pearllugger

This is a great shot!! Thanks for posting it!!

Sailboats are the best way to travel. Great photo. Awesome detail. Thanks for sharing.

Biography of the photographer Henry Mobsby

Pearling Luggers of the Torres Strait By Christina Ealing-Godbold, Research Librarian, Information Services | 19 November 2014 The luggers were gaff-rigged ketches constructed of wood, and many have continued to sail for more than 60 years. Typically measuring 15 to 20 meters in length, with low waists and bulwarks to assist diving, the two-masted pearling luggers were graceful with curved lines. They were a magnificent sight as they entered the open sea under full sail. There were many hundreds of luggers working across the north of Australia, from Thursday Island to Broome. Many of the luggers were built by Japanese shipwrights on Thursday Island. Indeed, by the turn of the century, the Japanese had a monopoly on the shipbuilding and slipways of the island. The Queensland Museum has examined the woods used in the luggers and has found that typically a mixture of native timbers was used, including melaleuca, turpentine, hoop pine, and sometimes imported timbers such as Oregon pine. The Queensland Maritime Museum at South Bank has restored a pearling lugger that was built on Thursday Island in 1907. Called Penguin, it was a working boat for more than 80 years. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/pearling-luggers-torres-strait

Only a handful of Torres Strait luggers remain From 1863 to the 1980s hundreds of pearling vessels worked the East and West coasts of Queensland, Torres Strait, and for some years in the Aru Islands of Indonesia. Of these, we believe that there are only 14 identified Torres Strait pearling luggers, 1 former pearl shell carrier, and 2 formers Torres Strait missionary vessels remaining. Recent losses include the 112-year-old Lugger GRAFTON A49 - the wreck of her hull removed from Port Douglas in February 2019 and FLORIA whose end is imminent. TORRES PEARL Formerly named SEDNEY, the Torres Pearl is currently located in Tasmania in private ownership. She has an aft-wheelhouse and those lugger lines. Source: pearlingluggers.com.au/last-of-the-luggers