TitleM.V Neptune, Noosa RiverAdditional InformationHistory of the Neptune - by Carl Dowd
Built in 1946/7 by Fred Gould and Jack Bisman at Noosaville, who designed and built a number of similar boats at that time.
'The Noosa' and 'Lady Eileen' but as at today, 'Neptune' is the only surviving vessel.
It was built as a pleasure boat for river cruising and its unique design of a concave stern section, which enabled the skeg to require less depth, made the boats ideal for river cruising and crossing the bars and local estuaries on the Sunshine Coast.
Neptune is 37 foot long and draws 2 feet. Its first owner was Percy Wilson, owner of a garade in Eumundi, who had the boat for 23 years. Itw as then sold to Jack McAulay, a good friend, for $1800 in 1969. Jack and his family enjoyed many great times on Neptune out of Noosa, Mooloolaba and Tin Can Bay over 17years before selling to Geoff Hall in 1986 who replaced the beech deck and carried out other improvements. Geoff then sold the boat to Carl Dowd in 1996. During this period a new galley was installed, a new toilet suite and an extensive refurbishment was carried out before in 2001, Neptune was put into survey and is now available for private charter iwht a skipper on Noosa River.
The existing GMH 50 horse motor was installed by Jack McAulay in 1970 and it has a Morris gearbox.Image NoT4007230
CopyrightIn Copyright. This image may be used for educational and non-commercial research purposes. It must not be reproduced for any other purposes without the prior permission of Noosa Libraries.AttributionImage courtesy Heritage Noosa Image No. (insert).
