Isaac Warren's Legacy:
Isaac Warren, ‘Ike’ as he was affectionately known by family and friends, was born at Wagga Wagga during 1869.
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The son of William Marshall and Mary Ann Warren (nee Galvin), Ike was a young lad during the time when paddle steamers and the river trade were undergoing tremendous growth. Ike came to Twofold Bay in 1877 with his parents and a few of his siblings.
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Ike’s very first boat was a damaged lifeboat off a coastal steamer. Coastal steamers occasionally lowered their lifeboats into the water while in port for a few days to keep the planking ‘tight’. On this occasion, the crew neglected to hoist their boat prior to departure and it was damaged by the ship’s propeller. Ike cut away the damaged rear section of the double-ended boat, fitted a transom at the aft end and away he went, under sail, dodging along the coast. This little vessel he called Bonita, and when the fish were not biting she would often return to Snug Cove partly laden with wattle bark. This marked the beginning of Ike’s trading career, which became intertwined with his love for the design and building of small vessels; a passion that was to earn him the respect of many fishermen along Australia’s East Coast.
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During his lifetime, Isaac Warren built many boats up to 50ft in length, each time carefully carving a half model in order to satisfy himself of the most suitable shape.
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This article, however, is to draw attention to the results of Isaac Warren’s last boatbuilding venture in 1952, at the age of 84 years. He carved out a half model and built a salmon fishermen’s net boat for his son Billy.
This boat was intended to perform well when used in the surf. With her length just under 16 feet (5.9 metres) and her beam close to a third of her length, she required little more than a foot of water for her deep skeg to hold her on course when riding a wave to the beach while encircling a patch of fish. Her forward sections were rather ‘full’, preventing a nose dive in the surf. Billy’s net boat soon became the envy of many beach fishermen up and down the coast, including the Gippsland Lakes.
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Following Ike’s death, questions arose about the production of replicas. Some salmon fishermen had been
Above: Former Sydney Harbour ferry Estelle Star with net boat stowed in a cradle.
Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
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experimenting with chine-built plywood net boats and the results simply did not compare favourably with Billy’s pride and joy. Eventually, Charles Peel Jnr was engaged to measure up Billy’s net boat and construct a faithful replica. This boat was built for Pat and Barry Warren, who provided the beech timber to be used for planking. Charlie set up the moulds in the loft above his workplace at the fish cannery, Cattle Bay, Eden. Following the launch of Chas Peel’s replica, he was engaged to build approximately six more wooden planked net boats off his moulds. Some were even in demand by tuna boats for use in netting live bait at night.
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One of the subsequent replicas was built for Billy’s son-in-law, Mick Fourter. Mick caught thousands of boxes of salmon and mullet with his net boat and then decided to replicate it. This time, fibreglass came up for consideration.
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Mick Fourter’s son, Roger, suggested Mick should consult Frank Murljacic, who was very familiar with the use of fibreglass. This meeting resulted in the production of a fibreglass mould, taken off the skin of Mick’s timber boat during 1975 at Yowaka (South of Pambula) where the Murljacic family resided.
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The very first fibreglass net boat to be produced in that mould was built for Brereton Bros based at Pambula River. The second was put together for Mick Fourter in 1976 and is still netting fish in 2020.
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These fibreglass boats quickly became popular. They were lighter in weight and had no ribs or fastenings to foul a net. They also didn’t require constant time afloat to keep them watertight, yet retained all the handling qualities of the original.
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The fact that approximately twenty fibreglass replicas had been produced prior to the mould being accidentally destroyed, is testament to Ike Warren’s keen eye and boatbuilding skill.
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Ike Warren Snr passed away in Pambula Hospital during June 1955.
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© Robert Whiter. All rights reserved.
Above: Image courtesy of and © Robert Whiter.
