Saturday 11 March 2023 - Our tour was kindly been offered on the "Tortuga" Doug Watson's ketch is located at the Fremantle Cruising Yacht Club. Tortuga was launched in 1952 as a sailing crayfishing boat at the Back Brothers Yard in North Fremantle. Rumour has it that her keel was laid in 1929 then the Great Depression and the Second World War delayed the build. Luigi Santaromita had her built and in the late 1960's. Her mast was struck for a large deck-house forward and she sailed no more. In 2018 she was bought by the Watson family and bought back to a sailing vessel, which is now one of the most used vessel at Fremantle Cruising Yacht Club.

Tortuga was eased down the Ways in 1952 from the Back Brothers Shipwright Yard in North Fremantle, she was christened "A Buongiorno" after the main financial backer. She had a water line length of more than 40 ft (12m) and displaced just under 20 tons. She was the pride of Fremantle's crayfishing fleet and honourably used regularly for the blessing of the fleet to carry the Magdalen statue with many dignitaries treading her decks for that special events. Otherwise it was just Luigi Santaromita and his crew who sailed her combing the reefs and filling her hold with tons of West Coast Crays.

She was rigged as a gaff cutter with clean lines on deck, no deck house just that lovely sweeping sheer. A Buongiorno sailed the Fremantle crayfishing grounds until the 1960s when her mast was cut down and a large doghouse was indignantly plonked forward masking the elegant looks of a forgotten era. She then became "Maree Lou" and steamed out to her fishing grounds with her bow high followed by a cloud of smoke and noise. As she is today. Renamed "Tortuga" and looking splendid after much work by Doug.

Ed is getting close to launching her as there cant be much left to do. He seems to have installed everything including the kitchen sink in the galley and even a handelier in the saloon. The Captains cabin with wall-to-wall reading material

The chandelier was fond on the side of the road, as in (arrangiarsi) Italian making do with what you got - utilised it in the yachts saloon These photos show that Ed is has only a bit more with the detailed work going on below deck

Since the mid 1800's in the west of Ireland the O'Connor family have been boatbuilders crafting traditional Shannon River punts at Castle Connell on the river Shannon

Tony O'Connor whilst working in London in 1988 attend night school in boatbuilding and retrained at the International Boatbuilding Training Centre in Lowestoft. From 1991 worked as a wooden boatbuilder and custom cabinetmaker in England, Ireland and now in Perth West Australia. "April 2021 marked my 30th year as a boatbuilder.

Available to cut CNC parts to order for customers and is happy to discuss any aspect of wooden boat construction mast and spar construction and repair, as well as outfitting boats of all construction types.

Docked at 1637 hours where upon cocktails and canapes were served for a few hours