It Takes A Village To Restore A Vessel

Jarrah Boeghim was raised on her father’s wooden ships.

In Airlie Beach’s Pioneer Bay, the 20-year-old finally sat on the prow of her own ‘ketch’ ship last week, a 1937 New Bedford Model wooden vessel, and surveyed what has been a six-month labour of love.

Half a year ago, in a mooring just outside Airlie Beach, Jarrah had spied the classic vessel built in the ‘50s sitting in the water, slowly rotting.

The Airlie Beach-born local, after the death of her father two years ago – a Whitsunday sailing icon, the late Tony Boeghim, captain of the famed vessel Providence - had decided to return home and become her own skipper in his memory.

And the ship – who was then named Black Adder – was love at first sight.

“I had always wanted to buy a wooden vessel, but all that was around was fibreglass. Then I saw her,” Jarrah said.

“I bought her without knowing her condition; but I fell in love straight away. I said, this is the one I want. I knew it then and there without looking inside. When I finally saw her, I was worried because there was so much work to do. But where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Jarrah took Black Adder to Edge’s Boatyard in Jubilee Pocket where the hard yards began, but not unassisted; what was originally Jarrah’s solo passion project soon gained in notoriety and gained in help.

“As soon as I got her in the shipyard every boatie was coming over, saying, ‘Isn’t she a gem? We can’t believe you’re 20 years old and you’ve bought her,’” Jarrah said.

“Then this whole crazy, beautiful experience happened: 30 different people were coming down to help work on her [Black Adder]. I had put up this post on Facebook and people were offering their time for free, just for an opportunity to be a part of the restoration. I had guys at the boatyard dropping their work to help.”

People of all ages – from 18 up to 70 – were working on Black Adder, aiming to get her seaworthy. Even Jarrah’s own grandfather came along to help with the wiring, adorning the vessel with a modern touch: solar panels.

“Everyone has been astounded by how many people have come out to help restore her,” Jarrah said.

“It’s not an everyday thing. We’re restoring this 72-year-old vessel and we’re all so young. It doesn’t really happen in Airlie. It’s an old sailing tradition but all of us youngsters are here restoring her; it’s magical.

“I think it’s a unique project. Not many people would do something like this or get the opportunity to work hands-on with a vessel like this.”

Over the past few weeks, Jarrah and her motley crew of good Samaritans, sailors, and Airlie Beach locals have pieced together Black Adder to get her water-tight, ready to sail once more with a new coat of paint.

In the time she’s worked on her, Jarrah has met and been reached out to by people from Black Adder’s past: a man in Cannonvale got in contact, letting her know he has the ship’s original mizen mast lying in his backyard from year’s past. Another found her story on social media and told of how the ship once belonged to his great-grandfather and shared film-footage of the boat sailing in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.

Touched by it all, Jarrah, who has successfully restored the ship to some of its former glory and plans to continue to work on her, decided to give her back her original name from when she was constructed in the ‘50s of Tasmanian wood: Alinta, which means wonderful.

“She’ll never be finished – she’s a wooden boat – but I’ll make her perfect,” Jarrah said.

“I think dad would be proud in a way.”

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Joely Hemzell and Jarrah Boeghim onboard Alinta, Jarrah’s newly refurbished wooden ship

During the restoration, Jarrah was joined en masse by helpful locals to finish the job