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RIVERINA in 2008
Riverina
RIVERINA in 2008
RIVERINA in 2008
Private Collection

Riverina

Vessel numberHV000285
Vessel Registration NumberCK31
Date1935
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.01 m x 2.44 m x 0.91 m (23 ft x 8 ft x 3 ft)
DescriptionThe craft also bears the SS RIVERINA's name and a considerable amount of material was salvaged from the wreck, sitting upright on the sandy beach, before it was reclaimed by the sea. This included Indian teak, some of which was eventually used to build RIVERINA. It is understood to have been built around 1935 by Henry Day at Paynesville.

The initial layout of the carvel planked hull was designed for professional fishing. It was operated as an open motor launch with a simple canvas cabin or shelter over the forward end of the cockpit. In the 1950s a plywood cabin was fitted but this was removed in 2001 and a new canvas shelter fitted. A mast and lug-style gaff rig were also added. RIVERINA shares features common to other fishing and net boats seen on the Gippsland Lakes; a plumb stem, low freeboard and generously curved sheer line. The original petrol engine (of unknown make) has been replaced by a Yanmar diesel.

Used as a professional fishing boat for 20 years it was bought by Arthur Vardy (great grandfather of the current owner) in the mid 1950s. RIVERINA has remained in use as a recreational craft with the Vardy family and their relatives.
SignificanceRIVERINA is a 7 metre (23 feet) long, gaff-rigged day boat that has been used as a fishing and recreational vessel on the Gippsland Lakes for more than 70 years. It was built in the mid-1930s from timbers salvaged from the shipwrecked SS RIVERINA which came ashore at Mallacoota, Victoria in 1927.
1956, a flooded Murrimbidgee River, and CONRAE II is pulled up near the hotel at Forsyth St Wag…
Ernie Rae
1940s
Nautilus
Cecil Cartledge
1946
PS OSCAR W at the SA Wooden Boat Festival in Goolwa 2015
Bear Brothers
1908
BROABILL around 2009
Ivar " Chips" Gronfors
1940
KATHLEEN GILLETT racing in Gaffer's Day 2004 on Sydney Harbour.
Colin Archer
1939
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1949
A drawing of the STAR OF AUSTRALIA, with profile and plan views superimposed.
George Green
1863
SOUTH STEYNE Berrys Bay 2021
Henry Robb Limited Engineers and Shipbuilders
1938
SHOALHAVEN on display in the 1980s at Nowra
John Hawken
1889
KINGFISH being sculled by the owners son in about 2000 after being refitted with new riggers, s…
A & H Green
1947