My last boat
Bob Killick and Peter topdeck
In 1979, Bob Killick, the owner of Daytripper Cruises and one of my previous clients for whom I had built party boats, put a proposition up that we build a cruising restaurant together to operate on Port Hacking. It would be based at Cronulla Boatshed in Gunnamatta Bay. This all sounded pretty good to me and so I began another venture, the T.S.M.V. Bass and Flinders. Plans were drawn up and construction began on the 200 passenger charter boat at 3 Ward Street Kurnell. Bass and Flinders was constructed from aluminium and is the only boat I made from a material other than wood.
It took two years to build the Bass. Its launch in 1982 was not without mishap as one might expect when trying to set afloat a 65 ft catamaran weighing 32 tonne from the back of a semi trailer.
We duly took up operations on Port Hacking and the business powered along for a couple of years. We ran breakfast cruises on a Sunday, conferences, charters, wedding receptions, jazz cruises, lunches and all functions that were carried out at restaurants or reception centres.
1983 ad for dining on Bass & Flinders
The attraction for the cruises was the beautiful Port Hacking River which we were able to navigate as far as Audley, deep into the Royal National Park. It was all new to me but I soon adjusted to the new way of life. At times it became pretty hectic; in the first Christmas period that we were operating we carried out 62 charters in 42 days. It was great fun but exhausting work.
Unfortunately the Port silted up and we were no longer able to navigate the River so we made the decision to relocate to Sydney Harbour and secured a berth at Rushcutters Bay. At the time, Sydney was saturated with Charter Boats and it was tough to keep the boat operating viably, so we made the decision to sell. Fortunately, a buyer in Ian Ford came along and took her off our hands, returning her to the Georges River and Botany Bay where she still operates today.
