BOOFA when it was on display at the Eden Whaling Museum in the 1980s

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Boofa

Vessel numberHV000102

Owner Australian National Maritime Museum

Builder N & E Towns

Previous owner North Curl Curl SLSC

Previous owner Narooma SLSC

Previous owner Pambula SLSC

Previous owner Far South Coast SLSC

Previous owner Eden Killer Whale Museum

Vessel type Surf Boats (1913 - 2007)

Date1946

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.16 m x 1.75 m (23.5 ft x 5.75 ft)

DescriptionBOOFA was built by N & E Towns in Newcastle in 1946, for the North Curl Curl Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) in Sydney NSW. It is one of the few surviving examples of a double- ended surf boat built along the lines of the standard pre-war surfboat pattern, a style that had proven very capable in the surf since the type had become established. BOOFA was seam batten construction, a method replaced by cold-moulding in veneers not long after it was built.

BOOFA was purchased from the Towns in Newcastle who were prolific builders of surf craft in the post war period. Money was scarce for surf clubs and North Curl Curl were able to have this sponsored by the owner of the Manly Amusement Centre on Manly Pier (beside the Manly ferry wharf). He asked for it to be named after their watch dog, an over friendly Alsation called "Boofa."

The double-ended hull shape was also soon to become obsolete. By the end of the 1940s, the tuck or transom sterned hull had been developed and was both faster for racing and just as capable in the surf for rescue work. North Curl Curl SLSC used BOOFA until 1952 when it was probably replaced by a new tuck-stern hull.

BOOFA then passed through a progression of owners including Narooma, Pambula and the Far South Coast Surf Life Saving Clubs. When it was finally retired it went on display at the Eden Whaling Museum. In 1986 the craft was handed over to the Long Bay Gaol workshop where inmates carried out a number of repairs to restore the craft to a better condition. Late in the 1980s BOOFA was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum, where it is now part of the National Maritime Collection.
SignificanceBOOFA is wooden surfboat built in Newcastle NSW in 1946. It is an rare example of the double-ended form of surf life-saving boat that was the standard type until late in the 1940s. It also an example of a typical Towns built surfboat, a company well known for constructing surfboats over a number of decades.

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