New life being breathed into vessel Gracie M

It was one the last large wooden vessels built at Narooma. The former prawn trawler was constructed by Jimmy Taylor at the Taylor Brothers slipway back in 1976 using spotted gum timber.

The new owner Ash Heidon purchased the vessel after it was advertised by the previous owner on Ebay and has been coming down to Narooma regularly to conduct repairs.

The Gracie M is currently up on the Narooma slipway and the vessel’s original builder Mr Taylor and slipway owner Mal Baddeley are assisting with the repairs.

Mr Taylor was very pleased to see new life being breathed into the vessel he built all those years ago.

“It’s about time, it should have been done 20 years ago,” Mr Taylor said.

Work completed so far includes caulking, resealing and painting the hull, while a new bilge pumping and charging systems have also been installed.

The World World II vintage Lister two-cylinder diesel that had never been used was already in the vessel and was now being used to power the bilge system that could pump 30,000 lites an hour.

Mr Heidon said he was very grateful that the Narooma slipway was functioning and the work was able to be completed, otherwise he would have been left with a real dilemma.

“I don’t know what I would have done if the slipway wasn't here,” he said.

The previous owner purchased the 48-foot vessel for $1 after it was about to abandoned at Bermagui harbour.

The Gracie M has had a turbid history since arriving in Narooma with Maritime authorities concerned about its seaworthiness with its future at one stage in limbo.

Slipway owner Mr Baddeley said NSW Maritime officers had inspected the vessel in recent days and were happy with the progress.

Maritime has set a 12-month deadline with a possible extension to 18 months to have a new engine fitted and for the vessel to be deemed seaworthy.

After this latest round of repairs had been completed and the hull was watertight, the vessel would be placed on Mr Heidon’s mooring on Forsters Bay.

Part of the deal of the purchase of the Gracie M was that Mr Heidon has also taken ownership of the old wooden prawn trawler the Defiance, also owned by the previous owner, who used that vessel to tow the Gracie M was Bermagui to Narooma.

The Defiance remains on a mooring on Forsters Bay and is another project for Mr Heidon, who currently lives on a sailboat in a marina at Brisbane.

He also another sailboat in Sydney.

The next priority was to make the deck watertight and then the plan was to build low cabin extending from the wheelhouse all the way to back of the deck.

He also hopes to install a mast all the way through the wheelhouse down onto the keel.

“I want to make it into a motor sailer and it will be perfect for sailing up and down the NSW Coast,” Mr Heidon said.

He has already sourced an engine and gearbox that he will install sometime in the next 12 to 18 months.