Boat-building was one of the earliest Tasmanian industries after European settlement and a surprising number of old boats still survive. One is the May Queen, a ketch built in 1867 by Alexander Lawson on the banks of the Huon River in Franklin (south of Hobart). During her heyday, there were more than 100 similar ketches in the fleet, and they were the lifeblood of Van Diemen’s Land. Most of the May Queen’s life was spent as a trading vessel on the Esperance, Lune and Huon rivers, transporting timber from the Tasman Peninsula and the east coast to the Chesterman Mills in Hobart. She carried 25,000 super feet of timber each week from Raminea (near Dover, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Hobart) to Hobart - a journey of seven hours - and also raced in first class ketch events at regattas, recording 12 firsts, 5 seconds and 2 third places. In 1973 the May Queen was withdrawn from service and in 1974 was handed over to the Hobart Marine Board for a five year long restoration. The Maritime Museum in Hobart tells the May Queen story.
The hull is of Tasmanian blue gum and stringy bark, with celery top pine decking and Oregon masts. She weighs 36 tonnes (40 tons), is 21 metres (66 feet) long, with a beam of 5.3 metres (17.3 feet). The retractable centreboard enabled her to negotiate the upper reaches of many rivers; when fully laden the boat had a draught of only 1.5 metres (five feet).
The May Queen still holds a number of records: the oldest trading vessel in Australia, the oldest trunnel-fastened vessel in Australia, the longest-serving ketch in Australia, and one of the few commercial cargo vessels of its design and age left in the world.
She is slipped every year for maintenance, but otherwise is usually found moored in Constitution Dock, Hobart, gracefully posing for visitors’ cameras.
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