Good, practical
WORKING BOAT
Moored alongside Storm Petrel in Karitane is
the latest addition to Dunedin's cray fishing
and paddle crabbing fleet, Truby King.
N
aturally enough, the Karitane class is
popular here, and when the latest Karitane
33 was built by Carey's Bay Slipways
it seemed only natural to call her after
Karitane's most famous son.
Having run their fishing business from Karitane for
over 30 years, Allan and Rhonda Anderson were very
aware of the Karitane's heritage and its place in the
history of the country.
Karitine's name is synonymous with the care of
babies and mothers. It was also made famous by one
of the country's greatest writers, Janet Frame, in her
autobiography To the Is-land, as the Seacliff Asylum (and
its founding Medical Superintendant, Dr Frederic Truby
King) was the setting for a significant part of the book.
As well as being intelligent and deeply compassionate,
Frederic Truby King was also a highly practical man. His
ability to think outside the square, brought about a series
of novel solutions to the problems his institutions faced,
one of which was the feeding of its residents or inmates.
Realising the untapped potential of the sea, he established
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NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013
a fishing station at Karitane, some six kilometres north
of Seacliff. The asylum's Resident Attendant and three
patients caught over three and a half tons of fish in the
first year, half of which was smoked and used at Seacliff,
and the balance went to other public institutions. King
used his own money to provide a cottage for these
fishermen. Ten years later, the fishing boat had increased
in size, and the annual catch had grown to over 100 tons,
which approximates to around three kilograms of fish
per patient per week!
Allan and Rhonda Anderson's fishing business in
Karitane has been operating for over 30 years. Their
two sons, Brock and Trent, and two other boats: Sea
Slave a jet powered Marlborough 28, and the 40ft
Malcolm Tennant sailing cat Caprice, provide a lifestyle
that suits the Andersons. Now that Truby King has joined
the Anderson's fleet the family are well set up for a
prosperous future.
Allan knew what he wanted in the new boat: a simple,
no frills design for cray fishing and paddle crabbing. He
got together with Careys Bay Slipways boat builder
Richard Taylor and engineer Trevor Baines, to put his
ideas together. They travelled to Havelock to sea trial
the Observer, a fibreglass version of the Storm Petrel that
is used as a mussel sourcing boat and from that trip the
Truby King was born.
Allan's fishing grounds in his old Marlborough 28
Observer, could range around 50nm up or down the
