Save our Monty

The Montagu Whaler is a 27 foot wooden boat for sailing or rowing, built during the early 1950s from Queensland Kauri. Her design stems from a variety of large tenders attached to Royal and Royal Australian Navy vessels from the late 19th century through to the mid 20th century that was eventually standardised by Admiral Montegu in the 1890s. 

Due to their versatility such boats were initially employed in whaling, being ideal for harpooning whales and towing them back to the mothership. Now if you thought that chapter in the life of a Montagu Whaler was bloody and bleak enough, hold on. Due to their excellent handling in rough seas and surf, Montagu Whaler style boats were also put to use during slave trade off the East Coast of Africa. The last practical use of Montagu Whalers saw a return to their use as training vessels for sea scouts and cadets during the 1960s, before, much like our boat, being discarded to rot on the river banks.

For many years our Montagu Whaler, or Monty as she is affectionately called, was neglected, shackled to the shore of Mersey River in Northern Tasmania. There she rested peacefully until a flood ripped her from her mooring and smashed her against a nearby bridge. With broken ribs and cracked planks she was hauled from the mud and left to languish in a parking lot, until April 2015, when, prompted by the Wooden Boat Guild of Tasmania, she was relocated to her present home and much needed restoration work began.

At the Wooden Boat Centre, Franklin, Tasmania http://www.woodenboatcentre.com, we have been making steady progress on her renovation, we've healed the wounds, replacing ribs and planks, strengthening her keel with cheeks, inserting graving pieces, a new stainless steel centre board, sanding back her scarred edges and rubbing back the paint work

Now we need your help to complete the project and get this beautiful and historic boat back in the water, for a grand launch during the St Ayles Skiff Regatta at Franklin, Tasmania on February 18 – 19th 2017 http://lbt.rforster.org/tasskiffie2017. Only a few of these large double enders remain and most survivors are static displays in museums. By helping us with this project you will be assisting with the restoration of probably the only seagoing Montagu Whaler in Australia.

To date her rescue has been achieved through community donations and the aid of: Colony 47; Bethlehem House and Huonville High School, under the guidance of highly skilled boat builders and restoration experts, including the founder of the Wooden Boat Centre John Young, Cody Hogan, and Jon Vey-Cox. Just like the Wooden Boat Centre, Monty is to be a community owned and operated vessel for use through the Living Boat Trust http://lbt.rforster.org. 

Our plan is to get her seaworthy in time to take part in the 2017 Tawe Nunnugah Raid http://lbt.rforster.org/tn17, which would make her one of the classic heritage vessels on the voyage, a 10 day row and sail journey from Tasmania's southern most anchorage in Recherche Bay to Hobart, culminating at the 2017 Wooden Boat Festival http://www.australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au/festival-program

All donors will be invited to the re-launch of the Montagu Whaler scheduled for 31 January 2017 at the Living Boat Trust Shed in Franklin. Donors of $100 or more will be invited as guests to join the post-launch/pre-Tawe Nunnugah 2017 Raid LBT Shed dinner.

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Sails $4,000

Running rigging  $1,000

Completion of restoration  $10,000

Total $15,000

Our challenge is simple: complete the restoration and get Monty seaworthy by February 2017. To do that we need to complete the structural renovation, paint her, cast fittings, have sails and running gear made. And reinstate the rowing stations for authentic use, including recasting the rowlocks and replication of original fittings.