34' Morris Moreton Bay Cruiser (1971) - KINGFISHER

Kingfisher is a 1971 Hugh Morris 34 she is a Classic Moreton Bay Cruiser. She was based on a fast ferry design built by Hugh Morris Boat Builders in response to to a Harbours and Marine requirement for moving personnel around Moreton Bay. The design produced a very nice boat under 40 ft, so much so that a number of them were commissioned by private owners and they are still active around Moreton Bay in various conditions. We have just completed a full rebuild with the assistance of a dedicated group of retired enthusiasts over a period of 9 Months. Kingfisher had an ignominious start to life, she was first commissioned by a private owner as a pleasure boat but by the time she was completed he had changed his mind on the type of boat he wanted and had gone on to ordered a 40 footer. Kingfisher was then Purchased by Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Past Commodore David Bowley whom I consider was really the first owner, unfortunately within a week of purchase she was moored to a fixed jetty while some extra work was being performed for the new owner, no one knows who, but someone had secured a short mooring line to the dock at low water and left the boat unattended. During the next high tide she was pulled under and was sunk at the dock. To his credit Hugh Morris took the boat back into his shed and gave all assistance to fix the water damage and recondition the engine. The Bowley family went on to enjoy the boat as a family cruiser for many years. I found Kingfisher listed on Gumtree as a project boat in early 2021, she had been rescued by a local boat builder and had been housed in their shed for over 5 years while they worked on it as spare time was available. I recognised the boat from my childhood days on Moreton Bay when she was new and was by far one of the prettiest boats afloat at that time, it was always my vision to return her to her former glory. From my first inspection I had to consider, on one hand she was effectively a very old boat in pieces with no motor, no floors, no roof and a bit of a daunting task to someone with more sense. On the other hand she had great bones and there was no further deconstruction required so in reality a lot of the unrewarding work had been completed. The Boat Builders had cut out dry rot, replaced the transom and had stripped the hull back to bare timber and then epoxy splined and glassed the hull from the keel to the gunwales. After receiving full approval and support from the Co-Captain we bought her and relocated her to RQYS, We erected a plastic igloo over her to conduct the works under cover. My philosophy was to use professional trades for the jobs that were too big or too technical for me and my mates to undertake. This ensured we would end up with a very high level professional finish in key areas and while my gang of retirees and myself are not boat builders we all have a long history of amateur boat building and mucking around in boats and proved well capable of undertaking woodworking jobs, furniture making, painting and varnishing and more varnishing.
We kept to original Queensland Maple interior where it was in place and sourced new Queensland maple for the replacement interior timber finishes. We took the opportunity to change the wheelhouse and cockpit layouts to more modern layouts and created a much more usable boat. We have installed a modern 4 cylinder engine replacing a 6 cylinder engine, in the process adding 100hp and dropping over 400kg in weight. With the introduction of 100 ah lithium batteries and two solar panels providing 60ah charge, we didn’t need to install a generator we no longer have to even connect to shore power. We run a separate fridge and freezer and use standard kitchen appliances such as microwave, coffee maker and air fryer through a 2000w inverter. By also installing a bow thruster, we think we have produced a thoroughly modern boat with the yesteryear charm of a classic timber boat. We relaunched the boat in December 2021 after a solid 10 months rebuild program. With the new motor we now cruise at an easy 15kts with a top speed 17.2kts, she has become a wolf in sheep’s clothing and we are very happy with her.
John Warlow
Vice Commodore
RQYS