SNOWGOOSE-A brilliant Busman’s Holiday
Last Sunday morning, as a strange sea fret rolled across a glassy Port Phillip, a small crowd congregated at the 164 year old Blunt’s boatyard in Williamstown for a very special occasion.
For those readers unfamiliar with the expression in the heading, Webster’s dictionary describes a busman’s holiday as “a form of recreation that involves doing the same thing that one does at work.” Friends, family, and most of the Williamstown Wooden Boat community had gathered to witness the relaunch of SNOWGOOSE, the craft intrinsically linked to the family of Richard Blake, one of the most talented and respected shipwrights in Victoria. (click to enlarge)
As the the spring sunshine flickered off the water in Hobson’s Bay, the subdued chatter of the gathering was interrupted only by the champagne and chicken sandwiches doing the rounds. And then, as SNOWGOOSE waited patiently on the slip, Richard made an emotional speech, telling of his families connection to the boat and thanking those who had made the restoration possible. It seems to me that this community contribution to giving a craft a new life, is essentially a wooden boat phenomenon, and nowhere has it been manifested so clearly as here on the Strand in Melbourne’s own seaport, last Sunday.
(click to enlarge)
This is what Richard told SWS about his much loved boat.
SNOWGOOSE is 27’ long, 8’6” beam and draws 3’9”.
Having spoken to past owners and people associated with the history of the vessel SNOWGOOSE, this is the most accurate account of the story of the vessel.
She was designed by Jack Savage in Williamstown. She was built at Battery Point, Hobart in 1951 by Max Creese for Melbourne innerspring mattress manufacturer, Howard Wright. She is Huon Pine carvel planked on laminated Huon frames. The keel is Stringy Bark and was cut at Clennett’s Sawmill.
She was fitted with a 4 cyclinder 30 hp Thorneycroft diesel engine and was rigged as a Bermudan Sloop. The apprentice who worked on the building of SNOWGOOSE is John Lucas.
Peter Creese, Max’s son recalled how he and his father along with two other crew sailed her to Portsea, Victoria from Hobart to deliver her to her new owner, Howard Wright.
In 1965 SNOWGOOSE was sold to Dr John Noonan, her kept her at Portsea over summer and at Royal Brighton Yacht Club for the winter.
John Noonan , the son of Dr Noonan has written some of his memories:
In the early Spring SNOWGOOSE was taken down to Portsea and hung off a mooring off the front of my father’s property at Portsea just to the east of Point Franklin.
During the winter period the boat was slipped at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club where long weekends were spent stripping the varnish back to the wood on the deck. This was then followed by sanding back to an appropriate surface and then re-varnishing the deck with numerous coats of varnish.
SNOWGOOSE was fitted with a very powerful Thorneycroft diesel engine. Every ounce of its power was needed to combat the ebb tide which on occasions was encountered when we returned from fishing out in Bass Strait. We would only go fishing in Bass Strait on northerly wind days as SNOWGOOSE was not fitted with a self-draining cockpit.
SNOWGOOSE remained in my father’s possession for the best part of 30 years.
A wooden half model was made of the hull of SNOWGOOSE. I believe that hull was passed on to the individual who purchased the boat from my father.
During our time with Snowgoose she was used predominantly as a fishing boat. We would fish for snapper at the Popes Eye Fishing mark, the Goorangii mark and also fish for whiting in the Bend.
My father’s great love was to go out into Bass Strait on northerly wind days where we would fish for snapper off the reefs off London Bridge and then proceed 2 to 3 kilometres off Sorrento fishing for large flathead on the sand flats in that location.
In the mid 1980s SNOWGOOSE was sold by Dr Noonan to Michael Blair, Peter Cox and Robert Stephens at Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
In 1994 my father Peter Blake of Metung, Victoria purchased SNOWGOOSE and set about restoring her to her classic beauty. The Thornycroft was replaced by a 31 h.p Sole diesel engine. The engine remains in the vessel to this day. I took a sail plan off a 26ft Couta Boat and built a new mast, gaff and bowsprit and converted her to a gaff rigger. The Blake family had two great years on the Gippsland Lakes, cruising and racing in the Classic Yacht races at Metung.
In 1996, my father needed another project, so she was then sold to Peter Gunnersen of Melbourne. Peter had lost his leg in an accident and though she would be too difficult to sail alone as a gaff rig, so he asked my father and I to revert the rig back to a Bermudian rig for ease of handling. The new sail plan was designed. The original Bermudian mast was extended and the bow sprit was shortened.
During the period when Peter Gunnersen owned SNOWGOOSE, he commissioned Allan Lancaster, a shipwright based in Metung to replace the Huon Pine decks with a new Teak layed, caulked deck on a ply sub-deck. Peter Gunnersen loved SNOWGOOSE and maintained her to a high standard.
In about 2009, Peter Galbally bought SNOWGOOSE. He had sailed and fished off SNOWGOOSE in his early years with the Noonan Family at Portsea.
Unfortunately, Peter Galbally was affected by bad health and was unable to use the boat as much as he would have liked. He sadly passed away whilst still the owner of the boat.
Peter’s wife Sue Galbally contacted my father, Peter Blake in March 2012 to see if the Blake family might be interested in re-purchasing SNOWGOOSE, which we were, and so she was sold back to Peter for a second time.
Peter set to task in sprucing her up but he soon found he was not up to the task of restoring her and asked me to complete the work he had started.
SNOWGOOSE was trucked to Melbourne in 2016 and I rebuilt the cockpit, replaced the stern tube, prop shaft etc, remounted the engine, replaced the centre plate casing and is rebuilt the cabin top.(click to enlarge)
The Launch
As a piper played and the crowd looked on, the cradle holding this perfect little craft eased down the slipway gently returning the Huon Pine planks to the salty waters of the Bay. Richard jumped aboard and inspected the inside of the hull. Moments later he emerged and gave a big thumbs up. The gathering expected nothing less given the depth of his knowledge and expertise!
The rig is yet to go back in. David Allen is generously assisting with this when he’s not being the sailing master of the 63ft Richel Pugh NO LIMIT, or giving his time generously to other wooden boat projects on the Bay.
I can’t wait to see her sailing again. In so many ways she embodies the qualities of wooden boat custodianship that keep us all coming back. History, beauty, efficacy, craftsmanship and above all community.
Congratulations the Richard and his family.
The Video at the start of this article was made by Blake Raidal, Richard’s nephew.