Cate Louise
Vessel numberHV000833
Date1933-1937
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 3.41 m × 1.46 m (11.2 ft × 4.8 ft)
DescriptionCate Louise is an 11ft traditional Huon Pine rowing boat made in Hobart’s historic Battery Point precinct around Napoleon St. It has been suggested that Cate Louise was built sometime between 1933 and 1937. It was built by prominent Hobart boat builder Albert ‘Tucker’ Abel as a typical general purpose boat, made for carrying people and goods.
Abel’s boatbuilding business operated from 1898 to 1937, and in this time his yard launched more than 65 vessels ranging from small dinghies to substantial motor launches. By 1911 his own fleet the Royal Blue Motor Launch Line (RBML) consisted of three vessels, BLANCH (48ft. built 1906), BLANCH ABEL (42ft. built 1908), and EVA BLANCH (34ft. built 1910 HV000773) which operated cruises and were also available for hire. His yard destroyed by fire in 1917, however he continued to build vessels until his untimely death in 1938 in a car accident. The ferry NANCY (HV000334) built 1917 is another of Abel’s vessels on the ARHV.
Cate Louise has a clinker built hull, transom, thwarts and thwart rises, a native Tasmanian hardwood keel, stem and knees. It is fastened with copper nails, roved/clenched. After twenty years in a shed, Cate Louise has gone through an extensive restoration process. Preliminary work was carried out in the 1990s with disassembly and paint stripping, however it wasn’t until 2019 that substantial work began. This was undertaken in Williamstown Victoria under the direction of Greg Blunt, the fifth generation of the Blunt family to operate the prominent C. Blunt Boatbuilders wooden boat centre.
The work took two years and involved:
A strip down and removal of decayed timbers
Replacement of damaged or missing ribs (steam bent Huon Pine)
Repairs to the hardwood keel
Restoration of the stem piece (broken in half)
Replacement of damaged planking
Replacement of thwart risers
Repairs to gunnels and belting
Reassembly of thwarts and seats with original hardwood knees
Installation of floor decking (New Zealand Kauri)
Painting and varnishing
All structural repairs were carried out using original timbers, with minor replacements using same species timbers. Cate Louise is an excellent example of a Huon Pine rowing boat restored using traditional methods. After a succession of owners in Tasmania Cate Louise has been under the same family ownership in Victoria for the past thirty years.
Compiled with the assistance of Ian Bakos and his website https://www.seapad.com.au/classic-wooden-boats/tucker-abel-dinghy-cate-louise/
SignificanceCate Louise is an 11ft Huon Pine rowing boat built in Hobart’s historic Battery Point by renowned Tasmanian builder Albert ‘Tucker’ Abel. It was built sometime between 1933 and 1937 as a typical general purpose boat, made for carrying people and goods. Abel’s business operated from 1898 to 1937, and in this time his yard launched more than 65 vessels ranging from small dinghies to substantial motor launches. In 2019 Cate Louise underwent extensive restoration with some of the works including replacement of damaged ribs, restoration of the stem piece, installation of New Zeland kauri floor decking, and painting and varnishing. It is an excellent example of an early 20th century Huon Pine rowing boat built and restored using traditional methods and original timbers.
