Brid Venture and Brid Voyager

'In early August 2003 the preparations to apply the deck paint to the Brid Venture were under way at the Allan Barnett Fishing Co. shipyard in Bridport, northern Tasmania.

For the first time the work was being carried out under cover - which was just as well because outside, a black winter squall raged. Very heavy rain falling on the roof and an icy cold gale of wind whistling around the various uncompleted corners of the new shipbuilding shed made conversation nearly impossible. The massive new shed was built over the existing open work areas and over the small workshops while work continued on the Brid Venture and another 20 metre fishing boat under construction.

The Brid Venture is a 17 metre Alan Muir design with forward wheelhouse and aft deck equipped primarily for scallop dredging with the capacity for cray fishing in the scallop off-season. This new design was commissioned by Allan Barnett to take advantage of the Bass Strait scallop fisheries re-opened in the 2003 winter. The hull has a highly flared bow shape which complements the greater than average hull beam. The shipyard still lofts the lines full size, by hand and, because of this experience, were able to accurately predict the hull plate shapes. Despite the heavily flared shape, the plates conform to the shape without requiring additional rolling.

The hull was drawn with greater beam than usual in order to improve the hold capacities. As a result, the wheelhouse, despite not extending to the deck edge and being well forward, is very spacious. The skipper has a command station mounted outside on the aft bulkhead of the wheel house in addition to the central forward facing station. A well sheltered working area almost amidships is created aft of the wheelhouse. A prefabricated shelter for the crew while dredging is removed when cray fishing. The running gear for the dredge is kept well out of the way in the after quarter of the deck area.

Although noticeably smaller than the 20 metre fishing boats produced over the past year, the Brid Venture has a main engine of almost the same power. In a first for Allan Barnett, the Fiat Iveco 82-10, 14 litre in-line six cylinder was chosen to be the main engine, supplied by Lees Industries Australia, Queensland. This Iveco 82-10 is the 244kW (330hp) (continuous) version running at 1,800rpm driving a Twin Disc MG5091 gearbox with a deep 4:1 reduction ratio and an almost 1,400mm diameter three-bladed Mikado propeller. The combination provides for substantial dredging power (the maximum permitted size of dredge is used) and a comfortable and economic free running speed of 9 knots. The shipyard's own articulating rudder has been fitted for superior control while dredging. The hydraulic installation was sub-contracted to Hydroquip Hydraulics in Launceston.

The shipyard maintains its unusual very high standard paint job with the delivery of the Brid Venture. Using Jotun Paints, surfaces are primed with two coats of Mastic 87 followed by two coats of Hard Top Ultra for the topsides. Signal Red for the topsides, and white for the superstructure. Underwater, the anti-fouling is Sea Guardian black.

The Brid Venture has proved to be a very successful boat, she dredged her quota of scallops without incident and proved very economical to operate. When the scallop season finished at the end of November, the Brid Venture returned to the shipyard where the dredge equipment was removed and a pot hauler installed. Less than six months after her launching she has proved the shipyard's construction and installations satisfactorily. The designer, Alan Muir said that he was pleased to hear that she was fulfilling both the design roles entirely to the satisfaction of the operators. During a recent visit to the shipyard he said he was pleased to see that the Allan Barnett Fishing Co. shipyard had almost completed the hull plating of hull number two - to be an identical boat, or sister-ship. This hull is scheduled for launching at the end of the first quarter 2004.

Once again Allan Barnett Fishing Co. have taken advantage of their considerable experience to produce a very effective fishing boat - an another very good looking one too. "The shipyard's new shed has already proved to be a very useful improvement", commented Allan Barnett, "it has allowed work to proceed under conditions that would have created delays in the past".'