South Pacific II Returns to Service Following Extensive Refit

Fri 12 Dec 2025

The celebrations aboard SPII on her handover proved yet again what this very special boat is renowned for – comfortable entertaining and camaraderie. It’s hard to imagine a better aft deck for hosting a large group of friends, and with the solid timber construction, beech decks underfoot and traditional varnished timber interiors there is that extra special warmth of welcome everywhere you look that can be found lacking in modern production boats.

SPII wasted no time in heading north to restart her life adventures and we have very recently received a report from Skipper Jacob Oxlade:

I am most impressed with the aesthetics and the functionality we have gained from the works completed. Most notably is having past guests on board and hearing them comment on how stunning the new interior finishes are, combined with their admiration that she has retained her classic, humble charm. Their comments also include features such as the larger beds, enormous bathroom and shower, as well as the new internal stairs to the flybridge, adding yet another element of comfort. All-round the feedback from what the customers see is terrific.

Moving onto performance and what the customers may or may not see! The [Humphree] stabilisers are the elephant in the room here. Our first charter consisted of picking guests up from Cooktown and taking them to Lizard Island in a 30 knot South-easterly, a perfect beam sea. It is not something I ever thought I would say about a Norman Wright boat [!? – editor’s note], but a beam sea is now my favourite! With the headsail assisting, she simply rides up and over the wave without rolling down the back of it, whilst tearing along at 11 knots! It truly defies belief. The customers had been on her in similar conditions previously and couldn’t believe it. Couple this with the quieter operation with the Gardner diesels, and overall, the underway experience is a delight.

On the delivery trip up to Cairns, where we weren’t using the generators whilst underway, we achieved speeds averaging 10.5 knots through the water at 25 litres per hour at 1350rpm! But she is also easily able to run around at 11knots at 1450rpm, or down at 8.5 knots at 950rpm but I haven’t checked the fuel burn on these. Throughout routine engine room checks I would find that it was as cool inside the engine room as the air outside with the new DC Mafi ventilation, which is incredible when completing maintenance throughout the day.

The new central freshwater cooled aircon units run all day, every day and the water coming out of the new heat exchanger doesn’t even get warm, so I would say that this is a huge success also, meaning we ditched 12 skin fittings, and have achieved aircon cooling with only two holes in the hull!

Lastly the hull structure with the new Ribs is noticeable also, no creaking or squeaking whilst in a heavy sea state, which was a common occurrence previously!

Obviously, a refit like this comes with its teething issues, but they are few and far between and don’t retract from what we have gained. I could go on with the benefits, but there is just too much to mention in one sitting! Overall, we have a product now that is true Classic charm, with modern luxury. A credit to all involved.

The following photographs of the completed refit are courtesy of Coastwatch – another classic Qld icon undergoing a “complete re-fit”, this time with only minor support by Wright’s.