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The
Emerald Star’s keel was laid on the Central Coast (Brooklyn) in
1939 as a fishing trawler and it was during this wartime period
that the original builders fell upon hard times abandoning the
project until Stan Hegarty purchased the partly completed hull
and had his foreman, Charlie Shannon and Shipright, Bill Taylor
commuting between Sydney and the Central Coast weekly by train
to take the hull thru to a stage when it was suitable to be
towed to Sydney. The Hegarty ferry, Sunrise Star towed the craft
to Hegarty’s Drummoyne home where it was fitted out by AG
Williams and launched in 1942. It started harbour ferry service
operations from Lavender Bay to Circular Quay #2 Wharf and
operated as Hegarty Ferry, servicing Circular Quay to Inner
Harbour wharfs. The following outlines the full history of the
cruiser:
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1942 |
Powered by 45HP Atlas diesel ran speed
trials for the Military, successfully carrying 155
troops at a speed of 7.8 knots. Ran as ferry service
during the war years to Military bases in Sydney and
after this maintained a regular ferry commuter service
to inner Harbour wharfs. |
|
1944 |
Papers show vessel jointly owned by
Beatrice & Leonard Hegarty, then later N.D Hegarty &
Sons Pty Ltd. |
|
1955 |
First Vessel in the Southern Hemisphere
to be fitted with an ‘Air Cooled Engine’ |
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1961 |
Carried spectators for entry of training
ship Dewarutji |
|
1965 |
Emerald Star stolen and smashed into
barge, under the Northern Bridge pylon |
|
1975 |
Included Luna Park / Milson’s Point ferry
service |
|
2003 |
Ceased operations as a ferry |
|
2003 |
Began Private Charter service under the
control of the McLoughlin family |
|
2007 |
Emerald Star purchased by current owner
Les Meyer |
|
2008 |
Underwent a major re-fit with
refurbishment to starboard forward area when temporary
repairs made during 1960’s after being hit by another
ferry, inner stem replaced, 50 years of paint removed
from saloon deckhead exposing excellent aged Australian
Cedar. |
|
2008 |
Operating on Sydney Harbour on day of
arrival of Queen Elizabeth II for her final visit &
departure of the new Cunard Liner Queen Victoria. |
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2009 |
VIP vessel for the Festival of Sydney,
Cockatoo Island Spectacular |
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2009 |
Emerald Star accepted into the Australian
Register of Historic Vessels No: HV 000325 |
The Emerald Star is carvel planked timber construction, sheer
line stepped at bulwarks for aft open deck. approx 50 tonnes,
single deck with raked stem currently powered by Grey Marine (
Detroit ) 671 Diesel, dry stacked c/w Twin Disc hydraulic
gearbox with 75mm main shaft and hydraulic steering. Approximate
top speed 12 knots of note is the lack of wake whilst underway
at cruising speeds.
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1942 - Launch of Emerald Star |
1968 - Harbour Ferry Service |
1979 - Emerald Star Deck |
1980 - Emerald Star
Interior |
Click here
to access our entire photo gallery where you can see more
images of Emerald Star dating back to 1942.
We are currently listed on the following
websites:
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