CRAFTSMANSHIP
Main picture: Tandanya in foreground, then, back of shed
(left to right), Taxman Bay, Captain Mackenzie (back corner)
and Yvonne (behind Tandanya’s bow).
Above, from top: Wendy, Rupert and Ferdi Darley; Alma
Doepel; Fantasy and pilot vessel Captain Mackenzie (right)Rupert, who is in the second year of his apprenticeship, while Wendy
does the accounting and almost all of the varnishing.
At the time of my visit there were five boats in the shed, four of
which were built in the 1950s. Tandanya was designed by Abeking &
Rasmussen and built by Charlie Peel in Williamstown (and possibly in
this very shed) and was receiving extensive cosmetic work, including
re-varnishing, renewal of deck caulking and painting. Behind her was
another Melbourne-built boat, a 30 Square Metre called Fantasy. She
has been in Ferdi’s shed for seven years and was stored inside
elsewhere for five years before that. Work is due to start on her soon
and will include the replacement of about a dozen ribs and rectification
of her hogged stern, while her kauri pine planking is thought to be in
good condition.
At the back of the shed there are two larger boats. The 54ft Captain
Mackenzie was built in Tasmania as a pilot vessel which operated out of
Launceston, and she is having her decks replaced and a new interior.
Next to her is Taxman Bay which was originally built as a private yacht
but then spent most of her life as a commercial fishing boat. As such
she had holes drilled in her hull planking to create a sea water wet well
to keep crayfish alive and fresh, and she will retain these as her current
retired owner is a keen fisherman. She has almost completely been
rebuilt, including the replacement of all her frames, deck beams and
deckhouse, and she will be relaunched some time this year.
The odd one out in terms of her age is the 1938 Tumlare Yvonne
which is also thought to have been built in this shed. She is owned by a
syndicate of eight which includes Ferdi himself. His not-insignificant
contribution to her restoration includes the provision of shed space and
expert advice, while four other syndicate members spend every Friday
working on her. They are in the process of replacing all the ribs.
Ferdi is also heavily involved in Alma Doepel, the 1903 three-masted
coastal trading vessel which is being restored near Melbourne’s city
centre a few miles up the Yarra River. Under his supervision a handful of
his shipwrights work permanently on the vessel along with a much
larger group of volunteers. She has been alongside the wharf on a
floating barge for six years. It is hoped that – depending on funding –
she will be relaunched by the end of this year and back in commission
as a sail training vessel two years later.
Among the many vessels which Ferdi regularly maintains are the
1897 Fife gaf cutter Sayonara – which he re-rigged in 2016 – and the
1946 8-Metre Frances. Somehow, during the busy time that Ferdi and
Wendy have had since they set up their business, they have found time
to restore, and sail, their own 54ft Laurent Giles 1947 yawl Ruthean.