Huon Pine Timber - Cleaning the Bilge

[Jim Cate]

A wooden boat builder told me Huon Pine was/is the best boat building timber in the world.

I doubt if he was a Kiwi... they all say that Kauri is the best. And of course, one must define the usage. Planking is one case, frames, spars, and so on have different requirements for the timbers.

But yeah, lots of folks, especially those from the Huon valley, think very highly of HP.

Jim

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I doubt if he was a Kiwi... they all say that Kauri is the best. And of course, one must define the usage. Planking is one case, frames, spars, and so on have different requirements for the timbers.

But yeah, lots of folks, especially those from the Huon valley, think very highly of HP.

Jim

The Kiwis do love their Kauri pine and their Kauri pine is (was?) better than other South Pacific Kauri pines or so the Kiwis tell us. . Of course not to be mistaken with the West Australian Kauri which is hardwood and completely different timber (as in chalk and cheese).

But they never had Huon pine to compare it with so I take their claim with a pinch of salt.

Back in the day (early 19th century), a ship builder (forgotten his name ATM) relocated from the USA to Hobart just so he could get stocks of Huon pine. When he arrived in Hobart he realised that Hobart had very limited stocks of Huon pine and certainly not enough for his proposed enterprise. He found the largest stocks were located in upper reaches of Macquarie harbour but there wasn't a "proper" settlement there (and no transport to Hobart). As his luck would have it, the government was looking for a replacement superintendent for the convict station on Sarah Island (in Macquarie harbour) so he applied and got the job. Now he had a source of the worlds finest boat building timber and a free labour force both at his fingertips - over a few years he built a shipload of vessels at Sarah Island. Fascinating history of a private/government arrangement. By the way, the previous superintendent was removed for being too sadistic and corrupt even for the standards of convict treatment of that era. The USA shipbuilder was finally sacked for being too kind and making too much private money from convict labour - go figure