Page 71 - Mark Chews Forty Two Australian Wooden Sailing Boats Sept 17 2020

This selection is a boat that’s more a representative of her genre than an individual ISE PEARL has been involved with film work, with its major film role being in the
stand out vessel. Warner Bros production “Tales of the South Seas”which was filmed in the Whitsunday
ISE PEARL is a pearling lugger built in Queensland in 1956. Islands. It was also well known on TV, having a role in many episodes of "Flipper",
a USA series that was largely filmed on the Gold coats Queensland. The vessel has
These boats, used for pearling from the 1870s, were unique to Australia. There were
also appeared in several commercial and promotional films including Tourism
at least two types: the Broome or North-West lugger, and the Thursday Island or
Australia’s Official Campaign in 2012.
Torres Strait lugger. The styles are each adapted to their respective areas and modus
operandi. Around Broome, the boats had to cope with the extreme tidal range and
the shallow sandy shore, on which they had to spend extended periods lying on
their sides. The Torres Strait luggers spent longer periods at sea, based around
schooners as mother ships. The design of these two types changed after the engines
were developed for the boats, and over time they began to look more alike. The last
of the pearling luggers were built in the 1950s, and were over 50 feet long. They
were some of the last wooden sailing vessels in commercial use in Australia.
The builder, Charlie Crowley was well known and the design came from the nearby
yard Norman Wright and Sons. This collaboration of builders was not uncommon
along the Brisbane River where their yards were located, and is a good example of
the shared relationship many of the trades maintained. Charlie Crowley’s yard was
in Bulimba on the Brisbane River, more or less adjacent to Norman Wright and Sons.
The yards all shared a heritage through the Whereat yard where many fine
shipwrights started their apprenticeship, in turn creating their yards and handing
on the skills to the next generations.

She is a carvel built lugger 53 ft. long and 15 ft. wide. She is gaff ketch rigged and
has a cabin on deck. Its original name was ENVY (when registered as No 7 in 1956)
and it was built for and operated by Japanese pearlers for 38 years It was later
renamed ISE PEARL, after the famous shrine town in Japan called Ise.
The original rig did not have topsails, but the current owner has added the additional
sail area. After 38 years working in the northern pearling field in Torres Strait the
vessel was retired, and sold. It was in poor condition when purchased by the
subsequent owner who had fallen in love with its elegant beautiful lines. The lugger
became a recreational yacht and charter vessel, and was fully restored and
overhauled by 2005. Up until the end of 2017 ISE PEARL was a full time charter boat
in the Whitsundays. After that I can’t find a record of where she has gone so I just
assuming she meets my criteria of “still floating”!

CYAA Magazine Issue 43 September 2020 Page 71