32' Power Cruiser (1968) - ST. HELENA

St Helena, formerly Tooroorong and possibly originally Venetra, is a carvel cruiser restored over a two year period by a professional shipwright at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She was relaunched on 17 December 2016. Her hull is Queensland Beech, a timber with properties similar to teak, clenched with copper nails and glued with resorcinol. Other fastenings extracted from her are monel and silicone bronze. She was dynel sheathed below the waterline from launch. Her decks are ply also sheathed in dynel. Structural timbers are Oregon. Her house and interior are of Australian Red Cedar which became rare but not unobtainable because prior to power tools, Australian settlers had difficulty cutting native hardwoods. Bulkheads in the cabin are the original Bryunzeel ply from Holland. The laminated cedar veneers are two or three millimetres thick which is not a product replicated today. She is thought to be designed by R C (Clem) Masters, a prolific boat builder and designer who worked from Cabbage Tree Creek in Brisbane. Her builder is unknown but registration papers record it as being circa 1968. Originally powered by a V8 Chrysler petrol engine she was repowered with a Yanmar turbo diesel in the 1990s. As part of her restoration she enjoys many one off castings in bronze, some of which were made using a 3d printer. She plies the waters of Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia and is probably in better condition now than when originally launched.