The cruiser/yacht ALOHA was built by Alf Jahnsen and his son Harvey at their shipyard in Lake Street, Forster.
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Launched in 1963, she is essentially the same as the original.
The legendary quality of Jahnsen-built boats is epitomised in this vessel.
The current owner of the ALOHA is Stuart Howe. The vessel is now moored at Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, and it is Stuart's goal to fully restore the ALOHA to her original design.
Details
Name: ALOHA
Launched at Tuncurry in 1963
Type: Cruiser/Yacht (n.b. originally a Cruiser only)
Length: 36 ft
Beam: 12 ft
Draft: 3 ft 2 in.
Register tonnage: 12 (1 ton = 100 cu. ft.)
Engine: 100bhp TS3 Rootes Lister diesel
Design: John Doherty - Naval Architects Eken and Doherty
The ALOHA has seen many owners.
She was built for Stanley Robinson from Bexley in Sydney.
She was owned by two owners from 1963 to 1968 and berthed in NSW.
She was taken to Queensland where she had seven owners between 1968 and 2009.
She was then taken to Paynesville in Victoria where she had two owners, the most recent being Stuart Howe.
Launch
The ALOHA was launched in Spring 1963 from the old ferry ramp in Tuncurry.
She was aided by another Jahnsen built boat, the original ferry Alma G II, that had been converted to a fishing boat for Wesley Gregory by Alf and Harvey Jahnsen.
Recent Sales Description
When last sold (2017) she was described as follows: The ALOHA is a classic timber motor-sailer, designed by Beacon & Doherty and built by Alf and Harvey Jahnsen in Forster, launched 1963.
Featuring a bright, open layout, reminiscent of Halvorsen, with plenty of entertaining space in the generous saloon and cockpit, and lovely timberwork throughout. She sleeps six with a double vee berth forward, another slide-out double in the saloon, and two settee berths in the cockpit. All the foam mattresses are extra thick. The bathroom is spacious and has a vanity, hot shower and electric flush marine toilet. Opposite this is plenty of storage and hanging space.
The Galley is behind the helm portside, with a two-burner gas stove/oven, domestic fridge and pressurised water. Headroom is in excess of six feet. Wide side decks are a bonus.
Aloha is powered by its original Rootes Lister 100 hp two stroke diesel, in well maintained condition, giving her seven knots at an economical eight litres/hr.
Inventory includes solar charging, Muir electric windlass, cockpit clears, cabin side brightwork covers, sturdy dinghy davits, sounder and marine radios. She has approximately 600 litres each of diesel and fresh water. Her main and headsail sailing rig allows for silent cruising off the wind.
ALOHA is beautiful yet practical, presented in excellent condition inside and out, and realistically priced for such an eye-catching vessel.
Engine
The Rootes TS3 - two-stroke, opposed piston, diesel engine that powers the Aloha has been proven to be a reliable, if rather noisy marine engine.
Number of cylinders: 3
Number of pistons: 6
Displacement: 199 & 215 cu in (3.2 & 3.5 litre)
Performance: 70-165 hp@2400 rpm
Torque: 345 ft lbs@1250 rpm
Manufacturer: Rootes Tillings-Stevens Ltd, UK.
Year of manufacture: 1954 to 1974
Total TS3 engines built: approximately 54,000
TS3 designation: Two stroke, three cylinder
These highly advanced and unconventional design engines are characterized not only by their lengthy and highly detailed pre-production development, but also by the unusually high quality material specifications used for their engine components and very precise manufacturing processes and machining tolerances used in their production.
The Opposed Piston two-stroke design provided much fewer points of failure than in a conventional engine design.
Rootes financial troubles on the car side of their business resulted in Chrysler USA assuming full control of Rootes Group in 1967, which also included Rootes Diesel Engineering Division.
By 1974, all TS3 engine production had ceased.
Original Design
As can be seen from the 1985 image, the original design was a cruiser only.
Only a short mast was fitted to allow warning lights to be displayed.
Sometime between 1986 and 1996, however, the owner decided to eliminate the short and include a mast/sail combination to help downwind performance (she has no weighted keel).
New owners visit to Forster-Tuncurry
In 2017, Stuart Howe purchased the ALOHA and has her permanently berthed at Paynesville on the Gippsland Lakes. Stuart had a goal of restoring her to her original condition.
Stuart and his father Ray visited Forster for just one day (May 24, 2018) with the goal of meeting the original builder - Harvey Jahnsen.
After a coffee at Beach Bums and a quick meeting with Graham Nicholson and Chris Borough, it was off to meet Harvey at his Lake Street workshop.
Harvey was very pleased to hear of the ALOHA, although he, like Stuart, was dismayed at the fitting of an aluminium mast and boom.
Harvey took us for a tour of his home - the entire upstairs section having been left exactly as the late Alf Jahnsen had left it.
The spiral staircase made by Alf entirely of red cedar is really a sight.
After talking for a while and thinking of the original specifications, Harvey thought he may be able to locate the original plans.
Then came the phone call from Harvey - he had located the original plans so it was back to Lake Street.
Now very faded, it was only just possible to see the detail but fortunately the original detail of the short mast was recognisable.
After some negotiation Stuart asked Harvey if he would make a replica of the original mast.
The choice of timber was simple; it had to be one of Harvey's prize timbers in his extensive collection - Harvey suggested Alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), a very rare timber from South America.
F. cupressoides is the only species of the genus Fitzroya, named by Charles Darwin for Captain Fitzroy of H.M.S. Beagle.
It is a large conifer that has been logged very heavily for over 350 years.
Its range has been reduced to less than 15 percent of its original area, located mostly in the remote and difficult to access high cordillera of the Andes.
Wood from the tree was widely used during the colonial period for roof shingles, furniture and ship masts.
The species produces moderately hard and heavy wood, dark red to reddish brown in colour.
Because of serious over-exploitation, F. cupressoides is now rare.
Chile banned logging of the species in 1976, and it is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the most restrictive listing which bans international trade of the species in most cases.
F. cupressoides has a status of "endangered" on the IUCN Red List.
https://forestlegality.org/risk-tool/species/alerce
Harvey assured Stuart and Ray that he could make this valued mast from Alerce and would arrange to have it delivered - finished to perfection.
For Stuart and Ray, the opportunity to meet this craftsman and share his enthusiasm for the boats that he and his father had built was something they could never forget.
The fact that Harvey was able to manufacture a new mast from the original drawings was simply a bonus.
Latest update
Stuart has advised that the new mast has been fitted and the Jahnsen-built Aloha is now regularly seen on the Gippsland Lakes.
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