Halvorsen 38 Bridgedeck

KWEENA was built in 1933 by Lars Halvorsen at Neutral Bay Sydney for Mr AO Fairweather. She is a classic Halvorsen bridge deck motor cruiser for the period. The raised wheelhouse is well forward with two berths below the forward deck. There is a step down to the saloon cabin leading aft into a small open cockpit, with a shelter top above. The hull has a plumb stem and a strong flare to the raised topside contrasting with a tumblehome in the topsides at the transom. The vertical framing of the windows and horizontal cabin top lines give it a stately appearance appropriate to its displacement speed. The carvel planked hull has a hardwood keel and framing, and Queensland maple cabin planking. The forward cabin sleeps two, while the saloon settees double as sleeping berths to accommodate guests.

AO Fairweather owned a furniture business in Camperdown, Sydney and became president of the Furniture Manufacturers Association in 1936. He was also a member of the Royal Motor Yacht Club and KWEENA is reported taking part in the Pittwater Regatta held on December 30th, 1933. He remained the owner at least until the early 1940s. By 1941 he was Vice Commodore of the RMYC, but the Second World War then dominated life, and the Sydney Morning Herald of 28 August 1941 reports that Fairweather and other members of the RMYC were all joining the Auxiliary Naval Patrol Scheme.

KWEENA was requisitioned for War Service on January 4 1943. As HMAS KWEENA it was employed as a general-purpose vessel, then commissioned in July 1943 as a Naval Auxiliary Patrol boat, where it acted as a tender to the Sydney shore establishment HMAS Penguin. Tom Wayland is recorded as a commanding officer in July 1943. It was paid off in March 1944 and sold back to Fairweather later in 1945.

KWEENA's subsequent history is not recorded until about 2004 when it was sold by Adam Gilchrist to Nicholas Heijke. In 2006 the previous owner bought KWEENA and put together a project to give her a complete restoration from keel to top of mast. The restoration was completed in Batemans Bay NSW. She was re-launched in 2012 and featured at the Classic and Wooden Boat Festival in October 2012 at the Australian National Maritime Museum.