AN AFTERNOON ON BY PAM WEGENER – PHOTOS BY ROD WEGENER A
s we drove into Picton and found our way to the pier at Carey's boatyard, it was only too obvious that a weather bomb had been through. There was debris everywhere, over roads and gardens, and even the doors had been
blown off the shed at Carey's yard, but sitting alongside the pier waiting in near pristine condition, was the boat we had come to see: the newly launched cray boat, Amazon.
Sadly this is to be that last boat and the end of an era for the long-standing Picton boat builders at Careys Boat yard, as the company has been placed in liquidation as of May this year. To suggest that this last build was an easy one would be false, because the demise of this reputable boat yard has been on the wall for some time. Time and financial mismanagement had added to the cost of the build, taking the final costs well over the original estimates. Had it not been for a committed owner digging deep into already depleted pockets, his new-build dream boat may not have been salvaged from a series of financial disasters, and Amazon may never have seen the light of day nor a successful commissioning. The fears and pressures of getting the boat out of the shed and the liquidators hands, faded as we watched Amazon sitting comfortably in her marine environment well away from their threatening clutches. Amazon's proud new owner Billy Hansen, and his right hand man and deckhand of far too many years to remember, Brendon Gentle, had been on the go since sparrow's fart giving her a good tidy up and hose down ready for our visit.
8 Professional Skipper July/August 2012
The boat has been designed as a cray fishing and general- purpose work boat. Billy lives in Te Anau but spends up to 10 months a year fishing in and around Fiordland, out of Milford Sound.
Our first impression of the purple and white Richard McBride design certainly didn't convey that this was just another timber fishing boat. The glass over ply construction, on timber frames and stringers, and the hull with its fine cabin, paint finish and gleaming stainless steel, combine to make a vessel that looks more like a superyacht conversion than what it actually is – a fully functioning and operational fishing vessel. Finished top to bottom using Altex coatings and protection paint systems, Amazon is one good-looking fishing boat, one that can hold her own against many pleasure craft and still turn admiring heads. As we boarded there were still one or two workmen floating around, finishing off a few last-minute items before she headed off to Nelson and on further to her new home in Milford Sound. Once on board it really was a surprise to enter a cabin so far removed from your usual fishing boat. The fitting and finish make her look like a smart family fishing/cruising boat. The clean lines of the helm station with no wheel took us back a bit, as we were expecting to see the traditional wooden wheel, not some fancy toggle control. And yet the raft of electronics were what you would expect of a state of the art working vessel. Advance Trident Limited were contracted to supply the navigational electronics, communications package, including
