The Kingfisher

The Kingfisher was built in Kuranda in the early seventies by Ron Bruce, with the help of his 80yo father, Reg Bruce.
The boat is a bit over five feet beam and about 18 foot long overall
waterline length of about 16.5 feet
It has a hickory keel, that was cut in the Bloomfield district, transported by boat to the Gordonvale sawmill and sent by rail car to Kuranda as 2 flitches of 4”x 12”.
The frames as silver ash from the Kuranda saw mill with Tea Tree knees cut on the coast near Palm Cove. The decks are of marine ply covered with planks of white beech,
It is sheathed in ½ marine ply, with fibreglass over all the underwater surfaces up past the waterline.
The mast is of A1 clear oregon (hollow)
The junk sails are of dacron and the spars are of silver ash.
The ice box is made of corthane foam sheathed in fibreglass and will hold ice for up to two weeks.unopened.
An underfloor fuel tank hold about 30 gallons of diesel a day tank on the Engine holds a gallon and a half… more than enough to run for 120 hours at 1.2liters per hour flat out.
The standing pits in the stern alow for Safe trolling for mackeral and the rear overhanging tray is handy for dealing with caught fish.

The engine is a Chinese Dong Feng 12hp single cylinder diesel, with a marine forward & reverse gearbox, swinging an 18” prop at 3:1 reduction of engine speed. The engine cruises at about 1,800 which gives about 5.5 knots.

With 2 persons in the cockpit the boat draws just under a meter.
2 persons can both stand on the rail on one side with good stability.
The decks are self draining in a seaway.
The boat handles the sea very well with the big 18” prop powering it through waves.
A passage was once made from Cape Trib to the Bloomfield river mouth with a big following sea, the sails abeam and engine at fast cruising power and an average of 8 knots was achieved.

The boat trailer needs 4 better tyres (15” Holden wheels and hubs)
Some plating of rust on trailer is needed.
The RHS steel awing frame is a bit rusty and could need replacing.
The green awning materiel is still in excellent condition
The boat overall needs some paint, especially the mast which is iun need of some spar varnish, but otherwise sound.
The Kingfisher needs the RHS rubbing rail refitted (was removed to repair plywood sides) The fore deck around the anchor hatch needs repairs.
The Engine runs well as does the gear box
The only water leak is thru the propellor stuffing box and this can be tightened when on a moaring.

There are three anchors ( A plough , danforth and reef pick together with some gal chain and 12mm silver rope for holding tackle.

A 10” plywood dingy together with a 5hp Yanmar outboard.
Together with oars and ropes is included.

Make sure the water pump driving belt is on and pump free to turn, Make sure seacock is open.
TO Start the engine, pump fuel up to the day tank till full, Stand in front of the engine with your right hand on the crank handle, your left hand on the decompressor lever (below on left), the throttle open a quarter.
WIND ENGINE OVER BRISKLY, then flick decompressor lever to ON position.
The engine will start instantly.
Set engine to idle and check water flow from pump out the exhaust.
Check water temp on gauge periodically when running, engine should be hot to touch as should exhaust water, temps around 60 degrees is Ok
Make sure engine is not running to cold… diesels don’t like to be too cold.

To stop engine decompress the valves, by moving decom lever.
Always wind engine over with the crank to the top of compression stroke, after stopping engine to ensure that both valves are closed (to stop rusting of the valves and seats. If you forget and find that the engine wont start because it doesn’t have enough compression Undo the nut holding the valve cover and tap the valve rockers with a hammer while winding over the engine, eventually the valves will seat enough to fire the engine.
Close seacock to water pump if moring or anchoring for a period.


The Kingfisher is included in the sale....................




A large baracouta caught trolling in the river mouth..