Meet "Spina"

“Spina” is a 35-foot (10.75 metre) traditional timber fishing boat. She is a double ender with a carvel displacement hull. “Spina” carries 2.5 tonne of lead ballast (total boat weight is 7.5 tonnes), making her extremely stable with excellent sea keeping ability. We travel at a very comfortable 7 knots, with no bashing and crashing.
“Spina” was built in 1920 in Mordialloc and Hampton. She was the first boat built by Hampton fisherman Joe Defina who emigrated from Italy and started the pilchard (sardine) fishing industry in Port Phillip Bay.
In 1942 Joe sold “Spina” to the Jacks, a legendary Westernport fishing family, and she has been in Westernport ever since. “Spina” had an extensive rebuild by Norm Jack over eight years, completed in 2002 using blackwood trees for the ribs and a red river gum from Echuca for the stern post. After the Jack family, the next owner of “Spina” was Danny Hall, who has known her all his life – Danny’s father Ray worked on her as a teenager.
Classic Fishing Charters bought “Spina” in 2006, and she now operates out of Yaringa Marina in Westernport. She had a new motor and cabin in 2015. “Spina” is now 104 years old.