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Lavina II

Vessel numberHV000232

Vessel Registration Number52996 W.A.

Designer Harry Griffith

Builder Harry Griffith

Date1947

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 9.75 m x 9.75 m x 3.66 m x 1.52 m, 9.84 tonnes (32 ft x 32 ft x 12 ft x 5 ft, 10 tons)

DescriptionLAVINA II is understood to have been built by Harry Griffith for Guiseppi Marchese. Harry Griffiths had a yard in Harvest Rd, North Fremantle between 1945 and 1951. He built a small number of commercial craft, including an existing sister ship named BUFFALO. A number of similar craft were built by the various yards in and around Fremantle in the 1940s and 50s, and are often referred to as 'plankies'.

The 9.75m long hull is planked in jarrah and powered by a Volvo diesel fitted in 1960. It had a flush deck and narrow enclosed wheelhouse well aft. There was a mast at the foredeck with a single Bermudian style mainsail and boom. These craft operated a short distance offshore, initially as line fishing craft but later they tended cray pots along the coastline. They had to be capable sea boats to weather bad conditions which can arise without warning offshore.

LAVINA II remained in the industry for almost thirty years. When Marchese died in 1952 it passed into the ownership of his son-in-law Gaetano Travia, then Tony Greco. Tony Surian purchased it from Greco and used it out of Cervantes near Jurien Bay on the west coast. When its survey expired in 1976 it was listed as a recreational craft.

In 2008 LAVINA II remained in use as a private motor vessel rigged with a gaff mainsail and a small headsail, with a new wheelhouse and lower cabin top. The high bulwarks remained which continue to reflect its original workboat origins.
SignificanceLAVINA II is wooden launch and fishing boat built in Western Australia. It is a typical West Australian cray fishing boat from the post-World War II era launched in 1947. It was first used off Lancelin, north of Perth in Western Australia and worked as a commercial craft for nearly 30 years. It is now operating as a private recreational vessel., but still has the hull and other features of its earlier working period.