wooden boat: The ‘Antonia’ - resurfaced and salvageable
Monday, 19 June 2006
Reporter: Kathy Cogo
For 10 days the celebrated icon of the lucrative pearling and trochus shelling industry of the Torres Strait sat on the bottom of Ross River Creek in Townsville, Queensland.
The 'Antonia' sank after vandals disconnected the power supply to the bilge pump while tied to the wharf beside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Cultural Centre.
Her supporters -
wooden boat enthusiasts and Torres Strait Islanders - waited with fingers crossed for the right weather conditions to refloat her.
The 18-metre boat was employed in the multi-million dollar pearling and trochus shelling industry in the Torres Strait in the 1950s and was donated to the Townsville Wooden Boat Association over a year ago by the Museum of Tropical Queensland.
Townsville resident Francis Ebui had a tear in his eye when he saw the boat for the first time in 50 years.
Francis worked on the boat diving for trochus shells when he was 19 and remembers fondly the work that was involved. "Most of those boats got about 10 to 13 tonnes of shell. Well if we got that amount of shell then you'd come in say about three or four weeks time and unload the shells and be in port for about a week and a half/ two weeks and then away you’d go again.
"We had three rowing dinghies out in the reef. While the boat was anchored, we'd row the dinghies upstream and get some shells and bring them to the boat."
Francis says he loved the work because he preferred being out on the sea then on land.
But the work of the ‘Antonia’ and its crewmen came to an end with the arrival of plastic. Synthetically made buttons ruined the 100-year-old shelling business. There are two small shelling businesses, however, that are still operational in Western Australia and Queensland.
ABC Rural News and Information celebrated the pending salvage of the 'Antonia' by broadcasting live beside the boat. With Castle Hill in the background work got underway to raise the vessel while people looked on and told stories of yesteryear.
Peter Whalley-Thompson from the Townsville Wooden Boat Association spoke of the Torres Strait Island Cultural Centre's plans to restore the 'Antonia' back to survey standard for use as a training vessel.
Peter also gave a description of how the vessel was to be resurfaced.
In the first stages of the resurrection a crane from a salvage company hung a metal frame over the boat and secured slings under the hull. Professional divers experienced in marine salvage were geared up and took turns in the water preparing the boat and securing the slings.
The divers spent hours in the water and could communicate with the salvage crew on the barge via radio. They were also connected to oxygen on the barge by an air hose and carried a small air tank on their back in the case of an emergency.
The Townsville Port Authority funded the tedious operation, which cost close to $10,000.
Local Torres Strait Islanders, Aicie Day, Alma Pilot and Maman Martin sang two songs written about the 'Antonia' by their ancestors.
Aicie says being present for the raising of the 'Antonia' was a proud moment. "But it's very sad seeing it under water. Hopefully it's repairable?"
The good news – the ‘Antonia’ is repairable! Following a 10-hour rescue effort, which involved a crane and a barge, the 'Antonia' was resurfaced and any fears of damage were allayed with only minor work needed on the engine.
