A boat that had a starring role through the 90’s on “Brownie’s Coastwatch” and gained a cult following of admiring viewers, is the lovely Margaret C.
Ken Brown remarks that buying the Margaret C – and using her on Coastwatch – was one of the best decisions he ever made:
“That boat bought a bit of a new audience to the show, and I had blokes from the classic boat community come up to me and say, Ken we weren’t quite sure about you, but now we know you’re the real thing.”
– Ken Brown
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Designer(s) | Dick Carroll, Dick Tripcony, Cecil Fest |
| Builder(s) | Dick Carroll, Dick Tripcony & Frank Gould; assisted by Joe Holt & Les Thomas. |
| Year Launched | 1963 |
| Length | 37 feet / 11.28 meters |
| Beam | 12 feet 4” / 3.76 meters |
| Draft | 3 feet 3” / 0.99 meters |
| Construction | Spotted gum planking, huon pine ribs, beech decking. Full length hardwood keel, steel capped. |
| Power | 6 Cyl 120 hp Iveco Diesel installed late 90s (replaced Ford Lees) |
| Performance | 7 knots (8 with assistance from current!) |
| Internals | Full Galley, Shower, Electric Head, Hot/Cold Water, Stove, BBQ,, 12/240V, Inveter, Full Electronics. |
| Passenger Capacity | 20 (5 Berth) |
HISTORY
The Margaret C was built by her original owner and Moreton Bay professional fisherman, Dick Carroll, from designs he conceived with builder Dick Tripcony and trawler man Cecil Fest.
The brief was for a shallow draft boat able to work the flats and low enough to get under the bridges in Breakfast Creek where she was moored for a period.
Margaret C was constructed in a vacant lot at Woody Point, before being towed to Breakfast Creek where she was completed. Dick Carroll was assisted throughout the build at various times by Joe Holt and Les Thomas. She was finished off by Dick Tripcony and Frank Gould.
Launched in 1963, she was named after Dick Carroll’s wife, Margaret. Dick Carroll lived and worked off the Margaret C, netting fish from Pumicestone Passage to the flats off Crab Island. She had a 35 year working life, transporting thousands of tonnes of fish from net shots around the Bay, and from winter sea mullet fishing on Moreton Island.
She even transported vehicles – check out the Land Rover strategically shoehorned on board!
Fittingly, she was later owned by Warren Markwell of Markwell Seafoods fame – another ally of Coastwatch – and Ken Brown bought the boat from Warren in 1996. Brownie undertook a comprehensive re-fit, before selling her in 2000.
See the video profiling the re-fit from the Coastwatch Vault below:
Margaret C endures as part of the history of Moreton Bay as one of the few remaining
examples of a classic, wooden “Moreton Bay work boat”.
CARROLL FAMILY MEMORIES
The Carroll family have marvellous memories. Dick and Margaret’s daughter, Susan Phillips, and grandson, Michael Phillips, recall their times on board with great affection. Michael comments, “I was born and bred on the Margaret C… I hold that boat close to my heart. I wouldn’t leave my grandad’s side. I would spend all my time with him cruising every inch of the bay and learning the art of becoming a master of the sea as a commercial fisherman.
The things I have seen and experienced on the Margaret C would blow your mind; from the way it would handle Moreton Bay, to being full all the way to the top of the gunwales with mullet and other assorted fish species – from mackerel, bream, whiting, Jew – the list goes on and on.”
Michael recalls its transportation of vehicles, building materials and equipment to set up a base on Moreton Island for his grandfather, and a great crew of pro fisherman and pioneers of Moreton Island and Moreton Bay.
“I was an avid rec fisho, and still am… loved chasing marlin and other pelagic fish, and my granddad respected that, and we would troll for them as well. The Margaret C would eat it up, purring like a kitten and not missing a beat. My grandparents Dick and Margaret Carroll had a big hand on my life, god bless them…
We respect “Brownie” for bringing her back to life and he helped us return my grandfather to the Bay with his ashes.
We would like to thank everybody involved in keeping that boat alive and still making an impact on peoples lives”.
Susan and Michael have supplied us with a great newspaper article on Dick Carroll from June 1988 – see below.
“MAGGIE” TODAY
“Maggie” as one of her new custodians, Steve Robson, affectionately calls her, is clearly
in excellent hands, and as the photo below shows, is looking in fine fettle.
She spends 6 months of the year in Pittwater and 6 months on Sydney Harbour. Steve is a member of a syndicate of 8 likeminded people / families who own her. The syndicate includes another beautiful timber boat – a 130 year old huon pine yacht, Ventura.
Steve comments:
“We have enjoyed Maggie for about 15 years or so. Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement, we absolutely adore her. She is a wonderful vessel and magnificent day boat with spacious aft deck, day-bed, and low gunnels comfortably entertaining up to 20 people with a hard-top…
Although minimalist, she is highly individual. We love her simplicity – something we have only increased to make her extremely simple to use: turn the key and away you go.
She is a great fishing boat, BBQ lunch/dinner boat and also for long weekends away for up to 5 people.
We believe that a lot of usage and keeping the maintenance up to her is key – which is where a syndicate really works.
Each boat is out at least once a week and we have an annual maintenance schedule which I run. My family and friends have had many fun trips on this beautiful craft. We have even inspired several other groups of friends to adopt the same ownership model, resulting in four additional timber craft now gracing our peer group in Sydney.
Significantly, very few of these people ever had much to do with boats previously…
Maggie’s beautiful and unique lines still draw attention wherever she goes.”
BROWNIE’S FAVOURITE MEMORY
“We had so many good times on “The Old Girl” as we called her, it’s hard to pick one out.
I reckon it would be the time spent cruising the bay and Brisbane River with my good mate Geoff Hughes RIP, the English actor who played Eddie in Coronation Street, Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances and Scripps in Heartbeat.
Geoff was a great bloke and he and his wife Susie loved being on Margaret C. with his and my senses of humour there was always a million laughs on those days”.
Not fancy, but certainly very comfortable, Brownie believes that a fibreglass replica of her design would make an excellent boat in today’s market.
An exceptional 1 inch to 1 foot scale replica was also masterfully crafted by Brien Delisser – drawing on his boat-building experience – and put together like a big one!
See the video from the Coastwatch vault below:
Margaret C – a big part of our Coastwatch history!
Words – Nick Cornish & Ken Brown .