Custom Treharne 1963 Timber Cruiser: One Man's Boat

Timber boats so often have rich histories… and costly restorations. Take this story about a love affair with a fetching wheelhouse cabin cruiser. Dotty, now for sale at BoatPoint and Boatsales, was first admired by your editor while the boat was on the slip at Ettalong, Brisbane Water, some moons ago. 

Owner Rhonda Blades says she and husband Grant purchased Dotty from a couple at Saratoga, also in Brisbane Water, who had owned her for about five years, during which time she was called Cachette. 

"They provided us with The History of Cachette," says Rhonda, "which I quote: 'To the best of my knowledge. Cachette, previously known as Poppins, was built at Trahane (sic) boat sheds at Fairlight, Manly between 1963 and 1965. Apparently between 11 and 13 of these boats were built, some were fishing trawlers, some were pleasure boats and one was a small tug sent to Papua New Guinea. 

'They originally ran a Lister three-cylinder air-cooled diesel. The make of the boat is either a Civic or Civic Angler. There is apparently a fishing club in Manly called the Civic Angler Fishing Club. There is one known sister boat on Sydney Harbour, which is moored somewhere in front of Bob Hawke’s place wherever he lives (Northbridge). 

The guy we bought Cachette from didn’t do a great deal, he used her as an escape to read his race guide and bet on the horses. The guy he bought Cachette from owned her when she was called Poppins. He was a retired tug captain and to my understanding has taken the boat as far as Queensland and back.'

Treharne Special

When we learnt she was on the market we arranged to look her over. We went for a short cruise and agreed to pay the asking price of $10,000 (we didn’t haggle) as we were prepared to do some work to tidy her up and give her some TLC. We needed more legroom than Little Dotty offered.

We renamed her Dotty after Grant’s Mum (whose legacy we would sink into the repairs to come). Little did we know how neglected she was until we started to look under the surface. During the ensuing months we took her out regularly for weekends, fishing, getting rid of grot and grime. 

If we travelled too far, the gearbox would overheat and we resorted to placing a block of ice on it to cool it down so we could get underway again. Down the track, our neighbour Dave "Choco" Lamb, tracked down a man at Macquarie Fields who was an expert with the Paragon gearbox and got all the clues he needed to get it operating properly (he even made some replacement parts).

We lined "Choco" up to come out with us for an evening fishing. Picked him up from the Bar Estate Wharf but only made it 100m out when we again broke down and weighed anchor for the night. Just as well we had good company as the fish weren’t biting. 

Next morning she still wouldn’t start so we called the Volunteer Coastal Patrol who towed us back to our mooring at Saratoga in their jet-powered boat at a rapid pace in rainy, windy, choppy conditions. Later, when we discovered her true condition, we were grateful that the Samson post and bow survived that manic trip.

We started paint stripping, ripping off carpet, chipping off tiles, removing a crazy mess of wiring, replacing duck tape with fibreglass, replacing rotten timber in the bulkhead. We would carry off garbage bags of material, crud and junk each time we went ashore. These superficial repairs were done while we were out enjoying ourselves, fishing, having a drink, and relaxing. 

I recall, one day phoning our son Nathan to meet us at the Aimee Street Wharf Davistown with a tin of paint stripper. The upholstery was filthy and had to be thrown away. It then became apparent that the rot in the topside planks had to be addressed and we needed professional help.

Grant made enquiries and Tod Vidgen (the local marine mechanic, ex-NZ navy and the T in T&R Solutions at Green Point) directed us to Peter Moroney. Although we didn’t know at the time, Peter was the last apprentice to learn his trade under Harold Halvorsen and was to treat us -- and Dotty -- to his wealth of knowledge of traditional boat building. This story is really down to Peter, his skill and knowledge.

Peter checked Dotty out on the water and suggested slipping her at Fenwicks at Brooklyn for a few weeks to replace some of the starboard planks. Peter was busy and would get back to us. Months passed with us nursing Dotty and being very wary of where we took her as we now knew that some planks were as soft as cardboard. 

Meanwhile, Peter and Todd had put their heads together making arrangements to offer a local worksite that would be more convenient and affordable for us.

Todd set our rent at one carton of VB per week, which down the line Grant increased to two cartons. He gave me the keys to his workshop, the code to the security alarm system and the use of anything in the shed we needed. Both Peter and Todd were generous to the extreme and have become great friends. We still enjoy a gathering in the shed at the end of a day’s work -- that’s another story.

Peter had told Grant it would be helpful if we could line up a lad to help him. Instead he agreed to take on an old boiler (me) and he has since told me I was the best apprentice he ever had. I took two weeks holiday from work and started to strip Dotty down alongside Peter. 

Hammer in hand, we soon found more rotten planks than just a few. Virtually the whole of starboard topside had to be replaced as well as many of the ribs.  Port was in better shape with just a couple of planks gone. By the transom was completely rotten. 

We had trouble sourcing timber to the quality that Peter required.  He would select each length of timber individually. He didn’t cut any corners, laminating and scarfing in new Tassie Oak ribs (not merely setting in sister ribs). 

The new planks are Pacific Maple imported from Indonesia purchased from Walker Bros Gosford. My grandfather, Dave Walker, started the mill back in 1920s -- my dad and Uncle Bruce Walker have a story of building a wooden boat back in the 50s powered by a Prefect Motor and using timber from the mill.

I went to the office each morning, tended to my mail, cleared my desk and headed off to Dotty for the rest of the day. Grant, a self-employed bricklayer, could also arrange his work schedule to be at Dotty as often as possible.

Dotty was stripped out entirely including the bulkhead.  Peter fitted knees midship and aft to create an open plan. Outside, all old white lead and linseed fastenings in the hull were plucked out, Everdure applied to help prevent rot, and replaced with West System.

When the planks and transom had been replaced, we got the crane in to lift her higher so we could more easily access below the waterline. The keel was crooked and dangling from side to side. Peter removed the old broken bolts and installed 10 new keel bolts. He found evidence of worm in the dead wood and the block -- green gunk kept secreting out for weeks as Peter treated them.

In excess of 3,000 3x6 stainless steel screws were used.

Using recycled hardwood which had been stored in the yard for some time, Peter built new engine mounts, fashioned a new Samson post, bow sprit, rope fairleads, cleats, hand rails and mast.

Every surface was coated with Everdure, primer, two undercoats and two to three gloss topcoats (externally, the topsides had more coats with the undercoats followed by mixtures of 50/50 undercoat/gloss, then 25/75 and finally two-three gloss coats). 

All brass fittings, funnels, running lights went to Newcastle for chrome plating.  The instruments on the helm were acquired from “5 o’clock,” a 35’ Bertram undergoing repairs alongside “Dotty”.

Peter installed new skin fittings and re-caulked below the waterline.  He knows everything about boat building from top to bottom.  He has a tradesman’s trick to everything he does -- watching him pig tailing the new brass fuel line was magic.  The landing platform was resurrected from Todd’s old boat “Falcon” as was the helm.  Todd found and installed a heat exchanger to add to the cooling system.

It became apparent that the exhaust manifold was too far gone. Todd (who is a Kiwi himself) made phone calls to NZ and tracked down the man who still had the templates out in the paddock and could cast a new manifold. He sent it over to us a couple of months later at a cost of $430.

We have participated in the annual Davistown Putt Putt Regatta since 2005 when Dotty  took out Best Gentleman’s Launch and Craft Most Deserving Restoration.

We have since slipped her annually for scraping, antifouling, general maintenance and cleaning, also repainted her topsides and cabin. Each time Peter has been there to guide, advise and help us. 

Restoration total costs: $71,778.92 (documented). Plus Grant and Rhonda Blades’ hour upon hour of labour, uncalculated; Peter Moroney shipwright work on Saturdays, donated; Todd Vidgen hours of advice, engineering and electrical work, donated. Not included in this list are site costs, crane and transporting costs.