the old bilge pumps. There was one next to the wheelhouse, on the port side and one next to the foxhole, in front of the mast. You'd put the long, steel handle in the tube, pour a bucket of water in the top of the pump to get it started, and go for it. Really hard work.
I remember the motor going on the net winch one day, and us turning it by hand. Luckily there was only a small swell and it was a relatively warm day, just north of the Hogan Group. That took all afternoon and into the night.
Arni's big secret was he used to pour whale oil over the net as it went out over the stern. It seemed to work because on average he did fairly well over his fishing career. Unfortunately, with the increasing pressures relating to mercury in fish stock, in particular shark, and concerns around over fishing saw the industry start to decline. I think Arni got out about the right time.
It's sad to see that the shark fishing industry is gone from Port Albert now. I only saw the Margaret Goulding last time I was down there.
Remember the old wharf building with the two, black "milk bottle" water coolers on the pub side and the big pile of wooden fish boxes on the lifeboat shed side. The thick steel door on the old freezer room and the huge rectangles of ice stacked up inside. The old steel tongs that were used to slide the ice and then lift it into the crusher and the crushed ice going down the steel slide and into the freezer.
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