Florinda

Vessel numberHV000466

Date1949

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 4.27 m x 1.71 m x 0.69 m (14 ft x 5.6 ft x 2.25 ft)

DescriptionFLORINDA is 4.27 m (14 feet) long, clinker built in Queensland cedar planking and powered by a 2.5 kw (3 hp) Chapman petrol engine. This was typical construction and power for the period. It was built by George "Ned" Press for his younger brother Carl, both were sons of HC (Henrich Christian) Press who founded his boatshed in 1875, and the business was carried on by subsequent generations until the late 1960s. The original shed was located on the eastern shoreline of Woolloomooloo Bay on Sydney Harbour, but in 1900 this land was resumed for use by government for wharves. Press made a boatshed on a pontoon and moored it across the other side on the western shore where the business continued. FLORINDA was a tender to the shed and also used for the family as a recreational craft.

Both Henry and Ned Press were accomplished builders, and amongst the many craft they built were twelve 18 foot skiffs called HC PRESS. Skippered by Chris Webb, HC PRESS II was perhaps the most famous of these craft.

FLORINDA was acquired by the Sydney Heritage Fleet from the Press family and is in original condition.
SignificanceFLORINDA is an open motor launch built by and for the HC Press family to use on Sydney Harbour in the late 1940s. The Press family had a long and close association with Sydney Harbour through boatbuilding and their many 18-foot skiffs called HC PRESS, and the many boat hire businesses they operated in Sydney and waterways nearby over almost a century. FLORINDA was used by the family until the 1970s.