The Sea Hunt story
Follow the remarkable journey of Sea Hunt, a historic timber workboat built in Geelong and beautifully restored on Sydney Harbour. Explore her unique story, expert restoration process, and her role in preserving Australia’s maritime heritage.
Sea Hunt today on Sydney Harbour
Sea Hunt’s Journey – From Geelong to a New Life on Sydney Harbour
Every boat has a story, but few are as remarkable as Sea Hunt—a classic timber workboat with a rich history on Geelong Harbour and a new life on Sydney Harbour.
Service on the Geelong docks
Built in Geelong in 1959, Sea Hunt is one of three historic “Line Boats” designed and constructed by the Geelong Harbour Trust, which managed the Port of Geelong for 90 years, from 1905 until the port's privatisation in 1996.
Before the era of container shipping, Sea Hunt and her sister workboats played a vital role in Geelong Harbour operations. They ferried mooring lines from arriving freighters to shoremen on the docks, who then secured the heavy lines to shore bollards, allowing ships to winch themselves in safely to be unloaded.
Sea Hunt served the Port of Geelong for over 25 years, becoming a familiar and trusted part of the harbour’s commercial life.
Sea Hunt's next chapter, serving Geelong's yachting community
After retiring from commercial service, Sea Hunt was acquired by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club—one of Australia’s oldest sailing clubs. She became a Committee Boat, officiating over yacht races in Corio Bay and greater Geelong. For years, Sea Hunt was the vessel that racing sailors had to observe for race starts, buoy roundings, and finishes.
When Royal Geelong YC retired Sea Hunt, Western Beach Boat Club in Corio Bay took her over, and she continued as WBBC's committee boat for many more years.
Over her time in commercial service and in Geelong's yacht racing community, Sea Hunt was patched and held together to enable her to continue her work. Her decks and cabin top began to degrade and break down and a heavy second layer of marine ply was laid over them.
Her beautifully made Gardner engine had by this stage been working for nearly 60 years. Her bilges held a thick layer of mud and tar, accumulated over decades from engine oil, spilled diesel and mud from thousands of laying and lifting her anchor from Geelong's harbour floor.
Her keel cooling system - in which engine cooling water passed through and enclosed circuit of copper pipes laid along the keel - corroded in places, requiring constant topping up of cooling water. Her gearbox was regularly immersed in brackish bilgewater and began to leak gearbox oil.
Finally, in 2020, Western Beach Boat Club took the decision that it was time for Sea Hunt to be replaced by a newer committee vessel, and permanently retired.
End of life?
With the scrapyard looming as her fate — Sea Hunt presented sadly, sitting unused and deteriorating on a mooring off WBBC in Corio Bay.
Sea Hunt, retired and languishing on a mooring in Corio Bay
WBBC judged that the only part of Sea Hunt of remaining value was her classic Gardner 4LW engine, that an enthusiast might buy and restore.
They decided to advertise Sea Hunt for sale as scrap, with her engine as the feature.
And this is when Sea Hunt's fate and MyBoatCrew's beginning crossed paths.
Labour of love
I had been searching for a project; a timber boat, with history, in need of serious restoration. A boat that with the right love and attention, could be re-imagined and rebuilt - brought back to life. I wanted a restoration project that would be the standard-bearer for the new business - MyBoatCrew.
The legendary reliability and economy of Gardner engines was ideal for my project concept, and I found Sea Hunt by searching for 'timber' and 'Gardner'.
When I saw Sea Hunt online, I knew she was the one.
As tired as she looked, there was a high prow that gave her a proud, seaworthy look, sweeping lines along the gunwales to low freeboard sections aft, perfect for a sedate, harbour day-boat that could still manage open water with prowess.
Most importantly, she had strong bones: the massive ironbark frame, skinned with heavy marine ply, and that wonderful Gardner engine.
Even in her neglected state, I knew she was worth saving.
Highway to Sydney
Once the decision was made, the challenge was getting her to Sydney. There was no way she could make the voyage by sea, and at a waterlogged 6 tonnes, she needed genuine heavy haulage to travel by road.
After eventually finding a haulage company in Shepparton willing to make the trip, Sea Hunt was carefully lifted by crane from the Western Beach Boat Club slip, loaded up and hauled up through Victoria to Sydney.
Arriving at Sydney City Marine under the ANZAC Bridge, the first time I had seen her in the flesh, there was a moment when I wondered whether I had made a serious mistake. The travelift operator looked at me with a mixture of awe at my audacity - the scale of the rebuild project ahead - and pity for my madness.
Misgivings were cast away when, back in the water, Sea Hunt's engine - unused for months - fired up immediately.
Our first voyage was across the harbour to Noakes yard in Berry's Bay, where she would be resident for at least 6 months for the heaviest part of the rebuild.
At Noakes, as at Sydney City Marina, the guys in the yard looked at Sea Hunt, looked at me, and wondered what in hell I was thinking. Noakes CEO, Sean Langman, just thought I was mad.
Next day, the work began.
Section by section, Sea Hunt's hull was stripped back, faired, sealed, sanded and painted again and again. Below the waterline, joints and keel were strengthened, surfaces refinished. The process revealed just how tough her construction really was — proof that Sea Hunt was built to last.
It wasn’t always easy, but slowly her form returned, and so did her spirit.
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A New Home on Sydney Harbour
After six months at Noakes, out of the water, Sea Hunt was ready to be relaunched for Phase 2 of the rebuild - her new decks and coachhouse.
On 24 December 2020, Sea Hunt returned to the water and was towed to Kirribilli Marina, where Phase 2 would begin.
This was an exciting part of the project, designing Sea Hunt's new layout, cabin and systems for her new life as a harbour day-boat and work-boat capable of occasional coastal passages.
The basic concept had been designed before she was shipped from Geelong.
But along the way there were some refinements and adjustments to improve functionality and strength, to better reflect her 1960's origins, and to preserve her character as a working vessel now easing into retirement as a cruiser.
New home, new life
When I was lured for a time back into corporate life, restoration work slowed, but didn't stop.
By 2023, Sea Hunt was plying her way comfortably up and down Sydney Harbour, carrying equipment and materials, the odd bottle of wine and a barbeque. Living her new life.
As any boat-owner knows, it is not a passive pastime. There is always work to be done, leaks that need re-sealing, barnacles to be removed, varnish to be redone. Sun, rain and sea are harsh companions.
It's unlikely Sea Hunt will ever be a completely "finished" project. She is an ongoing labour of love.
But now, she is back here she belongs: on the water. Restored, re-imagined, still carrying the proud pedigree of her working origins at the Geelong docks.
Sea Hunt now serves with My Boat Crew on Sydney Harbour and Pittwater, hosting guests, carrying equipment and materials, showing off her classic lines against one of the most iconic boating backdrops in the world.
The journey of Sea Hunt from Geelong to Sydney, from an exhausted near-wreck to a handsome, practical day-boat, is a reminder that all boats need tender, loving care, and that pretty much any boat can be brought back to her best with the right skills, care and attention.
Sea Hunt is now a proud part of both the MyBoatCrew story and of Sydney Harbour.
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