Introduction

Up until the 1960’s, the sight of boats being built near the shoreline of Port Stephens was not uncommon. Construction took place on both sides of the harbour.

The boats, generally of wooden construction, ranged from small vessels through to mid-size working boats and were mostly used for fishing, prawning or oyster cultivation.

The vessels were constructed by both professional builders who specialised in commercial boats and amateur builders who built their craft for personal use.

Depending on the time allocated to the build, construction could spread out over numerous years. Many a completed boat was transported through the streets of Nelson Bay on the way to its launching.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Accordingly, this paper sets out numerous historic photos of boats in various stages of construction at Port Stephens. In most cases the names of the boats, dates of construction and their builders are unknown, but is believed they were all locally constructed.

The photos, relating to some thirty-six boats, illustrate the story of boat building at Port Stephens and the complexity of construction involved. The boats are numbered 1-36 and their respective photos are shown therein.

The photos were collected by John ‘Stinker’ Clarke, a well-known historian and author of Port Stephens, who made them available to the author.

The Boats

Boat One: ‘Aurora’, launched at Little Beach, Nelson Bay, by Annie Lund

Boat Two: ‘Dianna‘

Boat Three:

Boat Four:

Boat Five:

Boat Six: Built by Bill Laman

Boat Seven:

Boat Eight:

Boat Nine: Dawn

‘Dawn’ on a cruise in Port Stephens

‘Dawn’ dressed for war after requisition by the Commonwealth Government and headed for New Guinea. When the guns were fired , ‘Dawn’ went back four feet.

Boat Ten:

Boat Eleven:

Boat Twelve:

Boat Thirteen:

Boat Fourteen:

Boat Fifteen:

Boat Sixteen: ‘Maria-Del’

Boat Seventeen:

Boat Eighteen:

Boat Nineteen:

Boat Twenty:  ‘Era’

Boat Twenty-one

Boat Twenty-two:

Boat Twenty-three:

Boat Twenty-four: ‘Tamboi Queen’ built by Bob Asquith at his Nelson Bay home in 1970

Boat Twenty-five:

Boat Twenty-six:

Boat Twenty-seven:

Boat Twenty-eight: ‘ Andana’

Boat Twenty-nine:

Boat Thirty:

Boat thirty-one:

Boat Thirty-two:

Boat Thirty-three:  ‘Pops Last’

Boat Thirty-four:

Boat Thirty-five: ‘Pindimar’

Boat Thirty-six:  ‘Dianna’

Concluding Comments

Some of the boats depicted in this paper may still ply the waters of various ports while others would have been broken up or sunk.

Other papers dealing with boat building at Port Stephens are found at the following links on the website:

History of Boat Building at Port Stephens

The Slipways at Tea Gardens – Port Stephens

Researched and compiled by Kevin McGuinness

September 2025