| Boat name | Margaret Pearl |
| Designer | R H (Dick) Thompson |
| Builder | Jack Behrens, Battery Point, Tasmania |
| Year launched | 1958 |
| Rig | Ketch |
| LOA | 18.3 m |
| LOD | 17.0 m |
| LWL | |
| Beam | 5.1 m |
| Draft | 2.5 m |
| Sail number | N/A |
| Owner | Woodsman Management P/L - Jim Woods |
| ARHV Number | N/A |
History
Margaret Pearl was built in Hobart in 1958 as a crayfishing vessel for the well-known Stanley fisherman Cyril “Dodger” Long.
Designed by RH (Dick) Thompson who was a boat designer from the Tamar river and over the years designed hundreds of fishing, commercial and recreational vessels – many of them quintessential Tassie cray boats.
Built by Jack Behrens of of Tasmanian hardwood – mainly blue gum – and measures 17 m on the deck with a displacement of approximately 40 tonnes. She fished with success in Tasmania and survived a number of mishaps including finding a rock off Three Hummock Island in the 1980s which nearly sank her.
In the late 1990s, she started to fall into disrepair and was sold to Portland, Victoria where she was converted for shark fishing. Her working life finished in about 2010 and she lay idle in the Portland Harbour.
In 2015, she was purchased by Jim Woods who patched up sufficiently to steam her from Portland to Queenscliff where she was hauled out for what ended up as a five year rebuild.
She is now back in full service and will be available for commercial charter as well as being a very comfortable family cruiser.
More of the Margaret Pearl story will be added soon, Nov 19 2021
